Napa Valley, California, USA.

The short:

Napa Valley is right up there in terms of natural beauty. The views really are mind blowing with ridiculous backdrops of hills covered with neatly plowed fields of all different colours, set off by endless miles of vineyards, and completed by a starkly clear blue sky above. It genuinely doesn't even look real. It's as if someone has hung a 360 degree painting around you. Napa is filled to the brim with wineries giving interesting tours and selling delicious bottles of the good stuff; one is definitely spoilt for choice! The town of Napa itself, St Helena to the North and Yountville to the South, are all unbelievably enchanting and you can't help but instantly fall in love with them; they're the kind of villages that you imagine as a child when reading fairy tales. The whole region is incredibly romantic and, I think, would be the perfect location for a weekend get away or anniversary trip, which is exactly what the lovely couple that Thomas and I befriended were doing there, and were unsurprisingly loving every minute of it. I can assure you that it would take many days to get bored of the scenery, and you definitely couldn't get tired of the wine, so the longer the visit the better in my eyes! We certainly did not get to spend enough time in this magical place.

The long:

Tuesday:

2 hours later than planned, Thomas and I were (at long last) sat side by side in our new wheels. ROAD TRIP TIIIMEEE!!! It was clear that we were not going to be making our wine tour at 11:30, seeing as it was 11:25 and we were still stuck in downtown San Francisco, with a good hours drive ahead of us. Oh well, we crossed our fingers that the winery would be able to squeeze us in anyway and set about getting well acquainted with our new best friend, checking out the sound system and auto-tuning our voices accordingly. 

We arrived at Del Dotto winery at 1pm and made a bee-line for the check-in desk, apologising profusely for our tardiness since the tour had actually been arranged as a favour by a friend of a friend and was thus a freebie (worth $60 each), which I didn't want them to think that we were taking complete advantage of. 

The Del Dotto that we visited (there are 2 branches) is a cave winery, which made it super interesting. Plus, it is the second oldest winery in the region, rendering it very famous and making the whole experience that bit more special; we felt very privileged to be there (and especially since it was for free!). 

Thankfully, we were able to get on a tour that started a few minutes later. It seemed to me that we got the best deal possible, as we were in a group with just 1 other couple and had the most hilarious, kind tour guide, whilst the group just in front were much larger and you could see that the stragglers were having trouble staying involved. We, however, had an absolute blast. 

^ I was very taken with this particular contraption which, for some inexplicable reason, I found funnier and funnier as the tour went on. Honestly, it was just the shape of it and "Lonnie's" comments whilst he was operating the flow that meant I couldn't help but be a little immature.

The other couple seemed a little stiff at first in their "preppy golf get up", but loosened up with a little booze and much quizzing from me. I dare say that we learnt a bit about the oaking and barreling process, but I was more focused on the absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS wines sliding down my throat and chatting everyone's ears off. Nearly all of the wines that we sampled were red, much to my glee, and Thomas even claimed to be a wine convert, which I think is a pretty big result! We tried 2 wines that were exactly the same but had been stored in different barrels for a certain period of time; it was unbelievable how dissimilar they tasted, with one having a strong undertone of bacon (which my palette proudly takes credit for picking up).

By the end of the tour we were all pretty merry, having learnt that one could choose to "revisit" any wine; I took several "revisits" for the team. The tour ended with chocolates and port which, apparently, is a combination that I am very fond of; I had been transported to paradise. It was nearing 3pm and Thomas and I had made best friends 4 lyf with the other couple, who kindly offered to drive us to a winery near to where they were staying that gave free tours. As I'm sure you can imagine, we didn't take much persuading.

We dumped our car at our hotel nearby and hopped on to their backseat. If we'd known quite how far away it was I might not have been so eager but, at this point, the taxi fare home was definitely a minor detail that could be left to think about until later. We ended up arriving very late for the last tour of the day so had a little "catching up" to do, in every sense. The guide was super kind though and whizzed us around the grounds nonetheless, explaining their fermenting process, which is totally different to Del Dotto cave winery and was therefore really interesting. It was insane to learn how intricate the process is and how much oversight it requires; they had a huge outdoor whiteboard full of scribbled times, temperatures, and measurements of ingredients they had added. 

^ This photo was supposed to make us look like we owned the winery... We'll go with that.

Armed with a bottle of their finest port as repayment for the freebie tour and the gallons of vino that we had consumed, we walked outside to wait for the free shuttle that we were blagging on the premise that we were staying at the same hotel as our new best friends were, where we had arranged to meet them for a drink (like we needed any more). But, first, some snaps of our top notch surroundings were in order. 

(^ Yes, I am aware that I have awful red wine teeth).

