A Little Otter
Nine and a half hours inside a Virgin 747, developing strange transitory bonds with fellow travellers, resisting the urge to publicly remove the developing supersize bogey from my nose, and I arrive in San Francisco.
I stayed with my cousin in the Mission district and had a taste of real life there. Camp, cool, chique crusty and compact, San Francisco is 46 square miles with an awful lot crammed in. I love the place.
Walking up the steep incline up to Hertz at the Fairmont hotel was a challenge. I can't imagine how hard cycling here would be. It makes my lycra clad efforts at home look feeble.
The beast of a hire car was an indicator of the scale of everything in the States. The 'sidewalk' here alone would happily house any of our dainty UK motorways. The meals are verging on comical in size. 'Scooby Doo' was just eating normal US portions after all.
A flurry of toasted marshmallows washed down with a glass of Pinot and I headed South on Highway 1.
First stop was a vineyard at Bonny Dune, a few tasters and some bottles purchased. Obviously this part of California is famous for wine. The San Francisco Chronicle even has its own wine section. Headlines today are highlighting that last years bumper crop is causing a grape glut, leaving acres of the Napa valley unharvested. Prices will drop.
Next stop Carmel, the Cypress Inn (part owned by Doris Day) . A complementary decanter of medium sherry in each room should have been a clue to the average age of the Carmel visitors, which I helped lower considerably. Friendly hotel in a sleepy town with alot of expensive looking shops.
Shopping is a different experience in the USA. The most striking thing is the quality of the service industry. The general greeting is 'hi, how are you today'. This apparent level of familiarity can be confusing to an Englishman. I have learnt that an elaboration of my current malaises is not the best response.
A fevered sherry sleep, and then a day trip to Monterey and the famous aquarium. I knew that tuna tasted good, but I had no idea how large and elegant they are alive. A pang of guilt passed over me as I was probably responsible for the demise of a long lost cousin.
The fish tanks were vast and included some rather charming otters saved from a certain death in the wild. They were fed on the most extravagant seafood diet I have ever seen. The only course missing was a Californian Chardonnay.
I am now lost in the 'Big Sur' (which is indeed rather large) and will report more on my continued wanderings and in a week or so, when I will also post the wines I have come across on my map.
I stayed with my cousin in the Mission district and had a taste of real life there. Camp, cool, chique crusty and compact, San Francisco is 46 square miles with an awful lot crammed in. I love the place.
Walking up the steep incline up to Hertz at the Fairmont hotel was a challenge. I can't imagine how hard cycling here would be. It makes my lycra clad efforts at home look feeble.
The beast of a hire car was an indicator of the scale of everything in the States. The 'sidewalk' here alone would happily house any of our dainty UK motorways. The meals are verging on comical in size. 'Scooby Doo' was just eating normal US portions after all.
A flurry of toasted marshmallows washed down with a glass of Pinot and I headed South on Highway 1.
First stop was a vineyard at Bonny Dune, a few tasters and some bottles purchased. Obviously this part of California is famous for wine. The San Francisco Chronicle even has its own wine section. Headlines today are highlighting that last years bumper crop is causing a grape glut, leaving acres of the Napa valley unharvested. Prices will drop.
Next stop Carmel, the Cypress Inn (part owned by Doris Day) . A complementary decanter of medium sherry in each room should have been a clue to the average age of the Carmel visitors, which I helped lower considerably. Friendly hotel in a sleepy town with alot of expensive looking shops.
Shopping is a different experience in the USA. The most striking thing is the quality of the service industry. The general greeting is 'hi, how are you today'. This apparent level of familiarity can be confusing to an Englishman. I have learnt that an elaboration of my current malaises is not the best response.
A fevered sherry sleep, and then a day trip to Monterey and the famous aquarium. I knew that tuna tasted good, but I had no idea how large and elegant they are alive. A pang of guilt passed over me as I was probably responsible for the demise of a long lost cousin.
The fish tanks were vast and included some rather charming otters saved from a certain death in the wild. They were fed on the most extravagant seafood diet I have ever seen. The only course missing was a Californian Chardonnay.
I am now lost in the 'Big Sur' (which is indeed rather large) and will report more on my continued wanderings and in a week or so, when I will also post the wines I have come across on my map.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home