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As I mentioned before, M and I travelled to Canada recently. We came back on Saturday and I'm still a bit jet-lagged, but here's a bit of what's to come.
The reason we headed to Canada, aside from visiting my family in Toronto, was for M to participate in the North Face Canadian Death Race, held in Grande Cache, Alberta. I won't go into too much detail about the race, since M will be writing a guest entry about it later on. I will say that he finished the race - all 125 kilometers of it - with a time of 23:35 (that's HOURS). Words cannot describe how in awe I am of this man!
After the race and the associated festivities, we headed south for a two day trip through Jasper and Banff national parks. Almost immediately upon entering Jasper national park, we saw an amazing sight: People were walking on water!
The rest of my pictures are still downloading. More to come once I've put them together.
I've had a couple of Italian vacations since August - 10 days in Sardinia and another week or so in Salzburg/Tuscany.
I haven't done anything with my Sardinia pictures yet, but here are the pictures from the second vacation.
Now that I've discovered the nifty gallery tool from flickr, I'm taking the opportunity to post a few more pictures of Knut!
I saw Knut! in the Berlin zoo yesterday. Yes, he IS that cute, and no, I don't know if the experience was worth it. Entrance to the zoo costs 11€. Knut! is on display between 11-12 and 14-15 each day. We got there for the last ten minutes of the first showing and it was NUTS. I literally could not get a decent glimpse for more than two seconds at a time, as there were HORDES of people there.
To the Berlin zoo's credit, they set up two viewing circles, one for children on the inside, and one for adults on the outside, so at least the kids get to see the bear. Once the viewing ended we walked around the zoo for another two hours, thinking we'd get to Knut(!)'s enclosure at 13:40 for a good spot. Well. They actually close off the area right up until the showing, and there was a lineup of several hundred people in front of us, so we made the sane choice to leave and go for Indian food.
It's kind of amazing that Knut! has become such a huge sensation. It's not like no polar bear has ever been born in a zoo. I think the Berlin zoo realized what a marketing draw it would make, because dude, baby polar bear=THE CUTE, and cashed in. I suppose it's a better way to get funding than begging the government for money, so good for them, but the media circus around the whole thing is a bit much.
At any rate, these are the few good shots we got (thank you, Sigma 28-300mm lens!). Can you stand the cute?
Berlin, Germany, February 2007
For those of us wondering why the Hilton is so expensive.
Apologies for the horizontal scroll...
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin, Germany, February 2007
Fabulous felt shop off Marienplatz, Munich, Germany, February 2007
Seriously, how cute is that felt bag in the second picture?
Munich, Germany, December 2006
Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria, December 2006
Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, December 2006
Westport, Ontario, Aug 2004
I'll be on vacation for the next week (with my new camera in tow!). See you when I get back!
The Distillery, Toronto, October 2006
Dalton Winery, Dalton, Israel, November 2006
In my quest to find a palatable red wine (see 101 in 1001 list), I've discovered the Dalton Winery in the Upper Galilee. My favourite is the Canaan red - which is actually their lowest-priced brand - described on their website as follows:
"Canaan Red:
This Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz blend is an easy drinking red wine with spicy forest fruit flavours, low tannins and a hint of vanilla. Drink Now.
WINEMAKING:
Red Canaan is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and Shiraz. Close proximity to the winery allowed for immediate crushing and fermenting. The color of the wine is extracted by a rigorous regime of pumping over and warm fermentation."
I visited the winery last Friday and went on a tour of the facilities (this is a fairly small winery). I was pleased to learn that the winery, in addition to producing some great wines, is socially committed to the area, purchasing their grapes directly from area growers, and choosing to employ locals over machines.
A town whose name I can't recall... , Switzerland, July 2006
Soller, Mallorca, October 2006
This was my least planned, and thus least accomplished day in Paris. I was woken up relatively late (past 8, that is) by a call from my sister and following a brief chat, got ready to go out. I decided to join another Paris Walks tour and the only offering for this particular day was the Montmartre area. Although I'd already been with Laurent, I decided to give it another whirl - see it in daytime and perhaps learn a bit more about the area.