For whatever reason the shuttle took over an hour to show, which was fine by us, since when the winery closed at 5pm and everyone else headed elsewhere, the owner Vince and his companions arrived. Naturally, new friendships were formed. We sat with them in the descending sun, guzzling his best bottles and scoffing our faces with their freshly baked French baguette and cured meats. I'm sure they were secretly glad to see the back of us, although we had an absolute whale of a time befriending these worldly oldies. 

We turned up at our friends hotel... and had more drinks. We spent just under 2 hours with them, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that we all enjoyed each other's company, although I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea what we spoke about. 

We shared a taxi with them to downtown Napa where we then split ways, since they were there to celebrate their 10 year anniversary and I am sure that we had imposed enough on their alone time for 1 day! Thomas and I went to a restaurant recommended by them, which neither of us appreciated to the extent that I'm sure that we would on any other day, but we were damn hungry and it filled a gaping hole at the very least.

Fortunately, we managed to barter with a taxi driver and the journey home wasn't too eye wateringly expensive after all.I caught my fair share of 40 winks en route and dove into bed at the first sight of it to continue a much needed sleep. It was a bloody awesome and surreal day, which Thomas and I agree we will both fondly remember for a long time to come. 

Wednesday:

Thomas and I got up and ready for the day, but as soon as we set one foot out of our room it was starkly obvious that a wardrobe change was in order. It was SO hot. Once we'd put on clothes slightly airier, we helped ourselves to the hotel buffet breakfast. Thomas was brave enough to try the clingfilm wrapped "sausage, egg and cheese croissant"; rather him than me is all I can say (since when does sausage come in hamburger shape?!).

Once we'd satisfied the tummies we hit the road with Carmel as our final destination, but made a quick detour to downtown Napa first, so that Thomas could buy some specific candle holders for his new flat. I'm so glad that we got to see Napa in the day, as it is so unbelievably pretty and quaint, overflowing with cute little homeware shops, bakeries and restaurants; it is definitely a place built for couples! The buildings reminded me of gingerbread houses from Hansel and Gretel for reasons that I really can't explain.

Candle holders purchased, packaged and posted to England, we began a 3-hour drive to Carmel. Napa, you will be sorely missed.

San Francisco, California, USA.

The short:

San Francisco is such an unbelievably beautiful city, even more so than I had imagined. Both Thomas and I couldn't get over how clean the streets were in the area that we were staying, they literally gleamed in the sun. Our hostel was located quite far up one of the many hills so we had a lovely walk down when ever we headed out and, since we returned late both nights that we were there, had taxis do all the hard work for us on our return, so that worked out pretty nicely! It is mad how hilly it is, but it makes every intersection and road crossing a new experience as you look from left to right and see the city framed differently. Thomas and I just about came to terms with the "block" system by the time we left, which is actually rather helpful when exploring new turf. The city is incredibly well kept and has so many different aspects to appreciate, from the hustle and bustle of downtown to the beautiful bridges and views that they provide, and relaxed cliffs and beaches that can be reached in no time. However, neither of us particularly liked seeing so many homeless people. It is quite staggering how many there are making it absolutely impossible to ignore, as they are constantly roaming the streets, picking out of bins, and asking for money. We both found it heartbreaking and I wish the welfare system in the US would improve as it really is so unnecessary for so many people to have to no roof over their head. I found the weather to be much cooler than I had expected, but someone explained that the city of San Francisco is always colder than its surrounding districts as the hills and wind systems combined create some kind of fog over the city, although we were incredibly lucky with clear blue skies for most of both days (just cold winds!). All in all, I think San Francisco has everything you could want from a city and, from what we saw at least, I believe it would be a pretty great place to live.

The long:

Sunday:

Thomas rocked up to my hotel at just before midday; serious happy days! It was so nice to be reunited again since we haven't seen each other since last summer. We shared a taxi with a lovely Korean couple to our hostel in downtown San Francisco and set about finally beginning our long-awaited adventure together. We strolled down various streets taking in all they had to offer and the beautiful views that the hills provided at each crossroad. We made it to Union Square, and got our first snap of the trip!

We both had rumbling tummies so decided it was time to get our munch on. We asked a couple if they could recommend anywhere for us to eat, which ended with them advising us to go to an area called "Mission", by Tenderloin, as we "looked like we would enjoy the vibe there a bit more". Thankfully we didn't make it to Mission, since we later found out that it's actually a really rather dodgy place that should be avoided; well I'm glad we look like we belong there then! We did, however, head down to the Ferry Plaza where we wandered around cute little shops and grabbed a bite to eat.

