Two contrasting SF institutions ... (9 April)

We booked a few trips before we left the UK, knowing that they were popular and often sell out in advance.  First up was a visit to Alcatraz Island.  I guess everyone has heard of Alcatraz, not least from having seen various films.  It was a military fort during the American Civil War and after; a high-security prison from 1934-63; it then had a brief but pivotal role in the campaign for Native American land rights 1969-71.  It's not far from the city - just across the bay - and the journey by boat was only 20 minutes.

As soon as we landed, we immediately had a sense of the history of the island. 

We picked up the audio tour through the main prison block, which was both enlightening and horrifying at the same time.  Here's a view of the cells:

And here's an individual cell in more detail.  It measures 9 x 5 feet.

While I'm glad we went, I was also pleased when we left and returned to the city.  Parts of the visit were decidedly grim, and I'm a little surprised that there was no age guidance for the audio tour.  Thankfully Tom didn't seem to be troubled by it.

Later on we made our way to Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.  I've never been to watch baseball before, far less have much knowledge of the rules.  My only previous experience was on a trip to the USA many years ago during the World Series.  It was the year that the Boston Red Sox finally won (2004?) after decades of nearly getting there but missing out.  We were watching in a bar in Gloucester, MA, and the atmosphere was electric.  Our local guide for the evening turned out to be the District Attorney, and he was very generous in explaining things to us.  The tension continued on our flight home, with the pilot giving regular updates on the scores!

Anyway, my thoughts on attending my first ball-game are as follows.  First, I didn't even realise that the game had started: at one point the players were warming up, next thing they were playing.

Second, and I won't gain many supporters for this, it's basically the same game as rounders.  Sure, it's far more technical and hard-hitting, but once I realised this it was much easier to follow.  Three balls in the strike zone and not hit means the player is out ("three strikes and you're out"); a fourth (no) ball means a free walk to first base.  Stumping out at different bases is much the same too.

The bowler pitcher gets plenty of attention, but aside from standing on a mound and the speed of his throwing it's not much different.

Finally, the food deserves a mention.  It seemed that eating and drinking were every bit as important as the game itself.  Hot-dogs, bratwurst, bockwurst, nachos with gooey cheese, corn-dogs ... and best of all, garlic fries.  They're certainly not for the faint-hearted, but fries dowsed with a mixture of chopped raw garlic, coriander, lime zest and olive oil really is a dish to behold. The smell drifted across to our seats every time someone walked past us with a tray full!