San Francisco is one of American’s top tourist destinations. Its interesting history, steep streets, picturesque nineteenth-century architecture, wonderful views of the city from the Golden Gate Bridge and its position on the bay make it a great place to visit.
San Francisco
Like every city, San Francisco had small beginnings. It 1. _______ (be) in 1776 that a small Spanish fort was built on the cost of California. However, it was not until 70 years later that thousands of settlers 2. _______ (begin) to arrive.
So what made people travel west? The answer is gold. In 1849, someone 3. _______ (discover) gold in the hills around the fort. Within a year over 50,000 people 4. _______ (arrive) and the city of San Francisco was born.
For a young city, San Francisco 5. _______ (suffer) a lot. Since the gold rush, the city 6. _______ (have) major earthquakes, including the Great Earthquake of 1906. The three-day fire that followed this earthquake 7. _______(destroy) the centre of the city. Fortunately, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, along with some of its famous sights like the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you want a great view of the city, 8. _______(go) to the Golden Gate Bridge. This is an amazing 1,280 m long and 9. _______(cost) $ 35 million to build. It is not surprising 10. _______(learn) that it is the most photographed bridge in the world.
Golden Gate Bridge
Alcatraz
Another famous sight is the prison, Alcatraz. Built on a rock in the middle of the bay, Alcatraz 11. _______(become) the most feared prison in America. Gangsters like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly 12. _______(spend) time there, and escape was impossible. In total, nine men
13. _______(manage) to get off the rock, but no one knows whether they swam to the mainland or drowned. If you want to see Alcatraz, you 14. _______ (need) to book in advance. The tour 15. _______ (take) a day to do.
