twinga

San Francisco to Hood River - Trip photos are up

I finally managed to upload our trip photos. Sorry to my lovely friends in Dubai. I know you can't access Flickr but there are too many pics to post. One more reason to come see me in Germany - so that I can show you all the photographs ;) Pictures are here.

Driving from California to Oregon

Lying in bed with free WIFI at some random motel in Grand Pass, Oregon, which for once is real value for money. First thing you notice when you cross the border from California to Oregon: no state tax and thus things get a little cheaper.

We just came back from "dinner" at Blondie's Bistro, the last place that still served food (if only salad) at 8 p.m. on a Sunday evening. Wow... I always thought in America you can get everything 24/7. Guess that's only true for Highway McDonalds :). Either way, Blondie's was a great choice. Our woman bar tender traveled through Heidelberg once. She also taught English in Japan, so we had a pretty interesting conversation with her - including her observation that my American English sounded a bit Indian ;). Well...

So, the past two days we rediscovered what driving means in America: Huge distances with nothing much around, which can get pretty tiring. We are still wondering how our friends could be serious about the fact that you can drive from San Francisco to Hood River in only 12 hours. Wow... that's some serious road tripping. Granted... we took the scenic routes and stopped at tourist attractions like the Redwood National Park and Eureka. 

The great (negative) take away of today was: Don't ever order an "oyster cocktail" for $6.95. This mean you'll get the huge oysters nobody would normally eat I guess. I only know oysters in the shell that are about 1.5 inches in size max. Well, those ones looked like living aliens, and I can't believe I managed to eat three of the six. T sypathized with me and tried one too. I wish I had captured the face on camera :))).

All right then... here are the pics :) (this blog kind of cuts off the pics a bit. Click on them to see the whole ones)

T in front of a Redwood tree

 

Eureka, California

Awesome pancakes and eggs benedict in Eureka, CA

 

Ever noticed that some trucks are taller than their owners?? Insanity!!

Driving along the coast

Out of the shell oysters ... arggghhhh...

The only thing still open at 9.30 p.m. on a Sunday in Grants Pass, Oregon. A drive thru coffee shop.

 

Oh, and have we introduced our beautiful rental car yet? (Manual window openers and NO central locks included)

Sonoma

Before heading up to Oregon and drive up along the coast (Mendocino, Redwood National Park, etc.) we decided to stop over in Sonoma to do some real wine tasting for once. I have always been the driver when I took people up here, so now it was time to do the real thing!!!

April is peak season here, so we were lucky to get an (overpriced) room at El Pueblo Inn. Cool enough, we had a patio and a fire place, which we even used. Nice nice... We then immediately walked to Sonoma town, admiring the cute little houses along the way.

At the center square we now had to hurry up. Lots of wine tasting places close down at 5 p.m. (why, I wonder??). So we just let our instincts take us to a place and we had a really cool wine tasting at Charles Creek. The guy was super knowledgable. One interesting story: We talked about the movie Sideways and how the character in the movie doesn't like Merlot. The insider joke here: The character had been saving up a bottle of some 1961 wine for a special occastion which to a large part consists of Merlot. I didn't know that :)

After tasting (and swallowing) nine different wines, including a most amazing chocolate infused red desert wine, it was time for dinner. To keep it short: La Salette Restaurant was amazing!! Another bottle of wine later, we were ready for bed by 10 p.m. :)

P.S. The weather is amazing. 23C degrees (or more?) and sunshine.

Wine tasting

A Mustang even J.F. can afford ;) (insider joke)

Dinner ... the fish: before and after


Northern Californian coast line

San Francisco

What a trip!!! Literally ... It's been a whirlwind so far and it has been great. Let's see what all T and I have managed to squeeze in so far:
- Sleep two nights at the really cool W Hotel (thanks N!!)
- Hang out in the Mission, especially at Zeitgeist beergarden, the Casanova (my favorite neigborhood bar), Dolores Park (on Easter Sunday, with the Hunky Jesus contest)
- Met baby Max
- Hung out with friends and ate at Sunflower, Sushi Zone, Park Chow, Cancun Taqueria and Abacus
- Had more drinks at Toronado
- Went climbing at Mission Cliffs
- Rode the Cable Car, which I had never done before (really!)
- Had drinks at Bourbon and Branch, which were amazing

and and and...

There's always so much to do and see in San Francisco, it really never gets boring. Tomorrow we are going to have drinks with my co-workers from back then. I can't wait to see everyone.

Here are some pics...

 

Schmap guide San Francisco

About a year ago, when I got my new camera, I went on a photo trip through the Mission. I took a whole bunch of photos that, for me, are typical Mission scenes. This particular photo was discovered by Schmap guide San Francisco. You can find it on the Web and now, that's new, on the iphone! :) So, in case you ever feel like buying some drag queen clothes at Retro Fit on Valencia, here's your guide and photo...

