A LAND TOUR OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA - (Part 3)

By Rene Calalang
Scarborough-Canada
January 9, 2016



FIRST STOP of the second day of the tour was San Francisco, which on our way from the hotel in San Jose, we had a glimpse of (from the highway only) of Oakland, California, home of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball and Golden State Warriors, the reigning NBA champion.

Soon we were travelling at Bay Bridge (the bridge that connects San Francisco to Oakland. Note that this is a modified bridge as the old one, a two level bridge, and built during the gold rush, with construction started in 1933 and opened in 1936, six months before the Golden Gate Bridge. An earthquake in 1989 destroyed the eastern span, thus the need for modification) and entered San Francisco after crossing the Bay Bridge.

SAN FRANCICO (Spanish name for St. Francis of Assisi) is a densely populated city and county with many nicknames: The City by the Bay, The Fog City, San Fran, Frisco and Paris of the West… to name some - and where singer Tony Bennett, according to his song, left his heart while visiting this beautiful city.

It is a city known as the commercial, cultural and financial center of Northern California. It is also famous for being the center of liberal activism.

It is also a city known for her resilience, when on April 18, 1906, a very powerful earthquake and the ensuing fire destroyed three quarter of the city, only to be back on her feet nine years later to host the Panama Pacific International Exposition.

There are many tourist attractions in San Francisco but we managed to visit only a few. One of them is Lombard Street, known as the most crooked street in the world.

In doing so, the driver parked the bus, probably four to five blocks away from the crooked street, and we were told that as part of our morning exercise, we should climb, or try to climb the street leading towards Lombard Street, but we were cautioned not to force ourselves as this could be bad for us.

Majority of us, especially the younger Chinese passengers, were able to climb the steep street, but there were some who were unable to. I had no problem, though a bit slow, as I assisted my wife in her climb.

Of course, there were plenty of picture taking with the most crooked street in the world on the background, but it needed to be quick as there were cars coming in both directions. I joked that in San Francisco, new drivers getting tested on cars with standard transmissions are done here.

Going down was a lot easier because of the momentum created by our weight and the inclined street.

Prior to boarding the bus, a few of us, with our dream very much alive of striking it rich one day (myself included) bought “Powerball” lottery tickets on a variety store located on the street where our bus was parked. To update everybody, I did not win, so the dreaming continues.

We then proceeded to have lunch at China town. It is to be noted that there is a big China town in San Francisco because of migration of Chinese caused by the First and Second Opium War between China against Britain and France in the 1840’s and 1850’s, as well as the endemic poverty in China. In the 1960’s many working class immigrants from Hong Kong were allowed to migrate to the United States and many settled in San Francisco.

AFTER LUNCH, we proceeded to the pier to board the boat for approximately one hour cruise of San Francisco Bay, which for me, would be very interesting because we would have a closer look of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

No Virginia, it was not the cruise you have on your mind. It was not the big cruise ship we normally see on TV, but rather it was an observation boat with an upper and lower deck complete with benches, tables and chairs.

After about half an hour journey, and a bit past the bridge, the boat turned back as the objective of going below it was to view from under the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge - the bridge that connect San Francisco to Marin County, the bridge whose construction begun in January 1933 and finished on May 1937 at a cost of approximately $35 million, the bridge that was declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and up to 1964, was the longest suspension bridge in the whole world with a span of 4200 feet. Of course, presently and worldwide, there are many more longer suspension bridges, span wise that is, but Golden Gate, I believe, set the standards.

Camera’s clicked and tourists (myself included) posed for pictures, with the bridge in the background.

Going back, we sailed close to the prison in the island of Alcatraz, known plainly as Alcatraz, the former military stockade made into maximum federal penitentiary on August 1934 and closed on March 1963 because of high maintenance cost.

This prison, designed to hold prisoners who cannot be rehabilitated, was made famous by some of its high profile criminal inmates like gangster Al Capone; Robert Franklin Stroud, known as the Birdman of Alcatraz; Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, the inmate who served more time than any other inmates; George “Machine Gun” Kelly….etc.

In 1962, a movie titled “Escape from Alcatraz” with Clint Eastwood as one of the leading actor was made based on the daring escape of three of its inmates namely: Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin.

 “Since we have many islands in the Philippines, I think we need to build a prison like this in one of those islands,” I told the husband of one of my classmates who used to be in the military.

“Why is that?” he asked.

“First, the New Bilibid Prison, where most of the hardened criminals like the murderers, drug lords, rapists, gang leaders are incarcerated is already overflowing; and second, by jailing them in an isolated island, they will lose their contact to the outside world and therefore, they won’t be able to continue to operate their criminal activities.”

“What do you mean operate? They are supposed to be in prison, how could they do that?”

“Money. It is perhaps by bribing some high ranking personnel.”

“It seems that corruption in our country is so rampant that even the prison system is corrupted.

“I am not sure if you are aware but late last year, the New Bilibid Prison was raided by NBI agents and high ranking officials of the Department of Justice. And guess what do they discovered?”

“What?”

“They found out that there are prisoners who live in luxury and comfort.”

“What do you mean?”

“They raided some areas and they found out that one of them even has a recording studio and was able to produce a recording. And you know what?

“What?”

“He even won an award for that”

“Oh my God. What kind of prison do we have?”

“Not only that. Some of them, the drug lords and the gang leaders that is, live in air conditioned rooms. It was also find out that some have Jacuzzi and sauna in their rooms. Others were also found out to have guns and grenades. “Oh my God.”

“Now do you agree with me that they should be jailed in a remote island like Alcatraz?

“I agree with you one hundred percent.”

Passing past Alcatraz, how I wished, we were able to visit the inside as it is now a public museum and one of San Francisco’s major tourist attractions, and places like this interest me. But this was not part of the package. Well, maybe… someday.

After the cruise, we proceeded to Fisherman’s Wharf, where we had a big lunch. There, we were met by our classmate, Eileen and her husband, Severino (they live in a nearby city) who cannot join us in this trip. Again, the thoughtfulness among us showed when they gave us some goodies for the remainder of that day’s trip. Aida and Rene J also met their son and daughter in law, who live in the nearby area.

TO BE CONTINUED