http://lovely-planet.org/Lovely Planet2012-09-14T07:00:00ZAndrew Fecheyr and Melanie Tamsinhttp://lovely-planet.orgtag:lovely-planet.org,2012-09-14:/to-california-and-beyond/To California And Beyond2012-09-14T07:00:00Z2012-09-14T07:00:00Z<p>Summer started, so we did what we do best, we travelled. Andrew did some traveling, Mel did some more. </p>
<p>We strategically booked our visit to Belgium mid July, when there happens to be the best city festival in the world in Ghent, the Gentse Feesten.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/GentseFeesten.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>GentseFeesten</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.28 mm<br>Exposure: 1/15<br>F: 2.4"><img class="" src="/images/California/GentseFeesten.jpg" alt="GentseFeesten" title="GentseFeesten" /></a></div>
<p>Our two week holiday was well spent partying at the Feesten, eating lots of Belgian food and meeting up with our friends and family. Although the weather was typically Belgian, unpredictable and wet, we had a fantastic time. But after two weeks we started to miss our fluffy four-legged friend (and maybe also the reliable sunny Californian weather) so we were happy to go back home to Mountain View.</p>
<p>End of vacation for Andrew, start of a whole month of exploring California for Melanie. Not having a working permit yet does have its perks ;-)</p>
<p>Saturday, 4th of august 2012, the day the city of San Francisco got woken up by a series of squeaking laughter and fantastically colorful sights. The DK-club had hit American soil to get this party started! Translation: Melanie’s 4 gorgeous girlfriends arrived for a 2 week visit to California!</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Airport.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Airport</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/160<br>F: 8.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Airport.jpg" alt="Airport" title="Airport" /></a></div>
<p>We saw so much in just 2 weeks so it is very difficult to fit it all in one blogpost. But I’ll try…
Let me start by saying we had THE BEST TIME! Five girls driving across California in a fancy black Chevy with temperatures rising up to 127 Fahrenheit, must have been one hell of a sight. The only thing, or better the only one that made the trip a little less perfect is the travel agency that booked our hotels and arranged our tour. Read more on that later…</p>
<h2 id="saturday-4--sunday-5-mountain-view-city">Saturday 4 & Sunday 5: Mountain View City</h2>
<p>We arrived with the airport shuttle in Mountain View in the late afternoon and explored my hometown. As the centrum of my hometown is only one street, the exploring was done in 20 minutes and we quickly ended up in the Irish pub where my friends fueled me with the latest gossip. Later on we had delicious tapas and paella in our local Spanish restaurant, Cascal. But after a long flight, the girls’s energy level was running low, so we called it an early night.</p>
<p>Sunday morning, rested but with a mild jet lag, we visited the Stanford University Campus. After strolling around for a while we decided to go up the Hoover tower where you have a panoramic view of the campus. </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Stanford.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Stanford</strong><br>Focal Length: 11.2 mm<br>Exposure: 1/640<br>F: 4.5"><img class="" src="/images/California/Stanford.jpg" alt="Stanford" title="Stanford" /></a></div>
<p>Apart from the nice view we also learned something new, namely that President Hoover did a lot of good stuff for Belgium during WW1. The museum on the floor level of the tower explains the history of the Belgian food relief plan and is full with gifts from Belgium to Herbert Hoover. Although I think he would have been happier with a lot of chocolate and beer than with ugly carpets and vases. </p>
<p>In the afternoon we had a sunny BBQ in our backyard and were accompanied by two other Belgian girls, Paulien and Stephanie, their American friend, our American neighbor and off course Pieter and Katie. Now it was the Belgians feeding the Americans ;-)</p>
<h2 id="monday-6--tuesday-7-san-francisco">Monday 6 & Tuesday 7: San Francisco</h2>
<p>Monday morning, we and our oversized luggage took the Caltrain to San Fran. After checking in at the Whitcomb hotel on Market Street (good hotel, dodgy location), we had some hours to kill before we would do the Alcatraz Tour. So we did what any sensible girl in a city would do, we shopped. Some hours and many Victoria’s secret purchases later we boarded the ferry that took us to the prison island of Alcatraz. Although I must say that the night tour I did with my parents in April was creepier and more spectacular than the day tour, it was still a fun experience. Barbara however did have some struggles with her audio guide so there was a slight moment of panic when we couldn’t find her anymore… Luckily the group got reunited before the ferry took us back to main land. </p>
<p>We then did the obligatory visit to Pier 39 where the sea lions were as smelly and lazy as ever. With tired legs we dragged ourselves up the hill to Little Italy where we had a super yummy dinner at an Italian restaurant called Calzones. </p>
<p>The next day had some more sightseeing in store for us. After a small argument with a very annoying bus ticket salesman, we hopped on the hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus that drove around the city whilst a witty guide told us all the inside scoops about the windy city. And windy it was, especially whilst driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.
