CALIFORNIA

It is such a magical word. It’s also a place where everybody wants to go (! don’t lie, of course you do…). And no wonder. We see it in Hollywood movies, Youtube videos and National Geographic pictures… Everywhere! And it’s always amazing! But how’s it in reality? I’ll tell you —> amazing, but different. I noticed that all Americans claim Northern part of California is a true wonder. Southern side on the other hand, is believed to be much more crowded, really touristy and super posh/pop. So, based on my ‘research’ I decided to visit and experience this stuff! Enjoy ma’ pictures and delicious comments! :*

Highway 1

This road, going along the Pacific ocean, is totally one of California’s highlights and a must see/experience thing! As wiki claims: it is 655.845 miles or 1,055.480 km long, starting from Los Angeles (actually – Dana Point) in the very south, then pointing up straight through San Francisco and its famous Golden Gate Bridge and even more up to the northern Cali. The highway offers landscapes as diverse as sunny Hollywood-style beaches and Piña Coladas smell in the air…to rocky and empty wild ocean vistas, full of weird smelly plants on the sand.. So yep, Highway 1 was actually a baseline of my trip in Northern California which allowed me to see…

…Sonoma.

If you know at least a little bit about wine, you definitely know that the best American wine comes from Sonoma and Napa. That is the reason why I wanted to go there. And actually I got just exactly what I wanted (!) – free wine tasting experience right in the middle of a vineyard (/ˈvɪn.jɑːd/ … by the way. This is how this word has to be pronounced. I also learned it in Sonoma ;D), super friendly hosts and quite a few pictures with me and Californian  Z i n f a n d e l  next to the vine trees!

San Francisco

Moving forward, right after experiencing Sonoma, we headed south… right through the “Gates of Gold”.  We watched the sun sink into the great Pacific ocean from the Land’s End ( it’s a park in San Francisco within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area) and went down to the highly recommended Monterrey Bay. We didn’t stay long in San Francisco, because it was already a third time we were there, though of course you cannot ever get enough of this vibrant hippie and colorful city, but we decided to explore a bit more ‘wild’ and less inhabited part of Cali[fornia].

Monterey Bay

Me and my friends spent most of our time in the Monterrey Bay area, because [depending on the opinions of our American friends] the town of Monterrey is really sweet, has nice beaches and friendly people. Also it is not super overcrowded and has one of the best wine tasting places and restaurants offering delicious food! Well, we were totally in for that 😉 ❤ {you know…food is definitely one of my passions and if it’s served with a glass of nice wine! Mhmm! I’m happy :P} Besides, the seashore there is really colorful and nice and it’s accompanied by numerous of other tiny sweet towns along it. For example Carmel, which looked just exactly as I would imagine a fake French town  built in Hollywood for filming. And… woups! I almost forgot to mention that there in Carmel, we were lucky enough to see wild dolphins swimming in the ocean few meters from the beach, we were sitting. For me, as a Norther European, that was quite a thing!

Carmel

Up above you can see some more pictures of Carmel and it’s French looking  pâtisserie interior and of course…pastries! Those were our lunch. I’m not even kidding… And looking down. Another wine tasting in Monterrey accompanied by blue cheese, nuts, saffron salami, dried strawberries and honeycomb… I just cannot control saliva in my mouth right now. Need to take a break.

[brake] haha.

BIG SUR

Coming back after a brake, I’ll continue on the last gem of northern part of dream state of US… This time it’s BIG SUR. Yep, capital bold letters for this one. It looks like pure National Geography: wild, empty and stunning. It has huge rocks erratically scattered in the ocean, purple sand, weird water plants laying on the beach and dramatically looking clouds above the water… It’s also impossible not to mention a gorgeous sunset we had a chance to see. Have a look at everything I told you just a little bit lower…

And what is more. It was a little bit weird for me, that the place wasn’t crowded. I mean, there weren’t many people hanging around the area, just us and a lone photographer with his tripod and camera, trying to catch a moment of the beautiful sun rays’ dance in the cloudy sky.

Summa summarum

California is truly wonderful, but I cannot compare the two completely different parts of it – the North and the South. However, Northern part was really beautiful and inspiring, full of gourmet treats, good wine and gorgeous nature. People here are also not the typical obsessed Americans but rather healthy, active, very friendly and always smiling folks! Some of them are also high most of the time… Haha..just kiddin’!!!. Though maybe it’s not even that bad! At least they’re not aggressive 😉 . And yes! Sorting trash, saving water, exercising and  healthy lifestyle is common there! Loved it…
Still missin’ it… I’m definitely coming back! ✌