The Return

To all of your true followers of this most important blog: 2006 marks the return of it to an active state. What can I say really? 2005 was a great and exciting year, lots of things happened, lots of travel was done, lots was learned -- however I remain firmly committed to making 2006 an even better year, true to the new years challenge I found on some other blog: "living life with intention" (link forgotten) I'm not exactly sure what that means yet, but I am committed to finding out...
BTW. The picture above is from our new years trip to Mt. Bachelor in Oregon, great mountain, great snow and beautiful high dessert landscapes to and from, as in this picture where the sun broke through the rainy dark sky, suddenly, unexpectedly...

Solvang - or - Denmark, CA [7/14]

Solvang also known as the "Danish Capital of America" was a no miss stop on our trip. I've been to Solvang before and it really is, well, quaint. It doesn't look much like modern Denmark, but it certainly does look like the Denmark that goes with a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale - so good enough. Surprisingly to me, there were also quite a few Danes in town this time. Solvang has an interesting tourist demographic, its visitors can be divided into to roughly 3 categories:
1. Senior Citizens or air-conditioned bus trips
2. Danes who've seen Solvang on TV at home and want to check it out (one of those great tourism mysteries: why go around the world to see something that looks like home?)
3. People who are only there for the Wine (country)
Seems that after the movie Sideways the latter category is slowly taking over, which is a bad thing for people like me coming for the abundant Danish treats , but probably a good thing for the towns general economic development.

Speaking of treats, we were proud to say that we did make it to Mortensen's Danish Bakery. This was a key destination on our trip, as it is run by relatives of one of my Mom's friends. They weren't there to meet us in person, but their Rom-kugler get two thumbs up. Another important Solvang treat destination is Ingeborg's where they take pride in feature almost any possible kind of Danish licorice candy - a feast for the licorice connoisseur, and probably horrifying to anyone else (i should note that they also sell Danish chocolates, which are probably more agreeable to most).

While in Solvang we had the great luck to stay in the "Denmark Cabin" featured here - lucky us - imagine if they had given us the Sweden cabin? (silly Danish joke - sorry ;)

California Missions / El Camino Real [7/12-15]

Given our success with the Oregon Lighthouses we set out to see as many California Missions as possible on our way down the coast. There's 21 California Missions that a situated along and linked together by the historic "Camino Real" - quoting this Camino Real Website & borrowing their overview map:

"The history of the El Camino Real and its bells, is quite interesting. At the same time that the American colonies were rebelling against England, a handful of Spaniards and Mexicans established outposts up the California coast. The first was established in 1769 at San Diego, when they established a fortress and a Franciscan mission. From that point, a series of small self-reliant religious missions were established. Each was a day's travel apart and linked by El Camino Real, Overall, El Camino Real ("The King's Highway") linked 21 missions, pueblos and four presidios from San Diego to Sonoma."

21 turned out to be quite a bit to visit, especially since the Camino Real follows the current 101 highway more closely so than the 1/PCH that was our chosen travel route. Another challenge not to be underestimated, were the mission visits themselves. The Missions are not state parks, but belong to and are run by the Catholic church, which is very noticeable in their museums and in particular in their gift shops, this can be a bit of a trial for the average agnostic Dane...

Here are the 6 we did make it to:

San Juan Bautista - couldn't miss this one for the Hitchcock bonus: this is were the shot the mission scenes for vertigo (although they did tweak it a bit, adding a tower that doesn't actually exist). This one also comes with a particularly lovely Mexican style little village alongside it, which is where we found the Heavenly Espresso shop, which' sign is pictured above...

San Carlos Borromeo de Carmel this one is situated on the outskirts of Carmel and was our favorite in terms of outside beauty -- Interestingly we found that all of the missions we visited were known for being "the most beautiful of all California mission" ... but this one really was amazingly pretty, with a gorgeous amount of colorful flowers surrounding it.

San Luis Obispo de Tolosa - can't say much about this one except for liking the painted interior of the church and maybe also worth mentioning, this was the first one to feature substantial information about the Chumash people who lived in the area before the mission was erected.

Santa Ines - situated at the edge of town in Solvang and next to one of the Danish bakeries, this one came with a delicious smell of Danish pastry while visiting the cemetery, as well as a very well narrated tour of the grounds, pointing out sites of former buildings etc.


Santa Barbara - the beautiful Santa Barbara. One thing we noticed was that as we traveled further south the missions were getting bigger and more costly to visit... Santa Barbara really couldn't keep up with the other missions, although it again was claimed to be the 'most beautiful of California missions'.

San Juan Capistrano - "the Jewel of the Missions" and right down the road from my sisters house in the OC. The church is heavily damaged by the 1812 earthquake as can be seen in this picture, but otherwise the largest missions we stopped at.

Hearst Castle [7/13 - CA]

After some debating I've decided to give Mr. Hearst and his castle their own blog entry. The last time I came by this way (pretty much exactly 10 years ago - gulp!) we didn't bother to stop as our "young & hip" guidebook told us, that it was overpriced and not worth it -> wrong and what a pity - this is so much fun.
Visiting Hearst Castleis indeed pricy, we ended up paying a full $24 for the 'intro tour' [recommended for 'first time visitors' - they have a total of 5 different tours to choose from, because the place is so big] - however considering that the tour is 2.5 hours and considering which large 'operation' they have in place to make visits possible, it seems entirely justified.

