Alcatraz Island
Known by many as The Rock, Alcatraz Island is located just north of San Francisco in San Francisco Bay. The United States Department of Justice used the island as a military prison from 1868 to 1933, and then as a federal prison for dangerous criminals from 1933 until 1963. In 1972 Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area. It is a beautiful island in itself, home to one of the largest western gull colonies on the northern California coast, the first lighthouse built on the Pacific Coast (1854), and spectacular views of San Francisco and the Bay. It’s an interesting and exciting adventure so head to Pier 41 and hop on the ferry.
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Fisherman’s Wharf
Fisherman’s Wharf, the district that stretches from Telegraph Hill to Fort Mason, was originally San Francisco’s busy industrial area and fishing port. The wharf has Aquatic Park on one end and Pier 39 on the other, and views of scenic San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz in between. A slow walk along these five blocks takes about 30 minutes. Allow more time for souvenir shopping, stopping at the Fisherman's Wharf attractions listed below, or if you plan to eat in one of the Fisherman's Wharf restaurants. While Fisherman's Wharf supplies only a fraction of the fish served in San Francisco's
Ghirardelli Square
An old red brick building, a city-block large, was the site of the Ghirardelli chocolate factory in the late 1890s. The company flourished in that location (having done well earlier at their Jackson Square location - still standing since the 1850s surviving the 1906 earthquake). In the 1960s the company was bought out but a larger conglomerate and moved to another facility. Various city denizens became fearful that this wonderful old structure would be razed to make way for sparkling new apartments units. With their efforts the Ghirardelli building was spared. The name - and the enormous 125-foot wide
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a symbol of America's immigrant heritage. For more than six decades - 1892 to 1954 - the immigrant depot processed the greatest tide of incoming humanity in the nation's history. Over twelve million people landed here; today their descendents account for 40% of the country's population. Opened on January 1, 1892, Ellis Island ushered in a new era of immigration with each newcomer's eligibility to land now determined by federal law. The government established a special bureau to process the record numbers that were arriving at the end of 19th century. More than 70% landed in
The Pfaueninsel is a synthesis of the arts. 1793 acquired king Friedrich William II. it as a trip goal and made it an exotic world. It and its successor Friedrich William III. She was arranged as a beautiful English landscape garden. Note that cars and bicycles are not permitted on the Pfaueninsel, since the entire island was explained as the protected area. All the naturally working clearing, groups of trees and view axles are artful cultivated and/or cleared. Schlaengelnden themselves ways, which offer new views again and again on nature beautifulnesses or architectural Einsprengsel, are characteristic. In addition exotic kinds
Museum Island (or, in German, Museumsinsel) in Berlin, Germany, is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river, in the center of the city.
The island received its name for several internationally renowned museums that are now occupying all of the island's northern half (originally a residential area dedicated to "art and science" by King Frederick William IV of Prussia in 1841). Constructed under several Prussian kings, their collections of art and archeology were turned into a public foundation after 1918, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, which maintains the collections and museums today.
The Prussian collections became separated
