Imagination captured at Alcatraz

Go to Alcatraz they said, you'll enjoy it. Everyone who had been to San Francisco assured me that it was worth a visit and when my friend Simon who lives there suggested it as well, I figured why not.

On face value, paying $18 just to go and wander around an old, empty prison isn't so bad when you get the ferry journey past the Bay Bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge also gleams in the distance as you gaze from boat and the island itself. But neither of those treats is the highlight of this trip.

Alcatraz itself is amazingly interesting, thanks to a wicked audio tour. Everyone is kitted out with headsets and ex-guards and ex-prisoners take you through the history, famous events, notable inmates and daily routines. Without their guidance on the 45-minute audio trip people would turn up, spend 15 minutes wandering around and then head back to the ferry.

With the walking tour, you start to feel everything from the coldness of the cells to the feeling of being placed within a community of felons who were so bad the rest of the prison system couldn’t deal with them. And there’s a particular phrase – “slap-pop” – that will live with me forever.

The fact that the US Air Force was in town and putting on a show of close flying aerial maneuvers over the island made the day I was there a particular joy. Even without their presence, I can heartily recommend the tour.