The outside of the castle (which is really not one, but several buildings) is interesting seen with European eyes, it's a bit of an eclectic southern European style mish-mash, there's a bit of Gaudi, combined with some ancient Romans, combined with a bit of Notre Dame...[-- without wanting to criticize Julia Morgan, the castle's architect, who did an extremely fine job given the demands of her customer] The inside is an equally eclectic, but very impressive amassment of antiques and artworks from all other the world. What blew me away was the sheer number of objects that was brought to this remote location and hauled up this hillside at a time before the PCH - Pacific Coast Highway - was in service.

All in all an amazing collection of Art that Hearst had the luck to be able to acquire right after WW1, when most of Europe was broke and willing to sell out to fund rebuilding the continent - how else do you end up with the 600 years old hand carved oak interior of a French church? Or the ceiling of/from a palace on the Iberian peninsula? Oh and all the flags from the Sienna Palio - as seen in the shot of the dining room on the left. BTW. Notice the Ketchup bottles on the table? Apparently Hearst knew that he was one of the 3 richest people in America and hence figured, that since none of his guests had more money than he did, no need to impress anyone...

As you can tell I simply loved this visit, and much credit for that probably goes to our guide Steve (they wont let you walk around on your own - too risky in terms of stealing or breaking stuff) - he must have known pretty much any and all anecdotes or fun stories about Hearst and the castle which made this excursion very memorable. My very favorite 'room', was the one pictured here: it's the indoor swimming pool - which is entirely covered in 1/2'' x 1/2'' Italian class mosaic tile - what can I say besides I want one!

Monterey & Big Sur [7/12-13 - CA]

From Palo Alto we were anxious to hit the coast again. The visit to silicon Valley had been worth it - Dad now knows where silicon Valley is... We hit the road towards Santa Cruz enjoying along the way the soft yellow hills, that so perfectly match what a Dane would call "Cowboy Landscape" - read: this is what the landscape looks like in European wild west novels and movies...

Our first stop on the way is the Mission San Juan Bautista, but since I am doing a separate entry on Missions, you'll have to wait for details on that one. We continue on for another 30 minutes or so of driving through strawberry fields - quite literally. This was the is smelling part of the trip, the air is full of sweet, ripe and happy strawberry smells - we however do not envy their picking crews who are hard at work under the California sun.

Marine layer comes back to meet us and we know we most be very close to Monterey and indeed so we are. Since we've decided to steer clear of too crazy crowds after our San Fran visit we cruise right by the city and head straight for the 17-Mile Drive that takes you around the tip of the Monterey Peninsula. At exactly 50 cents per mile ($8.50 is the fee to enter the drive) - it's a lot less crowded than the public areas but still very well visited.

It is a pretty drive - but what impressed us most were not the views (they are no different then in many other places along the coast) but the wildlife that seemed to be thriving with the many visitors (or to some extend almost enjoying the attention). My favorites were the seals shown in this picture that were lined up for a tanning session - what you can't see in the pictures is, that there were more seals waiting in the water to hit the beach as soon as someone would take off or go for a dip. I'd dare say that this most be the Seal version of Orange County...

Anyway, we were finally ready to visit what Dad considered the most important part of the 17-Mile Drive - the Pebble Beach golf course. We where wondering whether they would let visitors in, but of course they do... Only to serve them outrageously expensive drinks on their nice little deck overlooking the 18th hole. (Yes this is the deck you see in the background on TV, when they go for the green on 18). Unfortunately the golfing we got to watch wasn't really all that impressive - or let's put it this way, I wouldn't be intimidated to play this course [but then again, I did beat Dad when we played Newcastle in Bellevue, WA -- sorry Dad - had to rub it in :)]

On we went, passing through the pretty little town of Carmel with all of its pretty little shops (note to reader: this is were Clint Eastwood once ruled as mayor), passing by the Carmel Mission (more later) and then finally hitting the road into the real Big Sur. We knew it was going to be 'lonely' and boy was it ever. Miles and miles of beautiful, rugged coastline and curvy road stretched before us.

We had decided that we wanted to stay the night in 'some crazy little place' and there are a few of these in the Big Sur, but the keyword really is 'few'. It took us quite a while and quite a few miles, before we came upon a place that had room for us - the magnificent 'town' of Gorda Springs. Gorda Springs is so small, that it doesn't even show up on most maps and still it is truly majestic in its own little way.

The 'town' consists of a general store, that is also a gas station, that is also a restaurant, that also has little hill side cabins for rent. I was thrilled, the entire trip I had been waiting for us to stay in a place with a view of the pacific and our little Cabin in Gorda was as close as you can come to perfecting that dream. Gorda's other claim to fame is its Whale Watching. Given that the coast is so steep at this spot, the Ocean right in front of it is very deep, which makes Whales come there to frolic - in December to March, so no whales for us, but definitely a place worth coming back to for that purpose.

