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Saturday, February 6th, 2010

California - Day 5

February 6th, 2010 @ 07:16 | permalink

After Tuesday's tribulations regarding paying for things the trip got back on track on Wednesday. The end of the line for the Caltrain is conveniently close to the eastern end of The Embarcadero so I rode that all the way in and spent the next couple of hours slowly wandering my way along the front with the warm sun on my back taking pictures, learning about the history of The Embarcadero and San Francisco's piers as well as stopping for lunch on the way.

At the other end of The Embarcadero I hired a bike and set off to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. This is obviously a popular pastime judging by the number of others on hire bikes or their own wheels going both ways. Indeed the hire company pointed out several routes I could follow after crossing the bridge but given the time and my lack of lights I decided not to push on beyond the shortest route into Sausalito after which I turned round and went back. It was great to feel the wind in my hair as I went across the bridge and the southern part of Marin county. Plus the scenery is stunning. :)

Thursday Lori took me south and we spent about 90 minutes walking around the aquarium at Monterey viewing the some of the wide variety of life that most of us barely realise exist. The sheer vibrancy of some the colours on show was amazing. Following that we went down to Carmel which is yet another of picturesque towns that seem to exist round here. All very pricey with of boutiques and antique shops but no fast food franchises or hotel chains. We started at the beach giving me my first real look at the Pacific for 23 years before working our way around town. We finished the day off with a late lunch/early dinner in Santa Cruz but didn't go for a walk around as it was absolutely hosing it down - something it continued to do until well into the early hours.

On Friday we headed north of San Francisco stopping firstly in Muir Woods to view some of the oldest redwood trees in the world - and allegedly the inspiration for Endor. It was so quiet and peaceful there and any pictures I posts probably won't do it justice. After that we drove NE to Sonoma which is in the heart of wine country around here. Didn't do any wine tasting but we did have lunch, pick up a skirt and taste some cheese. Pity I can't take any home. :)

We finished the day by returning to San Francisco to take in some of the bits I missed in my wanderings this week such as Haight-Ashbury - the centre of the Summer of Love; heading up to Twin Peaks (one of the highest parts of the city) to admire the view and finishing by driving down one of the crookedest streets in the world: Lombard Street.

A pity then that I have to fly home tomorrow. It has been a great two weeks for me - my first foreign trip in 6+ years, my first real holiday in more than that - and has raised some questions as to where I go next.