Two days in beautiful San Francisco! Today I visited Alcatraz island national park and it was incredible. Highly recommend getting the tour over to the island as the history is eye opening. We benefitted from hearing one of the free walking tours “200 years of Alcatraz” and it was so informative. We managed to go into cornered off areas of the park as part of the tour which we wouldn’t have seen otherwise! After the walking tour we wandered up the steep paths to the main cell block where we picked up our audio guide and continued our tour. So much to see here so don’t rush it! We were at the island from 9:30am till midday and it was just brilliant. 

We wandered up the hilly streets to central china town and ate on the balcony of a very authentic restaurant! We got free dumplings and also fortune cookies (which are originally from the San Fran china town!). After having a very large lunch and feeling very full we walked up to Nobs Hill - the highest peak of San Fran city and had a look through the crossroad views - this was also where a few of the princess diaries snaps were taken. Past this and on to Mrs doubtfires house, a cheeky photo opportunity for any movie lovers! Then we went downhill (thank goodness) to the bay trail walk - we picked it up by the palace of fine art - a beautiful building and set of gardens. The trail gave us a lovely view of the Golden Gate Bridge and led us back towards pier 39 and the fisherman’s wharf. We ate the famous clam chowder here and had some amazing sourdough! We then enjoyed drinks in a bar called red dog saloon and headed back to the ship. 

The next day we went downtown and explored the main high street and terminal building. We got a cable car uptown again to fisherman’s wharf where we stayed for an early dinner and then headed back onboard. All in all a fabulous day!