new trip

Both of us would like to do another trip very soon, but I don't think there is any money for that now. So I guess this blog might be updated sporadicaly.

Flying home

It started out with a little delay even before we left the gate. We were even later before we got into the air. Since the weather was bad in Chicago the flight took longer than it was supposed to. When we landed Shannon was waiting with Max, Marge and Marty. She had also brought us Chicago style hot dog from Super Dawg. We really needed to get something to eat and it was good.
Our flight from Chicago to London was late and we had to get a later flight from Heathrow. This made us kind of late for our train.
When we arrived at the station we had about 3 minutes to get to the train and we started running. At the first board I saw that the train was really far away but I also saw that it was about 45 minutes late. This was the first delay that we where glad for, since we had time to buy some food for the ride.
We got home OK, even if it was a bit late. The entire trip had taken about 36 hours.

and now we leave SF...

After the brunch we got our rental and went to the hotel we where staying in for the night. We went to dinner with Marge, Marty and his kids. It was nice to get to talk to them a little more than the nights before. On Monday we drove across the Golden Gate and towards Muir Woods which is one of the only places where there is still Red Wood trees. It was nice to see what they looked like and how amazingly big they really are. After that we kept on driving Highway 1 along the coast for a while and then we turned inwards on a really small road. We ended up in a small town and had lunch at a Mexican place. After lunch we kept driving towards Napa where we found a nice hotel and stayed for 2 nights. We were not aware that it was Memorial Day, but the traffic was not too bad.
Tuesday we started out to watch Old Faithful which is a geyser. It wasn't much to see but it was nice anyway. Then we started our tour back towards Napa with a stops at some wineries. The first one we tried 5 different wines and then we found Mumm, where they make sparkling wine. They had a tour around the place and we got to see how they make their wine. It was really neat. When we got back to Napa we went on a shopping spree at their outlet mall. Wednesday we drove back to San Francisco but we stopped on the north side of Golden Gate and drove around to get a better view of the bridge. We ended up driving past the place for the wedding. When we got to the other side of the bridge we followed the Scenic 49 mile route for a while. It was a nice way of getting a look at new places of the city. We stayed in the same hotel as before and went to watch a movie. This time it was Pirates 3.
Thursday we met Rob and Amanda in China Town and had a really nice lunch at a small place on a side street. We walked around with them for a while before we drove out to Berkley where Andy and Jess live. We just hung out that night and Jess made fish tacos. It was really good. Friday we went out for breakfast before we left for the airport.

Our trip home deserves a post on its own.

Quick recap... up to the brunch

I'll try to write about what we did during our days in USA.

We arrived Monday night and we only rode a cab to our hotel and went out for a sandwich. We woke up pretty early Tuesday and walk toward the city center. We found an Internet Cafe and logged on to check it out. We found all the shopping that was downtown and after lunch we headed back to our hotel for some rest before we went back. This time we watched a movie, Shrek the Third.
Wednesday we started out by walking towards Fishermans Wharf and walked by the shoreline for a while. We turned in towards Coit Tower which we climbed and took many pictures. Walking back towards our hotel we discovered that it was just a short walk. After that we took the BART over to Oakland to met up with Andy to get our tickets for the Giants game.
Thursday we walked downtown again before the bachelor/-ett party. It was kind of hard to find the place since our directions where not the best, but we found the place and it was nice to see everyone again. We started out on sailing in the bay. It was really cool to see the city from that point of view. The night turned out as expected with a few beers and a lot of fun. Friday we laid back at the hotel until lunch and the we headed out into the city. We walked to the rehearsal dinner which was at Fishermans Wharf and stopped for some pictures at the most crocked street in the world. It was nice to see some of the people from my year as exchange student. Stina and I took the cable car home that night since we couldn't find a cab.
Saturday the Shannons picked us up to go to the wedding site. We rode across the Golden Gate Bridge and then turned of the freeway to go through a tunnel and then we kind of ended up in an old military base. The wedding was really nice, even though it was outside and freezing. The reception was in a building next to the ceremony. After dinner there was square dancing, at which Stina was really good. The party continued on at the hostel where most of the young people stayed in. There was even a game of beer pong going on.
Sunday was the day for brunch at Jessica's parents house in Walnut Creek. We went there with the Shannons and on this side of the bay and hills it was really hot. Not at all like in the city. We rode back into the city with Andy's aunt and played a game of car-ABC, since it was a lot of traffic going over the Oakland Bay Bridge.

Midnight picture

This is what it looks like at about 1 am from our livingroom window.

Pictures

Here is one picture from the wedding. Click on it to get more.




I will post more pictures from our trip to SF and Napa when I've had the time to go thru them all.

Back home!

Now we are back home in the apartment. There will be updates soon with pictures.