Travels in a Tin Can

were the most interesting.
The talk, performed by a Kevin Bacon look-alike, was about the escape
attempt immortalized by the Clint Eastwood film. It was also a bit of a tour,
beginning outside. During this part the fog cleared, spookily revealing our
guide's visual prop - the neighbouring Angel Island to which the prisoners may
have escaped - just as he spoke about it. The tour ended in the cellblocks
with a demonstration of the cell doors. Theatrically, or just coincidence, they
did not work at first. When they did it was quite scary, especially with the
accompanying shout of 'rack'em' by the guide. The mood was slightly spoilt
when he told us that the sound of the doors featured as the Death Star sound
effects in the original Star Wars movie - George Lucas must have a thing for
California! Following this talk we picked up the audio tour of the prison.
The commentary was excellent, atmospheric and very eerie, especially
when you followed the narrator's instructions and went into some of the cells.
The presence of other visitors did distract attention a little, but perhaps the
experience would have been too real had we gone round on our own. We
found that we did not talk to each other much during the visit, and even
though Emma had visited before she was not immune to the effect the island,
and the prison in particular, have on visitors. When we finished the tour and
went back outside the weather had completely changed, with bright sunshine
and blue skies. Although a welcome sight, this did not seem appropriate,
especially having heard first hand accounts from prisoners who used to spend
their days shut away from fresh air. The 'Alcatraz' mood persisted as we rode
the ferry back to the mainland, but the spell was broken when we joined the
tourist crowds on nearby Pier 39.