I grabbed a pain au chocolat from the patissierie next door to the hotel and headed towards the Abbesses metro stop. A word of advice regarding this station. Be in superb athletic shape or take the elevator up. Not that I'd know anything about that *gasp*.
I arrived to find a rather huge group assembled around another Brit, whose name I don't recall. He was entertaining, but not nearly as fun as *swoon* Jonathan. The size of the group also interfered with an ability to build a rapport with him, or within the group, really. Overall, I'd rank this particular tour a "meh". I don't know if it's because I'd already seen some of the place, or because the group dynamic was so different than the previous tour, or what - but I just kind of wanted to get it over with, actually.
Here are some of the sights though...
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After wandering through the streets (followed most of the time by a rather pathetic looking street cat), we said goodbye to nameless guide and I wandered around the basilica a little. I only noticed the no photography sign on the door after I left... To my defense, I never photograph with a flash, so I wasn't doing any damage to the ancient artifacts or anything.
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The remainder of my day was spent wandering fairly aimlessly. I headed to Georges V street in search of the Hermes store, in an attempt to pick up a perfume sample Heewig had requested. I walked into the store and stood around for a bit, watching people spend thousands of euros on Christmas gifts and feeling like a right pauper looking for a freebie. I was thrilled to learn that I would have to repeat the experience because only the main store on St. Honore Faubourg street carries the particular scent I was after. On the way there I stopped at a bistro and had yet another ham and cheese sammich. Sigh. This vacation was such a culinary wasteland, which is clear indication that I'm an idiot.
After lunch I headed to the correct store, only to be sneered at by the saleswoman, as they don't give out samples. Cheap bastards. Foiled again, I walked into Sephora on Champs Elysees to get a palette for my sister, but in keeping with the theme, was foiled yet again by a sell out. I headed over to Bd. Haussmann to another store and emerged victorious.
As I was walking towards a metro to head back to the hotel I ran smack into a Starbucks. I was thisclose to actually ordering but had to stop myself. This was Paris, goddamit. I didn't come here to buy American shit, yo! That, and they didn't have a gingerbread latte. From there I just headed back to the hotel and crashed until the next day. The time? Five PM. I sure was living up the nightlife in Paris on this trip.
I'll put up a bit more about the rest of my trip sometime this week, but I wanted to put up this picture in the meantime, because I loved it so much. It was taken at a cafe I walked by in Montmartre.
Day 4 actually took me outside of the city, to Versailles. I got up early and took the train out of town on a chilly, foggy day. I bought an all entry ticket at the train station in Paris, which was actually a great deal - for about 20€ I got a return train fare and entry to all of the attractions at Versailles, including an audioguide for each venue.
Imagine if you will, being a queen and residing in the most magnificent of palaces, surrounded by beauty within and lush greenery outside. Surely after a while you'd get a little tired of bossing such a large staff about and having to walk so far from one end of the house to the other, so you'd have your king build you a smaller palace - a mini-palace if you will, a mere few hundred meters away. Sure, the place would be grand but it would only take you half an hour to get from one end of the house to the other - quite convenient. Naturally, after a while, the mini-palace would get tiresome as well, so you'd have your king build you something a little smaller and much cozier - a nano-palace, say. With only a few rooms in which to roam, you'd get a little bored, no? Why not, then, have your king build you a little peasant village, in which you could slum with the little people, milk some cows, bake some cakes?
These were the thoughts going through my head at Versailles. I found it almost completely overwhelming, on several fronts. Everything was beautiful - grand, intricate, stunning and so well preserved. At the same time, the scale was just difficult to grasp, especially in light of what I understand Paris living to be today - paying a king's ransom to live in a shoebox.