The rest of the day was spent on, guess what, shopping of course! </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/HopOn.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>HopOn</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/HopOn.jpg" alt="HopOn" title="HopOn" /></a></div>
<p>Around 6 pm we could pick up our rental car at the Alamo car rental place in the middle of the city. I forgot 1 thing in our hotel room, 1 very important thing you need to drive in a city like SF where you can never ever turn left, my GPS. To cut a long story short, we ended up driving from the one side of the city to the other side (twice), passing our hotel several times but not being able to locate the hotel’s parking. So, frustrated and slightly panicked I parked the car on a bicycle lane across from our hotel, not to the joy of the bicyclists, and Sophie and Laetitia jumped out off the car to go and beg/bribe someone in the hotel to park our car for us. That plan failed but in the mean time, with the help of the eagle eyes of Barb and Amelie that spotted the entrance of the parking and a lot of words of encouragement, we successfully (and illegally) crossed the street and got our car safely in the (very expensive) parking of the hotel. Exhausted and not very willing to drive again that day, we decided to walk to South of Market and found a super trendy bar, AQ, where we had a glass of wine, or two, maybe three. We all slept very well that night.</p>
<h2 id="wednesday-8-yosemite--mammoth-lakes">Wednesday 8: Yosemite & Mammoth Lakes</h2>
<p>After puzzling 5 oversized suitcases + hand luggage in our black shiny Chevy, we hit the road and drove all the way to Yosemite (joozemajt) National Park. We only had a few hours to visit the park, so it was mostly sightseeing from inside the car. But for El Capitan, we made an exception. It is unthinkable how Tom Waes managed to climb this 100% vertical rock, really, the last thing on my mind when seeing the rock was to climb it. We also stopped at a lookout point where you had an amazing view of the Dome and we had a photo moment.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Capitan.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Capitan</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/160<br>F: 8.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Capitan.jpg" alt="Capitan" title="Capitan" /></a></div>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Dome.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Dome</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/200<br>F: 8.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Dome.jpg" alt="Dome" title="Dome" /></a></div>
<p>The sun was all ready going down when we arrived at our hotel in Mammoth Lakes, but it was still light enough to see the beautiful scenery, the pretty dangerous looking fire not so far from the hotel and the ski lift next to the hotel. </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Fire.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Fire</strong><br>Focal Length: 7.9 mm<br>Exposure: 1/160<br>F: 10.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Fire.jpg" alt="Fire" title="Fire" /></a></div>
<p>Apparently Mammoth Lakes is a ski resort during winter and not the tackiest one neither. Our hotel room, or lets call it luxury apartment, was stunning, with king size beds, 2 bathrooms and a fully equipped kitchen. This off course put our hopes up for the rest of the hotels on our trip, but you’ll find out later that unfortunately this was the best hotel by far, not even comparable with the ones that had yet to come. We enjoyed some healthy and not so healthy tapas for dinner and talked till the late night hours.</p>
<h2 id="thursday-9-death-valley--beaty">Thursday 9: Death Valley & Beaty</h2>
<p>Death Valley equals hot. To give an example, around 10 am we picked up some food in the supermarket for lunch, when we had our lunch 2 hours later, the cheese was looking like fondue.
Well, to be fair, when we entered Death Valley National Park the temperature was still acceptable, a cool 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) with a refreshing wind. The further we drove in the park, the higher the temperature rose. The maximum our car temperature meter recorded was 127 Fahrenheit, which equals an intolerable 53 Celsius. It literally felt like you put yourself in a hot air oven. My feet got burned from standing outside the car for 5 minutes. The stunning scenery was worth the sweating and baking though. We even saw a jet fighter flying through the narrow canyons.
