The Alcatraz Island – A special National Park

Alcatraz Island was formerly one of the most secure prisons in the world.

On our last day in San Francisco, Alcatraz Island was early in the morning on our schedule. Directly at 8.45 AM we went over with the first ship. You should be at the perth definitely in the time frame printet on the tickets. Before Boarding you have to pass a small bag Check and a Photo Spot.

The tickets should be bought before traveling already online, then you have the least stress. When you go to San Francisco in the season, it can be really busy and maybe you do not get a ticket for the desired day.

Arriving at Alcatraz, there is first a small briefing and then you have to go up the hill to get into the buildings.

An audio guide, which you get at the entrance of the building, is included in the entrance fee. This can be set to different languages and you can explore Alcatraz at your own pace.

You can be flexibly with the return trip by ferry. Once you’re done, you go back to the ferry terminal and can go back with the next boat.

Anyone who is a bit interested in history, should definitely visit Alcatraz. Admission is indeed with 39 $ not quite as low, but the offered audio tour is really well done and even be on this island with this history was something special.

Because the whole atmosphere comes better, I made the pictures almost entirely in black and white.

Who likes the post and the images, please share, like and tell everybody. Thank you.

 

Also there is some Alcatraz on YouTube:

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To the US in the Lufthansa Business Class

Enjoy the luxury of the Lufthansa Business Class.

On August 27, it finally happened, the big US vacation (our honeymoon) could finally begin. The whole trip was planned months in advance and was packed with a lot of highlights. The rough route was San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Orlando. We have also visited some amusement parks and national parks. But more in the next few weeks. Rejoice forward to great pictures and reports from the sun;-)

The first highlight of the vacation was the flight. With the help of the Miles & More program we flew Business Class. I have collected over many years miles and rewrite my Payback points into miles. When it came to the book, lacking only a few miles. So we then quickly finished a magazine subscription and thus get the last few miles.

When booking, we already had to be somewhat flexible in order to get matching flights. The flight schedule was a bit sporty but thanks to Business Class thoroughly enjoyable. We are first flown from Hamburg to Frankfurt, then from there it went in an A380 directly to San Francisco. About 2 weeks later, we flew with United from Las Vegas via Houston to Orlando. About one week then our last flight directly to Frankfurt. Ale flights were business class, with all its amenities.

The first major difference to fly in economy class is the baggage. Instead of 1 x 23 kg free baggage allowance you may take 2 x 32 kg in Business Class. But that’s not all. In the Economy is allowed to take 1 piece of hand luggage with 10 kg, plus one personal item. In business there are 2 x 15 kg plus the personal item.

We had of course selected our seats in advance and even checked in from home. At the airport came the next bonus, drop of the baggage without standing in a line.

On the short-haul business class is not quite as necessary. It has more legroom and of the 3 seats only the 2 outer are occupied. The middle seat serves as additional storage space. A great surprise was that they even served on the short flight a small breakfast and beverages. Who now thinks it was a sandwich or something similar, it was far from it. The breakfast was great for our circumstances. We have become well fed.

In Frankfurt we made ourselves in the business class lounge comfortably, to wait for our next flight. There you gets everything. At the large buffet area there are fruits, breakfast and more. Whether water, soft drink, wine or beer, everything can be taken in self-service. In the cozy armchairs the time went pretty quickly.

With the flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco a dream come true, once flying Business Class. Another highlight was of course the airplane, the A380 makes already in Economy fun. A great aircraft.
But the business class is of course even better. Almost the entire upper deck of the machine was Business Class. We went in and had to go through to the end because our seats were the last. Upon entering you felt something funny, always keep in mind that you will fly itself on such a seat. Having arrived at our seats, we had to sort ourselves first of all. So much space and a lot of stuff had to be processed once.
Hardly arrived, „our“ flight attendant came straight to us and has called us by name. My first thought was actually that I’ve done something wrong and must go elsewhere 😉 But no, that’s just the way in Business Class. After a short welcome we got already something to drink. Water, champagne and orange juice were available.

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Apart from an extensive entertainment system of course you have plenty of space. Front legs laying on the footrest, move the seat in all imaginable directions, everything is possible and you travel really relaxed. Alone the Bose headphones are already a stunner. Almost all sounds around you be filtered out and you don’t hear that you are on a plane.

When you have familiarized yourself with everything, there is again something to drink and some nuts as a snack. Followed by a hot towel, menu cards … It is constantly busy;-)

For food you could choose from various starters, main courses and desserts and a wide selection of drinks was available.

Of course, we always ordered something else to try as much as possible. The entire meal was delicious, not to be compared with the Economy food. Real dishes and each course is passed on a plate, fantastic.

Then we watched a movie before we make ourselves comfortable. The seat can be made completely flat and you can lay down. Of course, an ordinary blanket and a pillow is not missing.

In between, there is of course always something to drink not only on request. Even a small snack is offered again. I half slept and therefore I ate nothing more. But it was schnitzel with potato salad, antipasti and 2 other things. Shortly before landing was then again offered something to eat. A small snack.

During the flight, neither hunger nor thirst come on. The service was always friendly and quick, after all there is a flight attendant for 12 passengers available. The toilet is the same as in Economy Class, but there are various toiletries available.

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It was thought at the beginning that a direct flight to San Francisco with 11,5 hours could be hard, but after the arrival we are surprised that we already there. To travel in business class is a very big difference. Also after arrival you can still somewhat and is not completely exhausted.

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My conclusion, we’ll be back! Although in some frequent flyer boards is the Lufthansa Business Class rated as poor, for me it was enough. Who can not afford the luxury is more than satisfied. I am already looking forward to it, may hope to experience this again.

Images of the return flight in a Boeing 747 and the meals offered there are coming at the end of my reports.

 

The big US tour is unfortunately finished.

After about 3 weeks, the US tour is already over.

Meanwhile, we are again well received in Germany, have recovered from the US tour, accustomed to the normal daily routine and the not so great weather.

The workup of the holiday here on the blog will probably still take some time to complete. But with the great photos you can then super bridge the winter.

In short, the holiday was fantasticWe have in the 3 ½ weeks in addition to the Business Class flights from Hamburg-Frankfurt-San Francisco, Las Vegas-Houston-Orlando and Orlando-Frankfurt set back by car about 5,000 km, were in 6 states, several amusement parks and national parks and have married again in Las Vegas.

Although I have restrained myself quite well, but almost 4000 pictures were taken, which must be looked now.

So rejoice in the coming weeks, to view a lot of images, reports, restaurant recommendations and more. A trip to the United States.