Another thing that amazed me was the fact that this wasn't just a house that featured great works of art - this was a house that WAS a great work of art. Every single detail was a masterpiece - every floor, every pillar, every wall, ceiling and every piece of furniture. It makes me look at my white boxy residence through different eyes - as much as I'd like to decorate it and make it lovely and welcoming and attractive, it will never be a work of art.
The order of the pictures doesn't exactly correspond to the course I followed, so for reference, I started my tour at
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The famous Hall of Mirrors connects the two wings of the palace. It is currently under renovation and only a small portion of it is open to the public. What little was available for viewing was magnficent.
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The grandness of the furnishings was very appealing and I particularly liked the following pieces - they are from the private apartments and the Grand Trianon (the mini-palace).
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The weather didn't really clear up much during the day and visibility was fairly poor. In spite of this, the grand scale of the gardens still shows in these pictures. Due to the season all of the flowerbeds were empty, leaving only the perennial frames and all of the statues were covered up with tarp for protection. Can you imagine this place in spring? I'll definitely have to make a return trip to Versailles at a different season, just to compare. Due to visibility issues I didn't really photograph the water canals, a replication of the Venetian tunnels, which were well over a mile long. Gliding down the canals was a pastime of the royals in residence.
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Since I mixed up the interiors of the various palaces, I'll just provide a few images of the exterior of the Grand and Petit Trianons.
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Leaving the Petit Trianon, you walk down winding paths, surrounded by fields, leading to the village - the "Hameau" - where the Queen played with the little people. It really felt like another world compared to the grandeur of the other properties. The grounds in their entirety were a sort of microcosm of France, if you think about it - grand palaces, "smaller" bourgeoise homes, and little peasant villages.
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After traipsing for hours from house to house, garden to garden, I began to walk away from Versailles, heading for the train that would take me back to the city.
Before I walked away I took a last look at Versailles.
Although it had been a very long day, it wasn't done yet. I had made plans to meet with Laurent for dinner. I had hoped to have time to get back and have a long shower to defrost from the nippy day, but ended up with less than an hour so I quickly changed and got ready. Laurent came to collect me at the hotel again (such a gentleman!). He was a very brave soul to even venture out, as he was sporting the beginning of an unfortunate flu. We rode the metro to Place Bastille, where he showed off the lovely opera building - he tried to look all cultured, claiming it was as lovely inside as it was out - blatant lies! He'd never been inside :). (Well, it may very well BE beautiful inside, but I won't be able to take his word on it.)
We searched for a restaurant and settled on a Corsican place called Bar Bat. We each ordered a starter of pork carpaccio and both Laurent and the waiter were quite mortified when I tried to order a white wine. Unwilling to deal with the scorn, I let Laurent order me a glass of red, which proved to be drinkable (I generally don't like red wine)(Heh - if you click the link for "Le Bar" on that site you see an image of the waiter who scoffed at my wine order!). Next I had a beef dish with figs and Laurent had a lamb dish - both were quite good. The conversation flowed throughout the evening and I got to find out all sorts of intersting things about Laurent. It's funny, we've known each other a really long time, but don't really know that much about each other.
We skipped dessert, ordering a cappuccino instead. I had the nerve to ask for mine without the seemingly obligatory sprinkle of cocoa on top, which greatly unsettled the waitress. After a short argument and what I imagine quite a bit of laughter at my expense - this was all in French so I'm assuming - the young lady finally agreed to bring me my coffee as I'd requested it.
We left the restaurent and headed back to the metro and I hopped off after two stops, sending Laurent on his way home to try and fight off his flu before a long trip to the country to spend Christmas with his family.
*Smiff* I hate goodbyes, especially when they come too soon. Of all the things I got to see in Paris (more reports still to follow), the absolute highlight was meeting Laurent, and I was sorry that I came at such a hectic time and we didn't get to spend a little more time together. I'll definitely have to go back to hang out with him and he'll have to come back here to visit with me.
