Convergent Journey

A cuppa tea and a camera

Posts from the ‘Travel’ category

This Old Soul Misses London

By on June 7, 2013

Oxfam on Drury Lane. Courtesy of Google, which has changed its format such that I can't figure out whom to credit this photo to. Sneaky Googles.

Oxfam on Drury Lane. Courtesy of Google, which has changed its format such that I can’t figure out whom to credit this photo to. Sneaky Googles.

I used to go to the Oxfam store near Holborn at least once a week to browse the well-stocked bookshelves. Perhaps given its proximity to LSE and Kings College, there were quite a lot of literary classics and heady academic tomes tucked among the trashy romance novels here. Every time I entered, I could hardly resist buying a book or two, despite knowing how foolish it was to buy books that I definitely wasn’t going to bring back home. But the books were a steal at £2-5, so I figured it was worth it even if I gave the books away later.

Stack o' books

Stack o’ books, somewhat visible at left

I ended up with a tall stack of used books on the windowsill. I’d curl up by the window with a cup of tea and crack one open; or I’d haul it on one of my weekend trips to read on planes and trains. There was something exciting to me about opening the well-worn binding and reading the pages someone had read before. While engrossed in a John le Carré novel, I wondered whether the previous reader had been as gripped by the claustrophobia of Cold War espionage. It may seem silly, but I was honestly thankful to the book donors for granting me access to a fictional world by passing the book on. Which also made it easier for me to give the books away when I was done.

I must be all the more nostalgic right now because I’m heading back to Europe on Wednesday. I’m currently pre-loading my Kindle with reading for the flight, but I’m finding it hard to reconcile my old-soul love of literature as a shared experience with this new digital form…. especially given the price tag. I have to pay $9.99 for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold? To get it downloaded onto my Kindle via something Amazon calls… Whispernet??

The name, I’m not such a fan of. It underscores the problem I have with the Kindle to begin with, which is that the digital reading experience feels… wispy. Ethereal. The words disintegrate every time you turn the page, as if they were never there. It’s odd; unnerving, almost.

Ah, well. Welcome to the 21st Century! This is how we do. Convenience trumps all: I have five e-books locked and loaded on this slim slice of a device, and I don’t need to worry about dumping cargo on the return trip.

Paris, Italy, Spain–here I come! This blog will be quiet for a while, but you can bet there will be updates when I’m back.

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24 Hours in Napa Valley

By on June 1, 2013

L and I planned a spontaneous trip to Napa Valley over Memorial Weekend. We booked a hotel room the morning of, loaded up the car, and off we went! It was the first time for both of us, and we little knew what to expect. All we wanted was sunshine and wine.

We started at the Oxbow Public Market, an indoor market similar to the Ferry Building (SF) / Chelsea Market (NYC) / Mercado de San Miguel (Madrid) — local, artisanal markets with various food/vendor stands.

The Napa Valley Distillery.

So many bitters!

L sampled them all, but managed to limit herself to just two.

Cheeses made from cows, goats, and sheeps(‘ milk)!

Ca’ Momi, where we had lunch.

Gnudi – organic spinach and Bellwether ricotta gnocchi. Very savory/cheesy.

Creamy polenta and delightfully provincial looking vegetables.

Lest I forget, we also got truly delectable ice cream from Three Twins on a homemade waffle cone. Except that it was so creamy and melty that there absolutely was not time to take a photo of it. I was downing it as quickly as possible, but still got bittersweet chocolate dripped all over me!

We got these cherries at a roadside stand. Mmmmmm. I never knew the delight of a perfectly ripe cherry til now.

We walked around downtown Napa, and were surprised at how deserted it was. We had both expected more of a Destin-like, glitzy tourist town. But instead there were few pedestrians, and, it seemed, fewer open storefronts. The Napa Town Center had more vacancies than stores. Not to be satisfied with just writing it off as “everyone’s off at the wineries,” I did some research. It was good to be reminded that Napa is still very much an agrarian, blue-collar area, and despite the fine wines, $$$ Yelp ratings and artisanal amenities, we’re the interlopers. 

Major development in downtown Napa kicked off about a dozen years ago, starting with the Historic Napa Mill on Main Street and a collection of businesses including the Napa River Inn, Sweetie Pies bakery and Silo’s, a wine bar and live music spot.

Then came the well-coiffed celebrity chefs with their chic dining rooms and non-Napa roots. The move to make downtown a more cosmopolitan destination for the throngs who usually pass by on their way “up valley” has stirred some debate with the locals.

Larry and Eleanor Archambeault have lived in Napa more than 30 years and remember when downtown had more of a blue- collar feel.

“I go to an exercise group with mostly older people, and not everyone likes the change,” said Leonore Archambeault, over bites of yucca fries at Oxbow Public Market.

“Downtown Napa luring tourists who once bypassed it,” The Sacramento Bee, Feb 19, 2012

We had an incredible dinner at Tarla, a mediterranean restaurant. Above, saganaki, described on the menu as flaming Halloumi with truffle honey, apricots and lemon. I didn’t realize they would actually pour brandy on top and light it on fire. It was crispy, sweet, cheesy, deliciousness. It was amazing. Appetizer and dessert combined.

These pomegranate-cabernet braised short ribs were so, so good. I savored each bite of succulent beef and garlic-mushroom risotto. I liked it so much, I was even willing to consider conceding the dominance of the Korean short rib.

