Barcelona Oberta al Mar
I have fallen in love with a city, again. Our stay in Barcelona was wonderful, except that three days is not enough and it was heartbreaking to leave. Maybe it's good to feel that you haven't done it all, then you have more reason to go back! In addition to everything beautiful the city has to offer, the weather was also healing for the soul. To be able to take off your jacket in the sun, take a walk in the evening without freezing and feel that special scent of the Mediterranean Sea, in the middle of November, felt absolutely amazing. It was almost hard to believe that this is only 3,5 hours flight from Stockholm.
We stayed at a hotel at La Rambla, the wide street that runs through the old city of Barcelona and which probably is the most populated. Our hotel was near the end of the street, towards the sea, so we spent the first day by walking through the surrounding areas, including the Gothic Quarter and the harbor.
The port area is relatively new and was built when the city was renovated for the Olympic Games in 1992. It's clear that they wanted to open up the city to the sea by putting out walking paths, public places and attractions on the harbor, such as a large shopping mall, IMAX cinema and an aquarium.
We made a visit to the aquarium, the largest one in Europe. There was really all sorts of large and small fish, and a 80 meter long water tunnel which was really cool, especially when you were surrounded by sharks. A good option for those cowards who are afraid of diving. For me, in other words.
Hotel W is located at the end of Barceloneta's beach. Of course, we just had to try out the bar at the top (the one that is lit red), which later becomes a nightclub. Unfortunately we had no energy for partying, but the panoramic view of Barcelona is fantastic.
Disneyland & California Adventure
Before we left L.A. we made a stop in Disneyland! How many of you have dreamed about this your whole childhood? And how many of you got to go there? None of us did anyway. Now we finally got the chance to live our lost childhood dream. The amusement park is actually two parks, Disneyland and California Adventure, and you need to buy tickets to both and then run between the parks. So unnecessary. Although on the other hand, it felt like you had twice as much to choose from.
It was far from boring, HAHA. This is my precious viedo that I will always look at when I need a good laugh. Erna and Alex cried in fear and I probably also would have, if we weren't laughing our asses off at them. Best. Ride. Ever.
In the evening when we were out of energy, we went back to the car and drove down to San Diego, our final destination in California.
Universal Studios Hollywood
A visit to Universal Studios is a must when you're in Hollywood! It is both an amusement park and a huge film studio where all sorts of movies and series have been filmed. Since this is one of Los Angeles's most visited attractions, you should get here as early as possible in the morning.
We made several stops where we got to experience some really cool stuff, like when we wen into this tunnel with 3D glasses, while a huge cinema screen that went all the way around us showed how king kong and dinosaurs attacked us, and the ground beneath moved so that everything felt so real. When the car "fell" from a cliff in the jungle, it really felt like we fell. Oh, it's hard to explain but it was so awesome!!! You must experience it yourselves! We also went into a fake subway station with an earthquake simulator, where the ground collapsed and a truck fell down next to us, a train crashed in front of us and the station was flooded by water. Hollywood...
After the Studio Tour, which lasted about an hour, we took the Simpsons ride, which was also super cool! It's also very difficult to explain in words, you simple have to experience it. Beware of the longest queue ever, though. We were there early and even then we stood in line for an hour for a ride that lasted for not more than ten minutes.
On the lower section of the park we found, among else, the Mummy ride and yet another Jurassic Park setting with a typical water attraction where you can expect to get wet, especially if your name is Jasmin and you sit at the far end. My butt got so wet that I had to go into the restroom afterwards and bend over in front of the hand dryer to dry my shorts while people laughed at me. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to.
We went to the Flintstones to eat... That moment when you get a half chicken and the largest potato you've ever seen on a plate...
We also saw some shows about moviemaking, including Waterworld with a lot of explosions, burning stuntmen, etc. Here you can also expect to get wet if you sit at the front in the audience.
Our little crew, happy and satisfyed!
Santa Monica Beach
Luckily the day wasn't ruined since Santa Monica had a lot of fun activities to offer, including a visit to the famous pier with the amusement park that you have seen so many times on tv. We tried a few rides and arcade games to warm up for upcoming theme park visits.
Few beaches are as fun to hang out at as Santa Monica Beach, even when it's not sunny. I have never been at a beach with so much activity. There was a part where people were only doing acrobatics and some form of yoga, where they balanced on each other in lots of cool poses. There were also a lot of frames with rings, ropes, swings, balance ropes, etc. We felt like kids in a large outdoor gymnasium. Besides that, a lot of people are also skating and biking on the incredible long and wide beach. People were so relaxed and it really came off on os. If I would visit L.A. again, I would definitely like to live in Santa Monica or Venice.
Last, but not least, I must not forget to mention... Baywatch!
