We start our second day in San Francisco with a nice breakfast at Heist, which is a short walk from our hotel.
Our plan for today is to visit Alcatraz, which is further away from our hotel than that we would like to walk. Freya and Nicole have seen 'strange' cars from Waymo when they walked to Target yesterday, but didn't know what they were. Joes knows (since he works for Arm and has become a tech-nerd) and tells that Waymo is a driverless taxi service. The choice between Uber and Waymo is easily made. Via an app we order the car and we get instructions where to board. Nicole and Joes take the back seat and Freya goes in the front. On a display we can see what the sensors of the car infer about the neighbourhood (pedestrians, cyclists, other cars, etc.). Halfway our ride, we meet an ambulance with blue lights. Our car goes to the side, stops and waits until the ambulance has passed. Quite impressive. But seeing the steering wheel move without a person behind it is a bit spooky too. However, we arrive safely at Pier 33, where we take the ferry to Alcatraz.
We alight the ferry and are on Alcatraz Island. There is a lot to see, but we focus on the cell blocks, which are on the top of the hill. We are offered an audio tour, which is narrated by an ex-warder and with commentary of four ex-inmates. Before being a federal prison, Alcatraz was used as a fort and a military prison. In 1934 it was turned into a federal prison for holding prisoners who were too troublesome for other penitentiaries. Life in Alcatraz was harsh. The cells were small (2.7 m by 1.5 m and 2.1 m high) and there was hardly any privacy. The cell contained a bed, a toilet, a sink and a foldable table top and seat. Although being small, the prisoners approved of having single occupancy cells, as it kept them relative safe. Food was apparently good and plentiful. Hearing and reading the backgrounds of some of the prisoners, we wonder if a psychiatric hospital would not have been a better place for them. Alcatraz closed in 1963.
We escape the island and return to mainland San Francisco where we walk to Pier 39. There are a lot of little shops and one of them offers aqua massage. Freya wants to have a go but Nicole and Joes are a bit reluctant. Freya asks the owner how much it costs. He asks how old she is and she answers: 12. OK, he says, normally it is $30 but for you it is $12. And so Freya climbs on one of the massage tables. The machine that performs the massage is quite ingenious. It exists of a table on which a person lies down. Then a lid is pulled over, the bottom of which is made of waterproof fabric. Inside the lid pressurized jets move around and spout water onto the fabric and give the person a massage. After about twenty minutes, Freya is ready and she feels totally relaxed and revived.
We walk back to the top of the pier and see (and hear) some noisy sea lions. The jet lag starts kicking in and we order a 'normal' Uber back to the hotel. There Freya collapses on her bed and is soon asleep. Joes sneaks out and buys some bread, cheese and fruit. He and Nicole devour the forage and not long thereafter they succumb to sleep as well.
