visit alcatraz

I spent a week there and visited Alcatraz. It was a profound experience, especially when you learned stories of things that happened there and you actually got to touch the walls. One story in particular really moved me…A man was put in solitary confinment (complete darkness) but to keep himself from going insane, he removed the button from his shirt, threw it on the ground and began to search for it in the dark. The best part of this story is that when you are being told it, you are standing in the same cell as this man was in, and it is completely dark.

I bought my tickets today. So, I am definitely doing this on my vacation in the Spring. Here’s the website: https://www.alcatrazcruises.com

My wife and I are going on vacation in May and we both put this on the agenda of things to do. I’m starting to look online as to how far in advance I can book the tour.

Taking the tour with the audio was amazing!! I recommend it to everyone. It is something you will never EVER forget.

Going to Alcatraz was everything that I hoped it would be. The biggest problem with these kind of things is that because there are loads of other tourists doing it too, you can’t see the way it used to be. But on Alcatraz you go around with your own little walkman, guiding you through the jail. You can, for the most part, slip away into your own imagination and take the tour at your own pace. I loved it. It is one of the few historic places that I have been which retains its authority.

This was a weird day. Very hungover so nothing really happened until the afternoon. Even then it was just recover activities. Cathy and Al went for a walk around the reservoir and me an Eddie played darts until Eddie got tired of losing. We have a similarly competitive streak which meant Eddie got mad and I got smug. We abandoned the game before things got nasty and went up to his place to watch the Rangers play some other team. Eddie’s a huge hockey fan and had set the tv to record the game. Unfortunately the golf had run over and they only joined at the end of the 2nd period. Boy, was he mad. But he did that American thing of commentating on his feelings which I found hilarious.
“I have to tell you, man; I am not happy…totally not happy”
That evening we went to the Avalon via crazy-cab-guy’s loop the loop route. I guess he heard 3 Irish accents and decided to do a tour. Al went ballistic on him and me & Cathy got all tense and quiet in the back.
Let me tell you, if you ever go to the Avalon for drinks mortgage your house and bring your credit card. I paid $50 for 3 drinks! $50!!!! Then we went to the Chateau Marmont. We only got in coz Al’s latest squeeze (Lara) goes there. We sat in the garden, drank, smoked and tried not to be conspicuous – “HEY, you’re not wealthy OR movie stars. Get the hell out of here!”
Thankfully Lara picked up the tab, which I believe came to $300. Crazy!
Though it is cool to say that I was in the Chateau, it wasn’t really my scene. See ‘Find the world’s greatest pub’ for what is.
Another night of beer and wine. We are all wrecked but tomorrow we hit the road to San Francisco. Alcatraz!! Bring it on.

Today was whale watching day, which i talk about on my “See a Shark” goal so I wont go over it again. But it was a big buzz. Later in the evening we met Amy And Anya who are buddies of Al’s in a bar called The Village Idiot. Various friends of theirs dropped by though the evening including a guy called Jeremy who was apparently in the Jesse James film. I haven’t seen it but it’s still a buzz to meet movie people. He was dead cool too. A really nice guy.
Later we went to Amy’s and got shit-canned while watching the Sarah Silverman/Matt Damon & Jimmy Kimmel/Ben Affleck saga on you tube. Very entertaining. Rolled home at about 4am. The pic is me and Al discussing the possibilities of seeing a whale.