After exploring the facade, I headed inside. The church is obviously massive but wasn't overwhelmingly crowded so I walked around slowly, taking in all the sites. I've developed quite a fascination with stained glass and enjoyed what was on offer. I did make sure to light a candle for roo and make a special wish for her, although I didn't remember to look for Ste. Clair's shrine to do it. Immediately after I took a picture of the candle, because I'm lame like that. Speaking of roo, maybe she could help me figure out why one of the stained glass windows depicted a Star of David. I also noticed a Star of David mosaic at Sacré Cœur the previous evening which was rather curious.
(Click the thumbnails for larger images.)
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I skipped the opportunity to go up to the Tower of Notre Dame, mostly because I didn't feel like climbing the stairs, so upon exiting I did a quick look around the back of the church. The side of the church is very ornate and ominous looking, however, there is a nice garden at the back as well as a nice view of the rear of the church.
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At this point I was getting a little hungry, so I began searching for the place that Jenny recomended for lunch. She couldn't remember the exact name of the place but described more or less where it was relative to Notre Dame. Well, I don't know if I found the right place but I ended up having a delicious (if somewhat pricey) croque monsieur at the Cafe Parvis.
Following lunch, immediately after uttering my one and only complete sentence in French for the entire trip to the waitress, I headed to nearby Ste. Chapelle, a chapel with astonishing stained glass.
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After Ste. Chapelle I headed over to the Conciergerie, which served as a prison for many years, housing many famous French prisoners, including Marie-Antoinette.
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Following that I walked down along the left bank, passing the churches of Saint Germaine du Pres and of Saint-Sulpice, and also passing by Pierre Herme twice. I actually walked into the shop both times I passed by, but was utterly overwhelmed by the crowd and the display, so didn't end up buying anything. I also felt a little too conspicuous about taking photographs in there. Not to worry though, I did not leave Paris without some macarons.
From Pierre Herme I headed up to the big department stores on Blvd. Haussmann, stopping off to buy Laurent a bottle of wine for Christmas (Laurent, was it any good? Did you use it to drown your sorrows a little?) and walked around the stores a little, but I was exhausted and just found the crowds overwhelming, so after a little while I went back to the hotel. I had walked so much during the day that I could barely put one foot in front of the other, but instead of just jumping into bed I went out to look for food. That was a big mistake, but I'll spare you the details. Just know that there is horrible, overpriced food in Paris.
I started this rainy day with breakfast at a cute orange cafe called Plein Soleil at the corner of Place de la République and Parmentier. Following a quick breakfast I headed over to Père Lachaise cemetery. The cemetery is the resting place of numerous famous and important people. I, of course, managed to avoid any and all "important" burial sites and just roamed around for an hour or so. The mood of the place is definitely somber, and the rainy weather only added to the feel. In several novels I've read about chase scenes taking place in this location, which I can definitely understand. The place is mostly constructed of crypts, some in good condition still, but many in disrepair.
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After leaving the cemetery I took the metro to the the Ile-de-la-Cité, the island connecting the right and left banks of the Seine, to visit Notre Dame and a couple more sites. Notre Dame is really a gorgeous edifice. Roo suggested I visit at night and I imagine it's quite awesome then, but I got there in early afternoon.
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Stay tuned to the continuation of Day 3...
During our conversation the previous night Laurent said he had some more Christmas shopping to do the next morning, so we decided to meet in the afternoon. I planned on spending the morning at Les Puces de Paris -Saint-Ouen, a huge flea market in a less than savory suburb of Paris. Laurent was a bit apprehensive about my decision to go there, but it was the one thing I'd researched and planned several weeks prior to the trip.
I woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel, and then headed up on the metro. I actually got there quite early and many of the stalls hadn't opened yet, so I roamed about in circles as the stalls opened up. There was truly amazing furniture there, but as I wasn't in the market for anything heavy, I just admired it and walked on. After a couple of hours of roaming, I walked into this hole in the wall second hand clothing stall and ran smack dab into the most. awesome. Gucci shoes ever. They were 50€ and I managed to talk the woman down a whole 5€ *eyeroll*. Anyway, with my gorgeous shoes stowed safely away in a blue grocery store bag, I headed back to my hotel. My friend Laurent called me just then and I told him about my wicked awesome purchase, which he promptly suggested was a fake. Bastard. What do you think?