There's not much else going on in Gorda, this was one of the places, where my "Wireless Internet?", question was answered with "we don't even get TV or cell phone reception out here" - so no connectivity for us this day. Instead the Cabin hostess was kind enough to give us a Duralog for our outdoor fireplace, so we spent the evening watching the ocean and the stars, catching a few passing satellites...

Cruisin' [7/11 - CA]

Time to leave Napa and head down to San Francisco. Perfect weather for top down driving and Dad has by now taken quite a liking to it. We approach the city and the Golden Gate bridge from the North sneaking peak-a-boo views of it along the way and we are very excited about it being such a clear and gorgeous day.


We don't have reservations for visiting Alcatraz (bummer!) but go down to Pier 39 & Fishermen's Wharf anyway. Turns out to be the most crowded place we've been to so far, tourists are just everywhere and we are amazed at what 'stuff' people are willing to buy and pay for.


We manage to have a good time regardless, enjoying the vintage ships in the San Francisco Maritime Park and the amazing views of Golden Gate & Alcatraz.


The day ends in Palo Alto where we stay in the cozy Cowper Inn - a 1893 Mansion - and spend time hanging out with my friend Marc Tobias. He tells us about Arnold Schwarzenegger's visit to the Yahoo campus that day and takes us to my favorite American diner (forgot its name...) where we enjoy huge and spicy hamburgers and delicious sundaes.

Wein, Weib & Gesang! [7/10 - Napa Valley]

Where to start? Our first realization in Napa was that there are way too many wineries and way too little time - have a look at this wonderful map provided by the Napa Vintners and you'll get the idea: Map of Napa Valley - luckily we are used to tough challenges and so Julie crafted a battle plan that would take us to 5 of these fine establishments before boarding the Wine Train for a gourmet dinner @ 6.30 PM.

Here are the 5 wineries we made it to:
Sterling
Beringer
Rutherford Hill
Stag's Leap
Hess Collection

and here are the results from the JTWM jury:

Sterling: Gorgeous setting, the only winery featuring a ski resort style gondola taking visitors from the parking lot to their tour and tasting rooms. Their tour is great, very well laid out in beautiful and spacious modern, white, Mediterranean style buildings. Their wine, well, unfortunately, I can't say anything good about their wine really. Of the 4 kinds they served on the tour (2 whites & 2 reds) none were memorable or even decent - this winery was the tour highlight in terms of views and the low light in terms of wine. Our advice to Sterling: try spending more money on the wine and less on the presentation (read the on site Gondola).


Beringer: Good mainstream kind-a large winery. Not really all that impressive or outstanding in any way - decent wines and decent setting - but with a bit of a 'fast food' flavor to the experience given the many people they serve. If I remember correctly Julie quite enjoyed their Chardonnay - a wine that I mostly fail to enjoy, so can't comment on whether that was a good call or not :).


Rutherford Hill: The one with the Cave - something we were quite excited about. These guys dug their own large hole (ok: Cave) in the cliff wall to allow their wines to mature in perfect temperature and humidity. The latter being important, as it means the barrels will have to be topped off less often, hence letting less oxygen into the maturing wine, which is considered a good thing (hey - I did learn something!) Unfortunately this superior technique wasn't really noticeable in the wines we tried on site. They also get minus points for a having a tour that is a little on the long side (without tasting stops!), a bland tour guide and finally for allowing large numbers of non-wine drinkers on the tour (what's the point?!)


Stag's Leap: My personal tasting favorite. This winery is small and there is no fuss, aka intricate (read lengthy) tours and gift shops - it's just a short hope from the parking lot to the tasting room where you can get right at it. There are no non-wine drinking tourists at this place. We loved their red wines, which are very rich and full bodied and even their Chardonnay is decent (read non fruity).

I'll add a side note here: While touring Napa the Sebring shone more than ever - it was the perfect vehicle for 'hopping' from vineyard to vineyard in style, while enjoying the warm California breezes and the magnificent views on all sides and I think we got quite a few jealous looks on this day.


Hess Collection: Last stop on our day tour and Julie's favorite (think she liked the Lion in their logo...) - the "Collection" refers to the extraordinary artwork they feature on site - truly amazing and a nice touch. Wines were above average and their Syrah in particular a feast, so we decided to bring a case back as Julie's birthday present. Which led to what seemed to be hours of confusion for their poor sales person, to much amusement to us, until he overcharged us by $100 -- we got that settled and came out with a beautiful, logo embellished, wooden case (which I of course didn't take any pictures of - so you get to enjoy a shot of my talisman frog visiting their scrumptious pond instead).


6 hours of wine tasting in the sun & 100 deg. F. can be a challenge, so we were truly excited about boarding the wine train the evening, ready to kick back and enjoy the views and food without having to do much ourselves. It was a pretty ride, although we were a bit disappointed that other guests did not go to the same lengths as we did in terms of finding a wearing proper evening attire - but that's a story I'll leave to Tim to tell some other time...