Everybody comes to Hollywood
Los Angeles. Just driving into LA, on Hollywood Boulevard, feels awesome. It's just like in New York, you are amazed by being at a place that you have seen, heard and read about so many times, and suddenly you are there, experiencing it, and it looks as expected but still totally different. Otherwise, Los Angeles is not my favorite city of the ones we have visited. Sure, I haven't given it a fair chance in such a short time, but I missed the freedom of touristing without a car. Distances are huge and trying to get around without a car in LA is like walking in any other city without shoes - you can try but you will pretty soon realize that it is troublesome. However, the city has a lot fun to offer.
The best part of it was that we could experience all the fun with my dear Erna and her friend Alex who came from San Diego the day after our arrival! It had been maybe twelve days since we last saw eachother in Sweden... but still - REUNION!
The first thing we did was of course to check out the Hollywood Walk of Fame with all the stars - the only place where it's better to walk around on foot. We could also walk to this from our hotel since we stayed close. Note to self: Make sure that the names of the stars are visible in the photos next time.
When we felt done, and sweaty (did I mention it's hot?), we went back to get the car. I googled "best spot to see the Hollywood sign" and found a blog that posted the exact address which I then typed in the GPS. The "standard" view points are from very far away and we wanted to get as close as possible to this unapproachable sign.
This is my favorite picture from LA, I laugh out loud every time I see it! We tried to take the best picture ever with the timer but failed hard! Try to make the perfect lift in a few seconds... We realized that he was too heavy for us girls so we tried a different way...
... and it turned out like this, HAHA. I can't. We really suck! And the guy in the background is the icing on the cake! I wanted to continue trying to get the perfect picture but the others looked like they wanted to kill me in that heat, so we gave up. Buh.
We continued to Beverly Hills and Bel Air to spy on celebrities. Rather, celebrity houses. Even more accurately, a glimpse of celebrity house, since they all insist on having gates and walls. As much as you get fascinated by all luxury homes and expensive cars you also get mad. Money really grows on trees here.
We didn't feel like going on a guided tour, instead we bought a map of the area where all the celebs houses are marked and went hunting. Celebrities spotted: 0. I know, it sounds incredibly ridiculous and had someone told me "we went stalking", my reaction would have been "dude... come on?", but you really do get starstruck just by getting a glimpse of this world and actually knowing that here lives celebrity X. Maybe we didn't get to see very much of the houses but we had a lot of fun! The picture is of that little you can see through the gates of Michael Jackson's old place.
We stayed at the Days Inn on Sunset Boulevard that runs parallel to Hollywood Boulevard (I can recommend it if you have a car since there is a garage under the hotel). After a day's sightseeing, we could chill by the pool. It doesn't get more Californian than this.
Where the sun always shines
After spending the night in San Simeon, we continued to drive south towards Los Angeles. The stunning Highway 1 environment subsided after San Simeon, so we didn't stop as much as before. However, we made a little longer stop in Santa Barbara to eat (one of the tastiest pizzas I have ever eaten), check out the beach and take a walk on the pier. Now it really felt like the California we get to see on tv.
I thought I liked cookies, those ordinary cookies from our local store, until I tasted cookies from the American McDonalds. Three irresistible, soft cookies for $1. Why, WHY, aren't they sold in Sweden!? Maybe it's for my best that they don't have any here since I ate several daily.
And this is how it looked, the closer we got to L.A. Welcome to the city of cars!
Driving down Highway 1
Our last morning in San Francisco, we went to the airport to pick up our rental car and start driving south along the Californian coast. I understand why Highway 1 is seen as one of the world's most beautiful roads, the environment is absolutely incredible! The road is designed so you can park beside it any time, very apt since you want to stop every ten meters because the view just gets better and better.
At Big Sur we drove in to a forest and suddenly we were in the middle of huge tree trunks in a large camping area. We never explored it properly but we visited a typical american camping house to eat something in their restaurant. You have to take the opportunity to eat when you find food since there is really not much along the road, neither gas stations nor restaurants.
This meant that the sun set 1-2 hours before we arrived, which in turn meant that we had to drive in the dark, where the car lights and reflections along the way is the only thing you see, and we had to drive really slowly. NOT FUN when you know there is a steep slope right next to you and the road only gets curvier and curvier. As if it wasn't enough, the fog came over the land like a tsunami. Do you see that thing that looks like a wave in the picture? It's the freakin' fog! In the end we drove 20km/h in darkness and fog until we arrived at our accommodation in San Simeon. Lesson learned.
If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
After the visit to Alcatraz, we spent the last day by just walking around in San Francisco. We saw Lombard Street among else - the world's crookedest street that most of you have probably seen. So beautiful, both the view and the decoration. How often is a street a tourist attraction?
Afterwards we walked around Union Square and went shopping a little. I couldn't understand that we walked down the same street as when we arrived to SF, when it was so gray, cold and depressing. This was a completely different city, a sunny day with a lot of people. And by now I had already fallen in love with it. The next day, however, it was time to leave San Francisco for a new destination.
Break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz
Our last day in San Francisco began with a visit to one of the world's most famous, former, prisons - Alcatraz. That is also something I would recommend if you're staying in SF, especially if you're familiar with the movie or stories from Alcatraz. It's a very interesting and terrifying experience at the same time when you imagine what it was like there only 50 years ago.