Anyway, back at the hotel I took a quick nap and then got ready for my first ever meeting with Laurent.
Laurent is my first and oldest internet friend. Sometimes circa 1999 I was sitting in my apartment in Toronto, planted in front of the computer and roaming the internet. You know, much like right now! Except for it being dial up. Anyway, my ICQ beeps and I get a message from someone named Laurent, from France. Those were still the days where I was scared of the internet stalkers and such, being utterly convinced that somehow if I answered people from Toronto, they'd find out who I was and show up knocking on my door, so I never used to answer messages from people I didn't know. For some reason, the fact that Laurent was overseas and probably would drown on the swim over, I answered. Now that I think back on it, I think he even started his message with a "Shalom", which made me think he was Israeli. We got to chatting and chatted for several hours over a few days. We soon switched to email as back in those (dark) days, you had to pay for the internet according to usage.
We've stayed in touch on and off over the past 6 years, updating each other with our lives and getting to know each other, so I was stupid excited about meeting him FINALLY.
At abour 3pm I got a call from downstairs and rushed down to the lobby. Yay! Laurent was so great! The little bugger would not let me snap his picture, so please take it on my authority that he is gorgeous and funny and clever and soft spoken and entirely lovely altogether. Isn't it nice when your internet friends don't turn out to be the freaks you anticipate?
Anyway, we hopped in his little car and drove off to Montmartre, which is a touristy part of town, home to the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur and Place du Tertre, as well as a rich artistic history. As soon as we got out of the car, Laurent turned to me and asked: "Are you a sporty girl?". After a few more steps the reason for his questions became clear. You have to climb about eleventy zillion steps to get up to the church.
Seeing as I was starving we stopped into a little restaurent at the bottom of the stairs. While we were waiting for my order (Laurent wasn't hungry) he whipped out a little metro map of Paris and started marking it up with all the places I needed to visit during my stay. I tucked into a nice steak and then we shared a chocolate fondant. At this point, a developing theme of making fun of my coffee consumption first reared its ugly head, as well.
Energized by the first lick of food since my early breakfast, we hit the stairs, which Laurent insisted I had to take two at a time. I'm sure I made some sort of comment to the tune of "bite me" at this point, but I don't recall my precise phrasing. We got to the top of the stairs (not that bad) and I was treated to this view (click the pictures for a larger view):
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After walking around for a bit inside the church we stepped outside and headed towards Place du Tertre, which is filled with all sorts of souvenir shops, cafes, and "artists" who try to get you to pose for a picture and then charge a king's ransom for the hideous results. Look! We must have *just* missed Britney Spears sitting for her portrait! Such a pity, really.
We walked around the square, popping into shops here and there and then headed back to the car. We took the REALLY scenic route back to my hotel while Laurent pointed out all sorts of interesting sites as we drove by them. When we arrived back at the hotel he walked me to the door and we parted for the evening, having made plans to get together again on Tuesday evening.
I'm sort of skipping the real day 1, Friday, given that the only things that happened on it were flying, getting mildly lost, and sleeping. We start our adventure, therefore, on Saturday.
First, a little about where I was staying. I had a room booked at the Hotel du Marais, located at 2, bis Rue Commines, in the Marais section of town, which falls somewhere between the 3rd and 4th arrondisement. The Marais is a really lovely neighbourhood, with lovely buildings and shops. My room was essentially a glorified broom closet, but it was clean and comfortable, and given how little time I spent in it, I really wasn't all too bothered by its minute proportions.
On Saturday I left the hotel at about 9:00am and began looking for a place to have breakfast. I stopped at a small cafe named Florio, at the corner of Rue du Turenne and Rue des Francs-Bourgeois. The lovely looking waiter spoke "a leetle" (picture thumb and index finger closing in on each other, as it accompanied every "a leetle" that I would encounter henceforth) English and brought me my petit déjeuner, which included a baget (too hard), a coffee, an orange juice and holy batman, the most awesome buttery croissant I'd ever tasted.
