Jacek
We spent two days in the beautiful city of San Francisco. We didn’t put flowers in our head but we met some gentle people there ;)
San Francisco has always been a place that held a special place in my heart. There’s just something about this city that makes it so pleasant. Starting at the Piers, we had a good view of the Alcatraz and then met a group of sun bathing sea lions and later on explored a real submarine docked in the bay.
After quite a walk uphill and then down the crazy curved Lombard street, we enjoyed an overview of the city from the Coit tower. Well at least from it’s bottom, as the wait time to get to the top was around an hour and half. We walked through the China town and enjoyed a meal in an authentic chinese restaurant where locals like to eat.
Day two offered a relaxing cup of green tea in the Japanese tea garden followed by a visit in Japan town, where we observed ‘Obon’ - a festival to commemorate the deceased ancestors.
Of course what visit to San Francisco would be complete without taking a walk across the Golden Gate bridge. I mean come on, how can you not love this city?
Jacek
And we made it! From Atlantic to Pacific ocean, we finally arrived at my place in the Bay Area. But this is not a goodbye letter.
There’s still more to come, just less driving now.
We drove to San Jose, the heart of the Silicon Valley to check out the Museum of Innovation, which allows you to interact with displayed items. Robots, operating tables, ultra sound scanners were there to play around with. We created 3d computer models of our faces, designed our own roller coaster just to ride it in the simulator and even programmed a potato (don’t ask).
Next stop the Winchester House of Mystery. You know the Winchester rifles, right? Well, the widow of Mr. Winchester was told by an occultist that if she stops building her house, the spirits of all people killed by Winchester guns will hunt her. And so the house was being developed 24 hours a day for 38 years until the death of Mrs. Winchester. The result? A mansion with over 160 rooms and oddities like stairways that lead to the ceiling or doors that offer a drop from second floor right into the garden. Some say eccentric, others just plain loony.
Jacek
From LA, we took highway 1 North, heading towards San Francisco. It’s a beautiful drive on narrow, curvy roads in the mountains with the Pacific Ocean by your side most of the way. After passing Malibu and Santa Barbara, we stopped in Solvang, which is a city modeled to resemble Copenhagen in Denmark.
After a lunch at Paula’s Pancakes (Danish pancakes that is), we continued North on Highway 1, where we spotted a Segway rental place. If you don’t know what a Segway is, imagine a chariot without the horses and a vertical stick in the middle that is the driving wheel. If your imagination still fails after this rich description, head over to the gallery and see what I’m talking about and check out www.segwaybythebay.com. That was FUN!
Jacek
Home of the rich and famous and those who want to join them. Los Angeles, a huge city with population of over 10 million people is a display of both extreme wealth and extreme poverty. It all depends on which highway exit you take.
But anyway, we’ve traveled to all the nice places including Santa Monica Pier and 3rd Street Promenade, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd and Fullerton, right outside LA, where we had a sleepover (thanks Helen!).
Next day was all about entertainment. We entered the Universal Studios to get a glimpse at what’s going on behinds the scenes of the big Hollywood productions. Even thought most rides are pretty outdated (Terminator 2, Back to The Future, The Mummy) but they’re fun nevertheless. And it made us feel like kids in a candy store :)
Jacek
Route 66. The Mother Road. The Main Street of America has invited us for a ride from Death Valley to Los Angeles and a pleasant ride it was.
Connecting LA and Chicago, Route 66 used to be traveled by thousands of motorist before Interstate highway system was introduced. Now, decomissioned, it offers a slower but much more enjoyable journey with neon lit motels and diners with great feel and great food.
We stopped at a diner like that and appart from having fantastic food, the diner also happed to be featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill 2.
We also stopped by in Calico, CA. A ghost town that used to have a population of 1200 before everybody left. The town has been adapted as a tourist attraction with authentic buildings and artefacts from the times of the Wild West.
Next stop - the jungle of Los Angeles.
Jacek
Just when we thought we knew the empty, lifeless lands inside out, Death Valley redefined the the term ‘the middle of nowhere’. The hottest place on earth (usually 112 F / 44 C) and the lowest elevation point in North America. Seriously, it’s hard to even breathe there and whoever decides to do some hiking there must obviously be a masochist.
On the good note, it’s quite pretty. Huge open spaces, dried out lakes and amazing sunsets. Just don’t catch a flat tire there.
Before the Valley, we flew over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead to enjoy the spectacular view.
Next, we finally take the mother road.
