Have you heard that President Trump plans to reopen the federal prison on Alcatraz Island? That would be a shame, because Alcatraz is probably the best museum I’ve ever been to. This post was inspired by my visit to San Francisco from 20 years ago.

Fun fact #1: The old Spanish name of Alcatraz Island translates as “The Island of the Pelicans”.

I remember one day at school, when I was sitting alone at my desk and looked at the world through a barred window. In my mind’s eye, I saw a prison.

However, it was not an ordinary prison, such as might exist in reality. The one I saw was a small cage with transparent windows instead of walls. There was nothing inside, and there was just enough space to sit comfortably. Around it was a park full of green trees and lush grass. It was criss-crossed by paths covered with white pebbles. People walked along them in all directions. The person sitting in prison, unable to do anything at all, had to look through thick glass at free people happily walking in the green park. I thought then that serving time in such a prison would have been the most terrible experience.

But it must have been just as terrible to sit in prison on Alcatraz Island, where through the barred windows of the dining hall, in the rays of the setting sun, you could see the Golden Gate Bridge and clearly hear the sirens of the ships passing under it. And where every New Year’s Eve, the treacherous waters of San Francisco Bay carried to the island the echoes of lively music and the buzz of the celebrating city. The great prison of San Quentin, located on the sun-drenched hills of California, with a magnificent view of the ocean, must be just as terrible.

Fun fact #2: Alcatraz was the only prison in the USA, where inmates were allowed to shower in warm water. This was supposed to make escape more difficult by preventing the prisoners from getting used to the ice-cold waters of San Francisco Bay.

Wise people say that the most terrible prison is one’s conscience. That is probably true. But it is also certain that I would not want to end up in a glass cage, on a lonely island, or in a concrete juggernaut on a sunny slope.

Fund fact #3: Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was closed in 1963, because it was too expensive to maintain the prison and supply it daily with boats.

A pelican will fly to the island, sit for a while on a sun-warmed rock, maybe even build a nest. But when it gets bored with the island, it will fly away wherever it wants. And man?