Summer Vacation: Day 6&7
I've been hearing a lot of you complain that I've been spamming your facebook and twitter walls with notifications about my daily roam arounds in California. Partly because of that and partly because I've been extremely lazy/tired, I've decided to combine my past two days into a single ramble and put it down.Well let me think, where did I leave at, in the last post? Oh yea..it was the day before I went sightseeing with my friend Divya and her mom. What did we do the day before yesterday? It was a confused and unplanned trip sort of. I remember talking with Divya and planning a new trip almost every time we discussed things over the phone. We swapped between plans of visiting LA and roaming around San Jose, San Mateo and San Francisco faster than the time a Ferrari takes to touch a 100mph mark haha :DBut then, we had to do something right? We finally decided on spending the first day going to Napa Valley and beaches in San Mateo. Napa valley is this awesome place in California thats full of vineyards and wineries. The location is just scenic and I fell in love with the place the moment I saw it. Unluckily they did not let us take pictures inside the winery :( That was also the first time me and Divya had a wine testing. It was kind of funny because Divya has never had wine before and seeing the expression on her face after taking the first sip - PRICELESS. It was actually a lot of fun because, even though she had had like only a few sips, she was tipsy already and I had to drive down the windy roads because honestly, I didn't want to trust Divya with my life and her moms' life in the state of hers :P
By the time we were done with the wine tasting, it was just 4.30PM and we had no idea where to head off to next. This is the point where Google and Yelp never fail to amaze. Just type in 'nearby attractions' and boom...you now have so many places to visit and so little time. Both aunty and I hadn't been to a beach here and finally we ended up driving up to San Mateo beach . The view from the car as we sped along the freeway was just WOW. The moment we got down, we started shivering. The beach was a 2 hour drive from the vineyards and it took us even longer thanks to the traffic.
Oh my! I just realized that I'm done writing down just one day's entry so far. I still have yesterday's stuff to talk about. So bear with me. Well actually, yesterday was pretty lazy and slow even though we saw a lot of places. I guess everyone was tired from the day before and when Divi finally came to pick me up, it was almost noon. We had made plans of taking the 17-mile drive to Pebble beach and Carmel city and for a change, we stuck to our plans :PIt was bright and sunny here in San Jose but by the time we reached the beach, the weather was in total contrast. It was chilly but not too cold and the sun was just peaking around the corner. The drive was just as beautiful as the beach itself. It was even more beautiful because of the color of the sand. It was white and I've never seen white sand before. There were so many scenic spots along the 17 mile drive and we stopped at most of these spots to either capture more pictures for our facebook display pictures or sneak a peak at the sea gulls and seals that were relaxing on the seashore. Divi and I were also joking about the kind of life that these animals lived - worry free and carefree, no tax to pay, no jobs to hunt blah blah blah :D
Once we felt that we had been at the beach long enough to last another year, we went back to the beautiful small town of Carmel city and roamed around the streets having no idea where we were walking to and why we were walking. The city was picturesque , small and once again, painted a picture perfect for a postcard. We ate at this really small and cozy mediterranean cafe in the city but honestly, I didn't like the food there that much because it was bland and I was Indian. I'm used to eating spicy food that makes you tear up. But nevertheless, it was another cuisine that I have tried and tasted now.It was almost late evening and time to get back home. Another day of the vacation well spent. I couldn't have asked for more. I think we are going to a place called Twin Peaks in San Francisco and then to the famous Ghirardelli Chocolate company later on at night. I'm actually kind of sad now because, I have started loving the kids here at my aunt and uncle's place and will miss them once I go back to Texas. The people here, this family and the kids are making me think if I want to settle down in the bay area. Should I? I'm still confused but I think I'd like to be here. Lets see.I still have today and tomorrow with the family and I'm going to make the most out of it. I'll be back tonight or tomorrow morning to tell you how the chocolate factory and the peaks were. Till then, take care :)Gig'Em