Chicago, the smelly onion.

We've been in Chicago for three days now, and while it's an amazing city we haven't done nearly as much as we did in California. It's just how we want it though; Kate's been writing up her dissertation and I've been reading a lot.

The apartment we're staying is on the 23rd floor, giving us this dizzying view. I still can't stand too close to the window.

Yesterday, on Earth Day, me and Kate walked around Michigan Avenue and the surrounding areas, visiting the Natural History Museum, Chicago Tribune, Millenium Park, and seeing the famous amish peoplr, and seeing a giant reflective bean.













Although I love seeing landmarks, my favourite bit about travelling is taking in the sounds and smells. It's been great laughing at tv adverts, getting confused when crossing the street, riding on the bus and failing to understand taxi drivers. Everyone here seems to own an iPod or iPhone and there's so much variety when it comes to fashion. I see what people mean when they say cities are 'alive' and as much as I love Bangor, I'll be quite saddened by the silence when I return.



More tomorrow...

San Francisco part 2

My iPhone isn't great at allowing massive blog posts, which I happily found out after writing about San Francisco twice and then losing it all again. And since then we've checked out our apartment, stayed in the Marriot for one night, and are now in Chicago in our new apartment! I'm happy they have wifi!

But back to San Franciso, where we travelled around for our last two days.

Me and Kate went to pier 39, and then went bike riding. San Francisco, though ridiculously hilly, is ideal for bike rides among the coast. Me and Kate rode for a good few miles getting closer to the Golden Gate bridge as we went, taking some stunning pictures along the way.

Once this was done, we cycled back into the city, gorged on ice cream and even more food, and got the ferry back.





The next day, after leaving our apartment, we drove around San Francisco and went to the famous Lombard Street which is, for want of a better word, bendy.



And the view from the bottom



Fun fun. San Francisco was an amazing experience, one I'll never forget. Now we're in Chicago we've been joined by Julia and Moira, Kate's little sister and step mum. And the view from our apartment is incredible once more.



That's not a giant lamp, it's a reflection.

The last day in California!

Our last full day in California is technically today (Sunday) although we're leaving our hotel this morning, and spending the night in a hotel closer to the airport before we begin the second leg of our holiday in Chicago.

On Saturday however, me and Kate enjoyed our first day together travelling to San Francisco. Most of the time we've been in the surrouding areas preoccupied with food and wine. Our day started with getting the ferry across and into the city.

Just look how distant the bridge is, it gets much closer later. Once we departed after a 50 minute crossing we set about being proper tourists, consulting our maps, laughing at street perfomers and gawking at the scenery.






And what would any holiday be without a picture of a fatty?



Can you say cankles?
Anyway, as we explored and got ourselves sunburnt, we first visited Pier 39 which is very much a tourist attraction and full of restaurants and cafes, and hundreds of seals being watched by hundreds of tourists.


The pier itself offers brilliant views of the golden gate bridge and of Alcatraz, which as you can see were partially covered in some crazy low fog. Part 2 coming soon...

Please sir, may I have some more?

Friday has been our most relaxed day yet, though it very nearly ended with me vomiting meat and wine everywhere.

The day consisted of visiting different wineries and partaking in wine tasting sessions. As much as I do enjoy wine, I can only nod when we're told a wine is oaky, soft, or crispy. Those words for me don't describe wine, and I'd have preferred 'fizzier', or 'nicer'.

Still, I was very grateful to be given the opportunity and half the joy is in seeing these beautiful places.

Look at all that wine! Red is now my favourite.

Once this was done we retired back to our apartment and began our poolside barbeque. Starting at about eight o'clock, and finishing eating at about midnight. I could have gone longer, but I feared I would explode. Kate's dad is a master cook, and we enjoyed piles of meat, and some veg, including portabello mushrooms, cheese and bread, cheese and eggplant (auburgine), steak (with Boursin on bread! A new favourite) sausages, scallops wrapped in bacon, and giant racks of ribs. There were six of us, but it was still mountains of food.









And today (Saturday) me and Kate are off to explore San Francisco!

Food glorious food!

Food is one of my greatest passions. There's a lot to be said for gorging on sweet sugary foodstuffs, but my greatest pleasure is experiencing new and sophisticated flavours. It goes hand in hand with travel and I find it sad that people go abroad only to look for the nearest full English breakfast they can find. Defeats the whole point as far as I'm concerned.

Thursday consisted mostly of eating, and lots more wine. After a typical, and delicious, American breakfast in ihop (international house of pancakes) we set off on the road for a private wine tasting session at a woman's house which overlooked her vineyard and the valley. The view was amazing, I can't believe someone lives in such an inspiring place.