One of the prisoners said that the worst thing was the view of San Francisco and that it reminded you of what you had lost, every day.
You've all seen the movie "Escape from Alcatraz" with Clint Eastwood, right? It's based on a real escape, and perhaps the only successful. Here you got to see the real fake head in Frank Morris' cell and the holes they crawled through! In the picture below you can also see the passage behind the cells. From there they climbed three floors up to the roof where they built a raft. It's amazing how they managed to do all that.
Since we brought a computer with us to the U.S., we made it a thing to download movies that was set in the city we stayed in, and watch them before bedtime. That evening we downloaded Escape from Alcatraz, of course, and it was a completely different experience to watch it after being there. And after all we have heard and seen, both during the visit and on documentaries, and the fact that their bodies were never found, I am completely convinced that the three escapees survived, despite the icy cold water, and lived the rest of their lifes somewhere in South America.
Golden Gate Bridge
The best experience in San Francisco was to bike along the coast and across the mighty Golden Gate. We rented bikes at Fisherman's Wharf and rode along harbors, parks and beaches until we arrived to the bridge. We got a map with suggested bike routes so it wasn't hard to find, we just went ahead and enjoyed the ride. And stopped all the time to take new photos the closer we got to the bridge.
Once across the bridge, there is a lookout point just to the right where most people stop to take pictures. We were not satisfied with that, though, since we, thanks to my Google-research, knew that we could get up to the Marin Headlands for an even more amazing view. To get up there, however, was not easy. The bike path ended and for some parts of the road we had to go out in the terrifying U.S. traffic, it got really scary a couple of times...
...Not to mention the uphill. I gave up after a few meters, and dragged the bike the rest of the way up while I cried "wait ... wait ..." like a fat kiddo /the girl who made a generous donation to Fitness24 by buying a gym membership but not going to the gym for six months.
That might explains all the summer houses on this side. The hills protect this area from wind and it was probably ten degrees warmer here than in San Francisco. A very nice little place! We biked to the small town center and took the ferry back to San Francisco - really apt since we would never ever have made it the whole way back on bikes.
Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39
The second day in San Francisco we also visited Fisherman's Wharf and the popular Pier 39. Cute, colorful and touristy! But despite the big croud of tourists it was really delightful to walk among all boats, small shops and restaurants... and arcades a la American style, which I eventually had to drag my boyfriend out from. And not to forget one of the main tourist attractions - the seals!
The City of Love and Peace
San Francisco. The city with lots of hills, trams and houses with bay windows. We had heard many good things about this town, and although they were true, that wasn't our first impression. After a six-hour-long trip from New York we had traveled another three hours "back" in time, and fifteen degrees cooler on the thermometer. It was colder than Sweden. The first thing we did when we got off the train from the airport was to run into McDonald's, and the first thing we saw was a lot of homeless people walking around in the area. It felt far from the city of love and peace.
We stayed in a hotel near the gate to Chinatown, right next to the financial district. Good location since it's really in the middle of the city and you can walk to almost everything, but I was not very fond of the Chinatown. Especially not when we arrive exhausted and want nothing else than to sleep, but there's a chinese man in street corner, playing an instrument with only two strings for SEVERAL HOURS. Our window had absolutely no isolation which means that we heard everything from outside and it was just as cold inside as outside. I got into a mini-depression that day. It was hard to leave New York, where we had already gotten some routines, a sense of security and favourite places, to arrive at a new city that doesn't live up to the expectations right away, and where you're also freezing your but off. In addition to that, we were undescribably tired after all the walking in NY, I can't explain how much my legs and feet ached. For the first time ever, we slept a whole day while on vacation, and it was so worth it .
But new day, new beginning! The next day was a bit warmer and the sun came out after the morning mist. We finally left the hotel to explore San Francisco, and the impressions got better and better. Not that the Chinese enviroment wasn't cool, we checked out that area too, but it didn't feel like being in the U.S. It's the largest Chinatown (except in NY) outside Asia!
Jeans and sweaters felt quite strange after the sultry heat in New York. But since it was neither cold nor hot it was a pleasant weather for tourists. When the fog swept over the city it became much colder though. San Francisco has a very special climate since it's surrounded by water on three sides, and apparently it tends to be colder in August than in September and October due to the fog and the cold winds. So much for California heat...
The city is also famous for being built on hills. Even if you have read about it and seen pictures of it, you still get surprised at how steep the streets actually are. Especially when you have to WALK all the way up! However, you can avoid the worst hills just by walking around them, hehe. Lucky for them all their cars are automatic.
Fun, huh? I photographed lots of buildings, but this is enough for now. The second day we also visited Fisherman's Wharf (which I'll write about later) and took a hop-on-hop-off bus tour which was the stupidest thing to do at 4-5 pm when the fog and the winds sweeps over the city. It blew so hard when we drove towards the Golden Gate that I had to duck under the seat.
Luckily we had the funniest, Irish, guide that made the tour worth while. He deserves a final picture here!
