San Francisco Day 3
Woke late again, not sure if this is jet lag or just being lazy. I suspect lazy...
Was another great day and decided to tick of another tourist trail must see. Went to Alcatraz and it was well worth the trip. You buy a ticket but can stay as long as you wish and I was there for about 3 hours. I took a lot of photos again. There is plenty to see and an excellent audio tour of the prison. As it was a nice calm sunny day it didn't seem that horrible but then I remembered I could leave anytime! Some of the audio tour stories were interesting and I recommend it if you get there.
Spoke to a former inmate, Prisoner #1422 Darwin E Coon, (photo) who was there from 1959-1963 when it closed. He has written a book about his life, how he ended up there, and since leaving has overcome his past and built a new life. Really interesting and it bought the history to life.
Then wandered along the waterfront and thru the city. By this time it was about 18:00 and i found the Moscone Center where the SF Auto-show was on.
It was worth a look but not as big as I expected. Still I saw several cars "in the flesh" for the first time. I have decided I don't want a Mercedes SLR, Porsche Carrera GT or Ferrari 612 so that saved several million. I went into one hall and was amazed to hear Diane Shuur introduce her conductor/arranger Alan Broadbent and the orchestra. Wow they are they performing here I wondered? I then saw a Maybach with the door open. It was a DVD playing in the car and sounded as good as any hifi/home theater I've ever heard. Pity the Maybach is an ugly huge thing. (Photo: Back seat of the Maybach)
Also saw the new Mercedes CLS "4 door coupe". (photo) I'd seen it in mag's and couldn't figure why they considered it a coupe.Now having seen the real thing still can't. Its just a saloon with a lower roof-line and ugly curved back and that looks like it was lifted of an AU Falcon. It didn't work for Ford and it doesn't work on a Merc.
Felt a bit weird leaving he show then realized I hadn't eaten anything other than a Gelato and an apple all day (There is no food at The Rock). Found a Sony entertainment center and had a Steak dinner in the foodhall watching a 62" plasma screen in the Sony Style shop across from me. Decided not to bring that home (hard to carry) and saved another $20,000us. Then walked back to the Hotel via Chinatown.