The vineyard is owned by her and her husband, and together they grow, manage and pick the grapes themselves. I'm not sure how much more they do in the process, but they have their own highly exclusive wine named E II, after their dog.

We sat on her balcony where she brought a selection of cheeses that are all made within a 5 miles radius, and treated us to her wines, both white and red. Both wine and cheese were stunning, and had I realized how high valued they were at the time I would have consumed much more. The four cheeses she had out for us was over 100 dollars in total! It's not the first time on this holiday I've felt spoilt and undeserving.

The biggest shock was the view, I don't think I'll ever again be so impressed by someone's back 'garden'. Can't say I miss my view of a beer garden in Bangor.

After this tasting we set off and headed for an area called Fort Baker, an area near Golden Gate bridge that once served as a defensive point for the area during the second world war.



Now the buildings in the area which look like manors or estates serve as restaurants or hotels for people much posher than myself.


At our table there was a manner of cutlery in front of me that I hadn't seen before, and with the help of Kate I managed not to offend. When studying the wine list we saw a bottle of white wine from the vineyard we'd just been to priced at 750 dollars! I gasped.

For my meal I chose fancy seafood, as it's all locally caught, and chose sole with squid risotto, covered in squid ink! This was too new and interesting, and after finding out it wasn't going to taste like pen ink, I had to try it.

It was probably the nicest meal I've ever eaten, and squid and rissoto are among my favourites anyway so it was bound to please. Turns out the ink doesn't taste of a great deal, thankfully, but rather acts as a colouring. It was the first time I've ever had sole and I'm impressed!

Another eye opening day, where I've realized how fortunate I am as I'd have never seen or eaten things like this if left to my own devices.

And for my mum, this is the vineyard owners dog. A mental dog that would not stop playing fetch.

Feeling fishy and Forrest Gumpy

Today was all about the fish, first seeing them and then eating them. There was also the briefest of moments where me and Kate touched a Sting Ray, but it was a harmless affair because it had a clipped spine. It felt slimey.

Our day started in a really fancy mall, where all we could afford was a McDonalds but the walk around was exciting enough to tide me over.

In the afternoon we visited Monterey, well known for it's cheese. The town is a pretty little town on the sea front, boasting an amazing aquarium. The iPhone was hardly up to the task, but I did manage a few good shots.









Other highlights included fighting otters, sleeping penguins and some disturbed octupi (octupuses?) who got off on pressing themselves against the glass. There was so much more that we saw, and the rest of those pictures are on facebook. Admittedly I find fish confusing, and appreciate them as a child might, pointing at the colours and laughing at the funny shapes. I did really enjoy the experience, but for me it got better when we went for food.


If you've seen Forrest Gump you might have a clue. This restaurant was called Bubba Gump and it's a chain inspired from the film, whereby 'Bubba' starts his own shrimp company, and it's what this chain specialises in. It's proximity to the sea makes it ideal, and it's an experience in itself before you even eat. The staff quiz you on Forrest Gump trivia while you wait for your table, and the place is littered with memorabilia as well.
The view from your table just adds to the whole vibe, even though you don't really pay mum attention when your food arrives.


I chose to eat shrimp heaven, a suitable name I think, and if I were a shrimp I wouldn't mind becoming so delicious once I passed over.




And how much did I enjoy it?



This much!

Fainting goats, funny signs and teasing geysers

Todays visit to Calistoga was one I've been excited about for some time, due to my beloved fainting goats that live there. These goats, as the name implies, faint. It's a form of hilarious narcolepsy that is triggered when they're excited. What's better is that they don't collapse but go rigid, falling to the floor like some kind of hairy table. Search for them on YouTube and tell me you don't find it funny.

The venue that houses these goats also has Old Faithful, an apparantly famous geyser that erupts every 10-20 minutes. Now, in a perfect world, the geysers eruptions would render the goats excited, and they'd do their funny fit and collapse, and the situation would repeat itself indefinitely. This didn't happen, and instead we were left with a moderately tame geyser and some rather indifferent goats.



















The goats didn't even respond to my claps or shouts either, and so none fainted. I was slightly disappointed until we found a brilliant sign that made the whole journey worth it. It's always the unexpected little things that save the day.








After this rather brief visit we travelled to Rubicon Wine Estate, owned by none other than Francis Ford Coppola who directed the Godfather films.



























There we took part in a wine taste, sampling five wines made on the estate. Here I felt rather guilty as I'm not exactly a conisseur and my definitions ranged from 'nice' to 'tasty' to 'very nice', which I felt was quite a disservice to bottles of wine that cost 150 dollars. Still, it was quite an experience.

Again, a fantastic day made better again by the small details. I'll let this picture highlight how easy I am to please.