It has been discovered that I snore. Quite spectacularly it seems. Al’s basement apartment is small so being a lady Cathy gets the bed. I am on the couch and Al sleeps on the floor on a blow up air bed borrowed from his mate Chris. By the way, when you attempt to inflate an air bed do make sure that you secure the seal at the end so you don’t end up sitting there for 15 minutes while the motor sends gallons of air through the air bed and straight out the other end. Yes, we did do that.
Throughout the night I was woken on three occasions by Al, who asked me each time to sleep on my side with decreasing levels of patience. When the morning came Al was gone – the air bed was propped up in the corner – and Cathy told me how she was woken up in the small hours by aforementioned air bed shuffling into her room. She could not see Al but assumed that he was somewhere behind it. The air bed hit the dresser, cursed, and retreated from the room.
Later that morning Al returned (he had gone upstairs to Eddie & Nikki’s and slept on their floor) and we set out for Venice beach. I was well rested and refreshed. Cathy was sprightly and ready for the day. Al was tired and cranky. On the freeway we passed a sign for “The Museum of Tolerance”. Al said – “I fucking hate that place”
Venice Beach is weird and wonderful. Full of stalls and hustlers it seems like a boot sale from the sixties. Equal measures of sleaze and charm sit side by side in the sun and you can buy just about anything that you don’t need and will never use for $5.
We walked out Venice pier and then retired to a sushie restaurant where Scottie joined us. Al & Scottie used to have a thing going and she is absolutely gorgeous. She was just back from New York where she had been shooting a Counting Crows video, so if you see that, the babe is Scottie.
All sushied up we drove back into Beverly where we went to see Poor Beast in the Rain, a play by Irish play-write Billy Roche. Al’s mate Chris (of the air bed) was in it with Joanne Whalley and Andrew Connolly who were excellent. I used to know Andrew years ago when he lived in Dublin so it was nice to catch up afterwards. We had a late night burger in the ‘101’ and went home, where Sir Snore-a-lot was banished to the bed, Cathy taking my place on the couch.
4 days down and still in LA, but the trip to San Fran and Alcatraz is on its way soon. The pic is Cathy on Venice Beach.

Getting up early in LA is so easy. Bright, hot sun on the terrace and cool fresh orange juice for breakfast… lovely. Today we went to The Grove which is an ultra posh mall. Cathy wanted to shop. And shop she did! We ate breakfast in the farmer’s market and then the retail carnage began. I entertained myself by scouring the film section in Borders and got my fortune told by a ‘Psychic’ who accosted me while sitting on a bench having a cigarette. She told me a bunch of horseshit, but it was nice sitting in the sun making friends with a mad person.
We had a beer in the noonday sun and then we sought out the Beverly Center which was a short walk up 3rd street. On the way Cathy found a clothes shop where the assistants were just top class. While Cathy formed a relationship with a silk dress I was given a soft seat on the back garden deck (Yes… in a clothes shop!) and a chilled bottle of water. They were so happy and helpful and friendly and fun that it would have been sinful not to buy something. Such a change from the Irish standards of salesmanship. “What do you want?... That’ll be a million pounds please”
Finally we made it to the Beverly Center where Cathy bought more stuff and I found a Ferrari shop which had an actual F1 car in it. (only in LA)
Dinner in Dusty’s on Sunset with Al’s friend Mya and then on to The Roosevelt for beer and horribly sweet vodka things by the poolside. Cathy got chatted up at the bar, which she loved and Mya revealed that she once had a female stalker. We were appalled but Mya seemed ok with it. “She was cute”, she said, “so I slept with her”. I love LA! That’s Mya, Al & Cathy in the photo.
Then we went back to Al’s where Eddie (who lives upstairs with Nikki) came down for a late night game of darts. Eddie has the very cool job of being in CSI New York and is funny and good looking. Cathy thinks he is probably the best looking man she has ever met… but I beat him in darts. Go me!

After an enormous breakfast at Millies on Sunset we headed up into the hills to see the Hollywood sign. It was such a lovely day that we could see it from miles away. But there’s nothing like seeing it up close. Apparently it used to say “Hollywoodland” which was a posh new housing estate. I can only assume that the “land” bit fell over at some point. So having seen LA icon number 1 we headed for hollywood boulevard and checked out the Kodak theatre where the Oscars had been held just a few days earlier. It’s just next to Mann’s Chinese Theatre where the Oscars used to be and just across the road from the Roosevelt Hotel where the first oscars was held. We saw all these places but no-one so much as nominated us so we went for a beer at the Cat & the Fiddle and went home for an indian take-out. Cathy loved her fish balti though I was very disappointed by my chicken madras. Only as we finished did we realise that I was eating the fish and Cathy had knocked back my chicken. We blamed it on the jet lag and went to bed.