Thomas got a chicken sandwich and chips and huffed and puffed his way through it, resulting in us making a bet that I can eat him under the table at an "all you can eat buffet" in Vegas. Please, place your bets! (I advise you not to underestimate me). On our way back to the hostel we passed a man casually chilling on a bench blasting jazz from his MacBook and smoking a doobie, whilst a policeman strolled by just 10m away; he definitely turned a blind eye, which we thought was pretty great. We also saw numerous old school trams, which are incredibly cute, and made me all excited to go on one later that evening. 

Once we'd beautified ourselves and Thomas had mentally summoned up the energy to move (I was pretty impressed considering how jet lagged he was plus the shoddy travelling experience he had himself had), we headed out for the evening. We walked past one particular homeless man who was clearly super talented at playing the drums, expertly playing a makeshift drum set of different sized empty buckets, glass bottles, and even incorporating the lamppost; it was amazingly good, making it all the more upsetting that he has no home or job. 

We decided to get the old school tram, the "F 7", to Fisherman's Wharf. Whilst we waited for the tram to arrive there was a man offering directions and helpful advice, who I assumed worked for the tram company, so I asked whether the next tram was the one that we needed to get. "Yes" would have sufficed. Instead, he rambled on basically talking to himself whilst we politely nodded, before very bluntly asking for money, at which point I decided that he wasn't so "helpful" after all. When Thomas pulled out $1 and the man had the cheek to say, "and don't forget 1 for the lady", I could no longer hold my tongue; he would not be receiving a dollar on my behalf. I will gladly give generously to those when I feel it is deserved (like the man beautifully playing the drums), but do not believe that one should ever be pressurised into feeling obliged to do so. I will be more wary of the "happy helper" in future. 

We were lucky to be at the front of the queue for the tram so got seats looking out at the city. I beamed like a giddy little girl the whole way, loving every minute of it and soaking up all the sights that we passed en route. I was particularly enamoured with the experience since we'd managed to travel just as the sun was setting, so literally saw the city turn from day to night whilst we rode along. Dusk is by far my favourite time of day, as Thomas will tell you, "I just love the light" (poor boy must have heard me say this 50 times in the span of 10 minutes). 

Fisherman's Wharf was busy with people choosing their dinner options and had a great lively vibe to it. We walked past copious amounts of counters selling beautiful fresh seafood, serving clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls and rolls stuffed full of mayo-ey lobster, which would surely make anyone salivate! Just look at these beauties:

I'd read about a restaurant called Boudin's Bistro online, so asked someone for directions and whether it was any good, to which they replied that it was not really, and was "more of a hole in the wall". We went to check it out anyway. And I'm pretty glad we did, as this is what we found:

I'd call that a pretty big hole, and a fancy one at that. We toasted our adventure with 2 "Perfect Mojitos" (so described on the menu). Unfortunately they were far from perfect, and a few minutes later Thomas and I were much happier customers with a beer and glass of wine in front of us! The waiter kindly told us that we could keep the mojitos as well, to which we politely declined; seriously, that's saying something! The food more than made up for the questionable mojitos, as we tucked into a seafood feast.

^ That calamari was a party in my mouth. I "accidentally" squeezed lemon over all of it so Thomas barely ate any of it (who doesn't like citrus?). Obviously, I was racked with guilt at my delicious mistake.

Thomas' stomach once more put him to shame, as he struggled to get through even half of his food. I was more than happy to lend a helping hand. "A friend in need is a friend indeed".

Once I'd licked the plates clean and been congratulated by the waitress on my efforts, we hopped in a cab back to the hostel. Thomas was out within 30 seconds of his head hitting the pillow, bless him. 

Monday:

We rose early as we had tickets to Alcatraz for 10:30. We walked down to Pier 33 and eagerly waited to board the ferry, as we were both pretty excited for the trip. We managed to get good seats by the window, so I got a few snaps of the city as we left it behind.

A lovely older couple that were on a cruise trip were sat next to us and engaged us in conversation. They gave us lots of tips for when we visit Chicago and couldn't speak more highly of it, which has made us super excited to go. 

Alcatraz was so interesting. It's rare for me to speak highly of historic monuments, museums or tours, but I was fully engaged. The audio tour that is included in your ticket price is absolutely excellent; imagine Stephen Fry on the Harry Potter tapes and you get the picture as to how well done it is. Both Thomas and I loved that it allows you to go at your own pace, as you can pause it and press play as many times as you like. Plus it prevents the build-up of big clustered groups blocking everyone's view and enables you to actually hear what is being said. It told a story rather than overloading you with bare facts, and was just an unbelievably interesting tale.

Neither of us could believe that the prison was only closed in the 1960's. It was surreal to think of famous inmates such as Al Capone and Robert "Birdman" Stroud standing in the same spot as us such a short time ago. 