We also saw one crazy old dude running on the main road, he made us feel like a bunch of wussies in our AC car with our tomato red faces.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/DeathValley.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>DeathValley</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/320<br>F: 8.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/DeathValley.jpg" alt="DeathValley" title="DeathValley" /></a></div>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/FighterJet.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>FighterJet</strong><br>Focal Length: 6.74 mm<br>Exposure: 1/250<br>F: 9.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/FighterJet.jpg" alt="FighterJet" title="FighterJet" /></a></div>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/DeathValleyTree.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>DeathValleyTree</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/500<br>F: 8.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/DeathValleyTree.jpg" alt="DeathValleyTree" title="DeathValleyTree" /></a></div>
<p>Around 3 pm we arrived at our next overnight stop, the city/town/street of Beaty. What can I say,… What was our travel agent thinking when she decided to put us in Beaty??? We are 5 young girls, not 5 hill billy’s with a passion for guns, gambling and morning booze (well maybe the booze thing she got right). Anyhow, we checked in our charming (feel the sarcasm?) room at Motel 6 and wondered what we could do the next 8 hours in a hotel without a pool when it is 50 Celsius outside. Thank god for the casino next to our hotel where we could use the pool and thank god for the candy shop next to it that sold liquor, chips and subway sandwiches. So all in all, we made it a fun afternoon filled with gossip, beer and a fun question game.</p>
<h2 id="friday-10-las-vegas">Friday 10: Las Vegas</h2>
<p>Woop Woop the party train is moving! Vegas baby!
Despite the super hot temperatures (expected when you go to the desert in summer), Las Vegas was great!! We stayed at the Stratosphere hotel and from there we walked to the other side of the Strip. It took us a few hours because of the many pit stops. We had yummy sushi at the Fashion Show Mall, saw a naked mermaid, had cocktails at the Rhumbar, visited Venice and Paris, bought a supply of M&M’s and had fun with the street “artists”.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Siren.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Siren</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/250<br>F: 2.7"><img class="" src="/images/California/Siren.jpg" alt="Siren" title="Siren" /></a></div>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/VegasGirls.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>VegasGirls</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/125<br>F: 2.7"><img class="" src="/images/California/VegasGirls.jpg" alt="VegasGirls" title="VegasGirls" /></a></div>
<p>In the evening we felt extra special as we were approached by men that put us on the guest list for night clubs. That feeling quickly changed when we saw that they approached every girl in Las Vegas and had to stand in line to get into the Bank night club. But we had a fun night out and we seemed to be the only girls in the club that hadn’t forgotten to put on their skirts. </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/VegasNight.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>VegasNight</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/VegasNight.jpg" alt="VegasNight" title="VegasNight" /></a></div>
<p>We eventually ended up in a fancy bar talking to a bachelor party. A few of the guys were from San Diego, the city we were going to visit 3 days later and they gave us some useful tips on what to visit there. But we first had two more stops planned out, and boy, were they stops…</p>
<h2 id="saturday-11-needles">Saturday 11: Needles</h2>
<p>I can be very brief about Needles. Don’t go to Needles. Needless to go there. Beaty all over again but maybe even worse.
On our way from Las Vegas to Needles we did have a very nice stop at the Hoover Dam. Pretty spectacular. And by crossing the Hoover Dam bridge we ended up visiting 3 states during our trip, California, Nevada and Arizona. </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Hooverdam.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Hooverdam</strong><br>Focal Length: 4.7 mm<br>Exposure: 1/1250<br>F: 8.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Hooverdam.jpg" alt="Hooverdam" title="Hooverdam" /></a></div>
<p>We also drove through Joshua Tree NP, a park that has a huge collection of different cactus species. The sign said “don’t touch the cactus”. Well, guess what we did…</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Joshua.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Joshua</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Joshua.jpg" alt="Joshua" title="Joshua" /></a></div>
<h2 id="sunday-12-palm-desert">Sunday 12: Palm Desert</h2>
<p>Okay, so here is the thing. When you hear Palm Desert and Palm Springs, words like pool parties, fun and young people come to mind. Well, we figured out why Palm Springs is called Palm Spring, with the emphasize on Spring. Probably during Spring break this place is filled with young people, partying and having fun by the pool. Not in summer. No, in summer it is a dead city where old people come and enjoy the peace and quiet and have their hips replaced. That, and the fact that our hotel was located right beside the freeway and next to supermarkets and fuel stations, didn’t really make it what we had expected it to be. But at least we had a tasty gourmet burger in a place called Grill-a-burger (get it, g rilla) and our hotel had a nice pool.</p>
<h2 id="monday-13-tuesday-14--wednesday-15-san-diego">Monday 13, Tuesday 14 & Wednesday 15: San Diego</h2>
<p>San Diego on the other hand is a super fun city! Although our hotel didn’t have the best location (thanks again madam Valiez), we had a great time in San Diego. The Gas Lamp District was the place to be for shopping, having a drink on sunny terraces and enjoying good food. So you can imagine where we spend most of our the time. </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/SanDiego.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>SanDiego</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/SanDiego.jpg" alt="SanDiego" title="SanDiego" /></a></div>
<p>San Diego also has beautiful beaches with good looking surfers. So of course you could also find us there. For some however, the outcome of a day at the beach was a painful sunburn and sand in places where it shouldn’t be.