The next day was overcast, but not to worry — we were only really planning to drink wine, anyway. We went to Acacia Vineyard, where we sampled two chardonnays, a rose, three pinot noirs and a syrah.

This Marsh Chardonnay was my favorite (I prefer whites usually). I also loved the watercolor label–which is the view outside the window to the left of this frame–and the fact that the proceeds are donated to preserving the marshlands.

The pinot is poured.

The vineyard, and the marsh beyond.

We then drove more or less offroad, and nearly straight onto this bridge, marked DO-NOT-ENTER-WILDLIFE-PRESERVE. But it was too invitingly undulating, so we parked the car and went for a little walk instead.

What a lovely trip. You can bet I’ll be back for more soon!

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Tastes of Mexico in San Diego

By on May 20, 2013

I did so little preparation for this trip, I barely even realized how close San Diego is to Mexico. That is, until I had a warm, toasty, sugar-sprinkled churro.

I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve had churros maybe three times in my life before. Once when I visited Los Angeles in 8th grade–I was not impressed. Once, maybe, at a carnival or something. And most recently, at a famous chocolateria in Madrid. At none of these times did I like churros.

But at Roberto’s, I couldn’t get enough! The churros were $1.50 of pure pleasure. Nom nom nom.

Also, the carne asada fries.

We demolished them.

We went to Boomer’s, where we played skeet ball, basketball, air hockey, DDR and more. For all our efforts, we earned 415 tickets, which was enough to get a packet of stickers and a tootsie roll each.

After pigging out on carne asada fries and churros, even several hours of rigorous arcade playing was not enough to work up a large enough appetite, so we skipped dinner. Instead, we went straight to Extraordinary Desserts.

It was not a mistake. It was the most artistic, rich, delicious, delectable, wonderful dinner substitute I’ve ever had.

Devonshire strawberry shortcake.

Warm bread pudding, but instead of using plain bread, here they crumble oodles of chocolatey croissants into this delightful creation.

Raspberry mousse with plenty of flair.

The next morning, we had the leftover desserts for breakfast. (Yes, really.)

We also tried to burn off a few calories with a morning walk around the neighborhood. It has a very different architectural style and vibe than I’m used to, but some of these houses are truly beautifully landscaped. Lemon trees, flowers, hedges, cacti… lots of loving touches adorn these cute homes!

These sidewalk paintings are a nice artistic touch, although it does crack me up when the sidewalk painting is of the house. As if you wouldn’t be able to find the house otherwise. (You’re staring right at it.)

Later in the day, we went to the famed Hotel del Coronado:

And sat on the beach.

Gold! Mica mixes in the sand, making this beach one of the sparkliest I’ve ever been to.

For lunch, we ordered some more carne asada fries at La Playa Tacos in Mission Beach. (We preferred the carne asada fries at Roberto’s, though.)

But ah, the shrimp tacos were absolutely delightful.

Happy Birthday to our host, K! So glad to finally see you in your new home city–thanks for showing us around, detours and all!

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Butano State Park and Pescadero Beach

By on May 5, 2013

Last week, I came down hard with the worst case of gastroenteritis I’ve ever had. That sucked. I pretty much missed an entire week of work.

But I got better just in time to do a very easygoing overnight camping trip with my roommates to Butano State Park. Butano is a quick trip from San Francisco, about an hour south along Route 1. Yet even such a short drive transports you to a completely different environment, which is really something to love about living in the Bay area.

The trip mostly involved making fires, sitting around the fire, cooking things on the fire, and introducing our Belgian roommate to the great American experience of campfire s’mores (I think he ate eight in one sitting). Non-fire-related things included getting woken up by a combination of skunk spray and wild boar rummaging in the middle of the night.

Roasting peppers

Majestic woods

Sunlight dappling our tent

We ran out of time and I didn’t have a lot of energy, so we passed up the hiking trails in the park. Instead, we stopped by Pescadero State Beach:

Pescadero

Escargot?

Craggy beaches

Then we found this beautiful field of yellow flowers and poppies, the California state flower

And promptly lay down in it

So many succulents in bloom!

Then on the way home, we stopped in Half Moon Bay for clam chowder and fish & chips at Barbara’s Fish Trap. The lines were too long, so we took it to go (and hence I have no pictures to show for it). But take my word for it—very tasty!

All in all, a short, but much-needed and very restorative trip.

I’m pretty sure moving out here is the best idea I ever had. Or possibly the second-best, close behind moving to London last year.

Point is, I’m very blessed to be here.

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Tilden Regional Park Hike

By on May 1, 2013

I finally went on my first real Bay area hike since moving out here! It’s about time. I was so excited that I power walked way ahead of my group (even though I didn’t know where we were going). The sun, the fresh air! Wildflowers in bloom and the smell of eucalyptus! I stopped to take lots of lovely deep breaths, but few photos. Apologies for the sparse showing here; I’ll do better next time.

Big shoutout and thanks to the fearless leaders of the trip. They led us on an approximately 5-mile loop with a steep, unrelenting uphill climb at the end. That was fun. But on the other side of the hill, refreshments, watermelons and many happy things awaited us! Which was brilliant.

Gorgeous view!

Happy trails

So very lush and lovely.

See? I didn’t even stop to get a photo of these actually in focus. They’re lovely though!

And I took this one while we waited for the rest of the group to catch up.

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