What drew us to Santa Barbara for my mom's 50th birthday? For one, it was the coastal setting. Who wouldn't want to visit America's Riviera? Second, the wineries and the conveniently located tasting rooms downtown. Very unusual and so tempting! And of course, one of the main things I research before booking my flight, the food scene. It was my first trip away from baby, now 12 months old, and I was heading out with my sister and parents in celebration of my mom's 50th. It is a new tradition in my family to celebrate big milestones - 30th, 40th, 50th and so on. Tofino was my 30th, Hawaii was my dad's 50th (although that was a trip for my parents), and Santa Barbara ...
california
The City Tour with Vantigo San Francisco
Where do you take someone who has never been to San Francisco before? This was a question that plagued me before my most recent trip to San Francisco. My fiancé and I were veterans. We've been over seven times combined and so we have our old favourites and a long list of things to do next time we're in town. But my sister and her friend were newbies. So how were we to satisfy our list of new to-dos while also showing someone all the must-dos upon one's first trip? This trip was especially unique as it was supposed to be a bachelorette party. My fiancé and dad had plans to go out while my sister, her friend Jacob, my mom and I would do a city bar hop on our own. Plans fell through. My mom ...
A Helping of NorCal
I work mostly in marketing which means I design a whole lot of banners, literature and upkeep my work's websites. So it isn't often that I get to leave the office and if I do we venture to a place that leaves little time for any exploration. This last trip I was fortunate enough to travel to Northern California to see some tile providers within the Bay area. Have I lost you yet? Well anyways, I was able to capture brief glimpses of Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin, Lodi and even San Francisco through Instagram. Having visited San Francisco twice previously I was well accustomed to city's layout but I am always amazed at what it brings with each new pilgrimage. The food, the Pacific, the ...
Alcatraz Throughout History: More Than an Eroding Prison
My first visit to San Francisco I had thought that Alcatraz was an attraction I could skip out on. I'll admit it, I was wrong. Little did I know it held deeper roots within history than just Al Capone and there was more to it than emerging with a t-shirt boasting "I Escaped the Rock."Touristy? Absolutely. But there's a reason so many people visit the attraction and why we should continue to do so. The amount of languages I heard in the long zig zagging line was unparalleled. So many confused Germans, Japanese and Spanish accents being turned away because they didn't pre-book their tickets to tours which almost always sell out ahead of time. The day after I bought them the entire Labour ...
Sunday Pranzo: Dinner at the Movies with Foreign Cinema, San Francisco
It's another Sunday Pranzo where I share some of my favourite foodie experiences with you.Back in September I was able to experience Foreign Cinema, a restaurant that has caught a lot of hype in San Francisco. I had booked my reservation three weeks in advance looking forward to sitting in the luminescent courtyard while a film plays over dinner (films begin around dusk). Common sense didn't really click in until our actual visit when I realized that the film is just there for background noise as if to help you preoccupy yourself should the dinner conversation turn cold. The clinks of glasses and silverware upon the plates prevent you from hearing anything the characters are saying and ...
Searching for Kerouac: City Lights Books & Vesuvio Bar
Jack Kerouac inspired my first published poem. In second year creative writing we had to select a poet to mimic. We needed to learn what fueled their craft, where they hung out, with whom they hung out with. Were they rebels against society? Did they break the rules of writing, cultural norms, dabble in drugs and live to rue the day? So I dove in head first and found myself intrigued, like so many others, by the Beatnik lifestyle and especially their love of travel whether it be from Big Sur, California or to Paris. I'd even like to think you can blame Kerouac for my tendency to write long lyrical run on sentences. So when I left for San Francisco, Kerouac Alley was #1 on my list. I ...
Brewery Tours with Vantigo, San Francisco
Ever wanted to take a road trip around the Bay area in a ruby red Volkswagen bus equipped with California crafted beers? I did with Erik, designated driver, guide, owner and genius behind Vantigo San Francisco tours, at the wheel. Vantigo offers city tours, oyster lunches at Hog Island's oyster farm and North Bay brewery tours just over the Golden Gate Bridge. I opted for the brewery tour since I've dragged my boyfriend on countless winery tours despite the fact that he can't stomach red wine and mildly tolerates white. Vantigo picked us up at our hotel location along with 3 other people who accompanied us on our tour that day including Lisa from Cooking with Rhubarb (I love meeting other ...
Disneyland’s Unexpected Culinary Fare
After a couple days walking and screaming our way through the Six Flags amusement park and Disneyland a drink is the first thing on your mind to quell your hoarse throat. Luckily, Disneyland thought of the older kids too. Uva Bar, in the Downtown Disney District was a surprisingly delicious way to relax in the midst of screaming kids and persistent Toy Story characters...not gonna name names but a certain cowboy was reaching for more than just the sky. Uva Bar, part of the Catal Restaurant, is a great place to go to when your feet are sick of standing in lines and you need some California sun and sparkling wine of course! Just make sure the waiter doesn't spill it on you, too. What ...
San Francisco Part 2- Little Italy
Alcatraz San Francisco's Little Italy offered various unexpected sights, some gems and some horrific to the eyes. We journeyed by foot from our centrally located hotel and found that Little Italy seamlessly blended into Chinatown like the various hues of a setting sun. There are no borders but shops alternating with Chinese banners and Italian waiters trying to grab the attention of passersby until, finally, you have fully passed through a portal into another culture. My favourite of these was Little Italy. We emerged from Chinatown into Little Italy to be greeted by a homeless man defecating into a sewer and making good use of the daily newspaper. This was set against a ...
San Francisco Part 1 – Chinatown
I loved the church architecture in San Fran. During my travels I am always fond of cities that I cannot pin down. Perhaps, one could argue, that every city is impossible to truly ever figure out, however, I feel as though cities or towns like Vicenza, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Seattle etc., all have a certain character that I recognize each time I return. They are familiar and change only slightly upon each visit, but their original character (that I first experienced) is still relatively in tact. A couple of my favourite cities are indescribable and are so complex that each time I return my experience and perception is altered making it feel as though I am visiting something ...