Alcatraz was reserved for the worst of the worst, and it showed. The cells were minute with only bare essentials included.

They had an awfully dull and monotonous daily routine, which consisted essentially of being counted every 10 minutes.

Alcatraz was designed to torture the prisoner; located just 1 mile from the mainland, they could hear the sounds of laughter and carnival music from the Pier carried by the waves, but knew that they could never escape, due to the treacherous current and freezing conditions of the sea that surrounded them. So close, but so far. The prisoners had amazing views of the free world that they were not a part of, which was great for us, but not so great for them.

We found some of the quirkier rules the prisoners had to abide by. Regulation #33 is one that I could easily follow.

Both Thomas and I left Alcatraz hugely impressed with the tour and slightly in awe of all that we had learnt. What really stuck with us is that in all of Alcatraz's history and many escape attempts, only one was successful, with the 2 prisoners that managed to leave never again found. I think everyone would love to know what happened to them.

We took the ferry back to Pier 33 and wandered down to Pier 39, which is home to a little seaside village of shops, eateries and rides. I loved it. Thomas bought his friend who claims he can take anything spicy the most outrageous gift; a tiny bottle of $70 hot sauce, which was sold in a coffin and required him to sign a liability release form. Good luck Morten!

We walked to the end of the Pier towards the sound of hooting and howling happy seals, to be treated to a good look at them all basking on wooden platforms.

For some slightly unbeknown reason we thought it would be a good idea to walk to the Golden Gate Bridge. We had been told it would take an hour. It took us about 2, plus a taxi. On the other hand, the walk we had was lovely. It took us past Ghirardelli square, where we poked our heads into the famous chocolate shop and had a little nosey at the other shops there.

We walked past Fort Mason, the military base, which was pretty cool seeing as it was totally by accident.

We strolled through a beautiful park, and saw several "outdoor gyms" being used that I think are a bloody great idea; we could definitely do with some of those in England! The walk took us down to the marina and along streets with all sorts of bizarre, weird and wonderful houses, which we found really intriguing, since they're not the kind of homes you see every day. 

Having walked for hours and hours on end with no protection from the strong wind as we neared the entrance to the bridge, we decided to get a taxi for the rest of the journey. We did not see a single taxi in the space of 40 minutes. I kid you not; I have never experienced anything like it! It was strange because the road that we were waiting on and hoping for one to pass was really busy and very popular, since it has a renowned vantage point for tourists to stop and take pictures with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

We ended up asking a passing American to order us an Uber, which 20 minutes late still hadn't shown.  I was starting to get really frustrated as we had agreed with a friend of mine living in San Francisco called Hayk, whom Michael and I met on our travels, that we would meet him at the entrance to the Bridge at 4:30, and we were fast running out of time. Eventually we had some luck and managed to hail a cab. We sped up to the entrance where Thomas and I quickly took some snaps of and with the stunning Bridge, as we were already running late.

We needn't have hurried though, as it turned out Hayk was jumping on the tourist bandwagon and had never walked across the Bridge either, so we all did it together. Hayk said that we were really fortunate with the weather and that it was unusual for the sky to be so clear over the city, so I was very thankful for that. 

The views were absolutely unbelievable.

^ The view of the city to the East.

^ The view to the West.

^ Alcatraz island is bang in the centre.

It was an amazing experience, and we made it halfway across the Bridge before turning back, which I felt was a bit of an achievement! Hayk pointed out that there were "suicide watchers" stationed along the Bridge preventing people from jumping, so it should have come as no surprise when we came across this unique looking phone but, of course, it did. I can't imagine anyone that came to the Bridge to commit suicide would stop at the final hurdle to make a quick call, but hopefully it has helped someone out there!

Afterwards, Hayk took us to Land's End to watch the sun set over the breathtaking cliffs and beach. I thought it was amazing how quickly the landscape can change in San Francisco, but still offer equal beauty of a totally different kind; it is a rare thing.

The cliffs are home to some "ruins" and we wandered around them along various ridges and through a small cave to a picturesque little rocky cove,

before retreating to watch the end of the sunset.

By this point, Thomas and I deserved to sink into plush comfy chairs and sink our teeth into a decadent meal, which is precisely what we did. Hayk took us to an amazingly tasty Mediterranean restaurant, where we got lots of authentic yummy foods and had a great night filled with laughter telling stories and sharing opinions, fuelled by 2 bottles of red.

I honestly don't feel that we had long enough in San Francisco. Although we explored the Bay Area as best we could, the outskirts of San Francisco have just as much to offer as the city does, but require day trips to do justice; life is too short! We will just have to start planning the next road trip now.