I quickly ate my breakfast (8.50€) and headed towards the nearest store in which I could buy a scarf, for I had underestimated how cold I would be, in this case the BHV department store across from Hôtel de Ville. From there I headed over to the St. Paul metro station, to join the Le Marais walking tour offered by the Paris Walks tour company. There was a small crowd gathered around a lovely looking fellow just handing him money, so I assumed I was at the right place. After he'd taken our money he thanked us and told us our real guide would be coming around shortly, while he took the loot and went to the pub.
He was really quite funny (and well, kind of dreamy) and it was a great way to start the tour. After introducing himself as Jonathan, he stood us around in a circle and gave us a short history of Paris, in which I got to star as the great wall of Paris. He also treated us to a rather hilarious account of the public pay toilets spread throughout the city.
Here are some of the sites we saw (click on thumbnails for larger images).
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During the tour I'd met a lovely Australian named Anita and we decided to go to lunch together afterwards. We popped into a place at Place de Vosges and Place de Bourgogne. We chatted amiably over lunch and decided to scoot over to the Musée d'Orsay. I should qualify this by saying that I'm really not a big fan of museums, but everyone told me this was the one place I had to go, so go I did. The museum is housed inside a turn of the century train station, and is really quite gorgeous. Anita kept acting like my sugar mommy and insisted on paying for my lunch, the museum entrance fee AND the audio guide. We started off looking around together, but soon drifted apart to look at the different displays, agreeing to meet up at the audio guide desk at closing. There were three particular things that really impressed me at the museum.
The first being the building itself, the second being the lovely furniture exhibit, and the third being an exhibit called Chruches: East or West?, which features images of churches done in a drafting style. It was just beautiful.
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All in all, I was pleased to have picked this museum to fill me museum quota. I finished my roaming a little before Anita so while I waited for her I consulted my map, which told me that the Champs-Elysées were nearby, so when we walked out, we decided to go find them. We unfortunately turned right instead of left, and ended up walking the wrong way up the Tuileries, towards the Louvre. Undeterred, we turned around and marched along Rue Rivoli in the other direction. We stopped off for a hot chocolate at a cafe, at which point Anita said her goodbyes. She only had one more day in Paris and had to get some sleep so she could tackle it with full force.
Even though my legs were killing me by this point, I decided to keep going, and kept thinking I was going the wrong way, but there seemed to be a lot of people going in the same direction, so I just kept on trucking. I finally came upon the street, and wasted no time finding Sephora, where I quickly and efficiently dispensed with 147€.
In spite of being almost unable to put one foot in front of the other, I marched on to the end of the street to have a look at the Arc de Triomph, which is quite a formidable structure.
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And with that, I decided to call it a night. I took the metro back to my hotel and was thrilled to discover a message waiting for me there from my friend Laurent. I called him up and we made plans to meet the following afternnon. Squee! I have so much to say about Laurent, but it'll have to wait for my next entry.
Here's a little something until I manage to get all my thoughts and pictures together to describe the week I just spent in Paris.
Sigh.
I was getting all excited because I planned on going to Paris in November to stay with my friend L and tear through the town, and my friend Jenny was going to hop on the train from London to help me tear through Sephora, but alas, 'tis not to be. I just got put on a rushed project with an end of November deadline, and December is another deadliney month.
I truly do apologize for the appaling lack of content on the site. I mean, really - a to do list? My life is obviously boring beyond any possible measure, so my only option is to clearly make my readers (are there any?) equally bored.
Bear with me as I try to inject some interest into my life.
Yesterday my sister and I joined our friend for an off-road trip in the lower Galilee. There were some stressful downhill descents (stressful mostly for me in the passenger seat), but it was a great day, with perfect weather and great company.
And of course, no trip would be complete if we didn't raise a drind from a picher of limonad.