Germany vs. California

So how is Germany different from California? First impressions after almost three weeks …

• The weather is unpredictable. One day it’s sunny and warm, the next day it's gray and cold. That’s true for almost every season.
• Grocery shopping is a much nicer experience. Even the cheapest stores have pretty displays and a huge selection.
• The shops have really pretty display windows.
• Produce tastes so much better. An apple actually tastes like an apple and not like something crunchy with a slight apple taste.
• People are much older … you can see how Europe is aging. Silicon Valley is a fountain of youth.
• I feel a lot safer … safer in terms of crime, but mainly because you feel like the police is actually there to help and protect you, not to harass you. You can also  fall sick, get excellent treatment, and you won’t be ruined afterwards.
• People take everything literally. E.g. you might say on Monday “maybe we could go to the movies on the weekend” … and the person you say it to will take it as a 100% done deal :) (I’ve become a flaky Californian, the very thing I always hated about people in California ;-) )
• People don’t go out for dinners and drinks as much. Going out is meant for the weekends and special occasions. In some ways it’s nice because it becomes something special again.
• As a result, we've been cooking almost every day, and I'm actually liking it (ask me again in 3 weeks :-) ).
• Mid-twenty somethings are a lot more conservative. A lot of them have been in long-term relationships for many years and lead a very domesticated life. Nothing like the mid-twenties Stanford alumni who can’t decide who to date next and which oyster brunch/backyard BBQ/fancy dinner to go to. :-)
• My household appliances ROCKKKKKKK. Washers actually do clean your clothes, dryers actually do dry your clothes, and the list goes on. My washer actually has an "eco" program which uses a really tiny amount of water, takes a lot longer, but the clothes are sparkling clean anyways.
• I have my old bicycle back and I cycle almost everywhere.
• So far, I've only seen one person with a BlackBerry. The person was a 55 year old male in a suit, sitting in a coffee shop, smoking a cigar. I have a normal cell phone now, and I probably check it less than once in 3 hours. It feels wonderful and I feel like I'm a lot less ADD as a result.
• I'm climbing twice a week (and, see above, when I say it I mean it :-) ) and I'll be ready to challenge you, S & C, when I'm back!!!
• If I cough (enter noise of your choice), my neighbor won’t hear it.

Overall … so far so good … doing better than expected. :)

Fresh eggs from the backyard

I had a ton of fun this morning. I was invited over to hvy TK's house for breakfast. On the menu: yummy eggs from his own chickens. I have to say, fresh eggs really taste a lot better than supermarket egg!

It was funny how small they were, but the chickens are still young and new to the whole egg laying business ... they'll eventually produce normal sized, big eggs.

And while TK's cute little daughter Charlotte was largely ignoring me, I was very entertained by Argus, the Great Dane, also known as Deutsche Dogge. His head reached above my navel and he was just super cool. I think I'll get one in Germany :-) ... hmmm, actually, T might not let me move in then. Anyways, here are two pics. He doesn't look nearly as big on them as he really was.

Past, Present and Future

I actually just wanted to post a few photographs that I took this past weekend, but I feel like saying some more without being too cheesy or revealing too much. Okay, fine, I guess I'm a pretty open person, so there shouldn't be any surprises :). Let's see.

The past (and I'll mainly go back the last 2.5 - 5.5 years, 2.5 because that's how long I've lived in San Francisco, 5.5 because that's how long I've been away from home, from Germany):
I've learned a ton of things: how to be alone and enjoy it; to be tolerant towards other cultures and people and be open to new ways of thinking and living; to be flexible; that one can pick up everything within a week and go live (almost) wherever you want to; to develop my eye for photography; that billionaires are also just regular people; that life can change drastically in a really short amount of time; that India is an amazing country; that it's easy to make a ton of acquaintances and rare as hell to make real friends

The present:
The "present present": I'm sitting on a really cozy couch, just had a perfect, super yummie home cooked dinner (a Tuscan dish called drunken pork with hand made egg noodles -- thanks, N.!), Skype is working and I'm about to talk to a wonderful person that keeps me grounded, makes me feel great even when he isn't around, and so much more. It was a great sunny day and I feel much less scared about the logistics of moving. I also gave my really good friend a ride home. He just had eye surgery and feels like crap and I think he felt a little better after I took him home and got him some drunken pork later in the evening. :)

The future:
One never knows about the future, but as it stands, it looks like it'll be really exciting. There'll be sucky weather in Germany by the time I'll be back, so I asked T. today if he could name some things that will make it less depressing, and he wrote (among three other things):

im Wald spazieren, mit echter frischer Luft und dem Duft von nassem Grün

"Taking a stroll through the forest, in fresh air and the scent of wet green nature." I thought this was a really awesome image and I can't wait to do it.

Whatelse... today I was having lunch on the patio of our office in Redwood City. It was a hot and sunny day and me and my colleague were the only ones eating outside. People here take good weather for granted ... and miss out the fun in the process by eating take out food at their desks, in the A/C controlled office. Sad...

Anyways, enough for today. Here are some weekend pics from Dolores Park.

Blog fatigue

I'm currently suffering from serious blog fatigue. I've become a regular on facebook.com (see profile in the lower right link bar), and in the process I've become even lazier writing anything of substance. Of course, there's also a lot going on in my life right now, but that's another story. For now, I thought I'd at least point you to my latest flickr pics. Enjoy!

It's a celebration, bitches! ...

... was the title of Sara's mix CD today. And so appropriate! I passed my motorcycle test today! :-)

Pic number one is me how I see myself: a bad ass Motorradbraut ...

pic number two was what the guys had in mind:

And here we are, the Bay to Breakers-Sunday-Bad-Ass-Celebration-Bitches