Took a trip out to Alcatraz Island, once the home of some of Americas most notorious criminals. You can wander through the cell blocks once occupied by the likes of a Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz) and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.

It certainly was a bleak place if today's weather was anything to go by, with biting winds sweeping across the bay and the Golden Gate bridge a hazy sentinel half hidden in the mist of the morning. It must have been a frustrating place to be imprisoned, with the sparkling city just over the frigid waters. The Rock has now been reclaimed by the sea birds who cover its baren shores.

Visited the maritime museum in the afternoon, which features some old sailing ships, which once plowed the route from England to California. It took five months in those days, traversing the treacherous waters of Cape Horn en route. Even so,iIt was still cheaper to transport materials from Europe to build the new city than it was to ferry them across the continent by rail.