I'm in full blown preparation mode for my departure tomorrow (well, maybe except for now, when I'm sitting in bed with the computer in my lap, waiting for Coronation Street to come on). My packing is at the final stages - I have another half load of laundry to somehow shove into my suitcases, which as it is are brimming with stuff. I ended up buying a hockey duffel because it can hold more volume. I've seriously packed that one in. It's at about the limit of 70lbs. My other suitcase is completely full, but only weighs around 40lbs, so I'll need to figure a way to shove another 30lbs into it.
I've got the family coming over for a final farewell today (yay, rappydaddy falafel!), and a final get together with some coworkers this evening.
I leave tomorrow at... (*checks ticket*) 7:30pm, and since I'm going to BEG for a business class upgrade, I plan to be there at around 4:00pm.
As a final observation, I'd like to note that I own A LOT OF CRAP.
On my second day of travelling with Emilie, we headed to the Ferry Building Market.
I took an insane amount of pictures, so I'll let them tell the story.
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On my third day in San Francisco, I was on my own. Jenny and Mike were both working, so I decided to take a guided walking tour of Chinatown. I got to Portsmouth Square, where the group was to meet, and meandered about, looking for the gathering spot. The square is really rather ugly, hence the lack of pictures. It's a bit of a concrete jungle, and it is filled with Chinese gentlemen playing some sort of game - it didn't look like mahjong. 
I spotted a girl walking around with the same map I had printed, so I approached her to ask if she was looking for the group. She was a lovely French girl, named Emilie. The two of us walked around looking for the rest of the group, and ended up spending the entire walk together. She hadn't really wanted to take part, but as she's writing a thesis about Chinese Americans, she thought it would be a good starting point for her research. It was a fortuitous meeting, as we ended up traipsing up and down the streets of San Francisco for the remainder of the week.
The tour wasn't bad, but it was far from amazing, content-wise, so Emilie and I ended up just trailing the group and occasionally paying attention to what the guide was saying. We spent our time mostly snapping away with our cameras.
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The day I arrived in San Francisco was dedicated to lemmings, so I won't expand on that.
On the next day, Sunday, Mike, Jenny and I packed up the car, and headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The weather was incredible, and the drive was gorgeous. The first stop was the Rabbit Ridge Winery and Vineyards, in Healdsberg (which is VERY MUCH in Sonoma, the deprived younger sister of Napa, and who holds intense feelings of resentment and superiority to this very day ;)). It's a small, lovely winery, where the wines are apparently very good, and the prices are unbeatable. Mike and Jenny picked up a case of wine for $50 dollars.
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Next up was the town of Napa, where we stopped in at the Dean & Deluca store. I think that even the most seasoned foodie (which I am certainly not) would be amazed at this store. After repeated dipping stops, I bought myself a bottle of amazing St. Helena's flavoured olive oil. I was also coveting the fig balsamic vinegar, but at $14 dollars a bottle, each, I had to pick my battles.
| Cheese! | |
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| Olives! | |
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| Coffee! | Sausages! |
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| Candy! | |
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After the sensory overload, we headed to the sammich bar, and I got a really super yummy sammich. I can't recall what it was exactly, but I think there was turkey, and arugula. We sat outside and got our nourishment while taking in the view.
We made a quick stop for a big vat of olive oil, and then headed to the PlumpJack Winery. The wine was decidedly more expensive, and since I understand nothing of wine, I assume it was to pay for their swank tasting room. While Jenny and Mike tasted, I meandered to the back porch with my camera. There was a seating area, under a wooden pergola, and rows upon rows of vines.
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And with that, we could barely stay awake to make the drive home. We got in right at 6:00pm, in time to catch The Sopranos, The Simpsons, and the season finale of Alias.
Good times.
The past week, spent in San Francisco with Jenny and Mike, was truly one of the best vacations I've had.
San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen, and the next few entries will describe my trip, filled with sightseeing and culinary adventures, and will include some of the (entirely too many) pictures I took.
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