For me personally, the Balboa Park was the highlight of San Diego. The park has a Spanish flair to it and the buildings, museums and gardens are stunning. </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Botanical.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Botanical</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Botanical.jpg" alt="Botanical" title="Botanical" /></a></div>
<p>Yes, I will definitely plan another visit with Andrew.</p>
<h2 id="thursday-16-friday-17--saturday-18-la">Thursday 16, Friday 17 & Saturday 18: LA</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, this is where our trip ends. But first 3 days Los Angeles, the city of angels, movie stars and street walkers. After checking in to our hotel, which took us a while as we were put together in a room where 4 people could hardly fit in (we were 5), we took a stroll on the Walk of Fame where we hit the very touristy gift shops.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Awards.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Awards</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Awards.jpg" alt="Awards" title="Awards" /></a></div>
<p>In the evening we had dinner and drinks with another Belgian couple and a Belgian “director” (who according to Barbara looked like the daughter of Matti in ‘aanrijding in Moscou’. His response: ‘da ne lelijke struik’) at a funky sushi restaurant at Venice Beach. The wine was fine and the bottles were definitely not too kline so we (except of Amé, who was our responsible young driver) went home a little bit tipsy.</p>
<p>Friday we visited Warner Brothers Studios, the Griffith Observatory, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. The WB Studios were great. We had a very enthusiastic guide who seemed to know every movie and TV series WB ever made and he told us a bunch of funny anecdotes. For example: When they were filming the kissing scene in Spiderman, Toby Maguire hanged upside down on a pole. In the scene rain is pouring down, and the raindrops fell in Toby’s nose which almost made him drown. The solution was to put wax in his nose so water couldn’t come in. This however made his voice sound like a duck and Kirsten Dunst couldn’t stop laughing. So they had to do a voice-over afterwards and apparently if you watch the scene you can see Kirsten giggling non-stop.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/WB.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>WB</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/WB.jpg" alt="WB" title="WB" /></a></div>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Friends.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Friends</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Friends.jpg" alt="Friends" title="Friends" /></a></div>
<p>The Observatory was also fun, and it provided a great view of the Hollywood sign.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Hollywood.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Hollywood</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Hollywood.jpg" alt="Hollywood" title="Hollywood" /></a></div>
<p>And yes, for those who are wondering about it, of course we drove to Astrid Bryan’s house! When we arrived there, a news van was parked in front of her house (apparently there had been a robbery at her neighbor’s house). When they saw us taking pictures of Astrid’s house they asked us if we were from Belgium. It resulted in the guy ringing her doorbell and we got a very quick hello-wave from her. We even got to hold the news crew’s microphone!</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Astrid.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Astrid</strong><br>Focal Length: 0.0 mm<br>Exposure: <br>F: 0.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Astrid.jpg" alt="Astrid" title="Astrid" /></a></div>
<p>And then it was Saturday, the last day of our wonderful trip. After some last-minute shopping on Melrose Avenue, we had to say goodbye… </p>
<p>Thank you so much girls for this ameeejzing trip! Love you!</p>
tag:lovely-planet.org,2012-04-27:/visitor-mania/Visitor Mania2012-04-27T07:00:00Z2012-04-27T07:00:00Z<p>How time flies when you are having fun!</p>
<p>And to add another cliché: The more the merrier. We acted on this and adopted the cutest, fluffiest, sweetest dog in the world, Porter. He is a 7 year old Beagle, has a very strong personality, likes rolling in the grass (and then continuously sneezes) and snores while he sleeps (which he does a lot!). </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/hmb%20love.jpg" alt="Porter en Pangan" title="Porter en Pangan" /></div>
<p>The last month has been full of adventures and we had many visitors coming over. Now that everyone has returned to lovely Belgium, I finally have the time to write this blog post. </p>
<p>You know how I always post pictures of us wearing sunny outfits and brag about the high temperatures? Well, although most of this post will be the same of that, I’ll start with something totally different. SNOW! Yup, you read that right, we had snow. To be totally honest, we had to drive 5 hours to get to the snow but still, SNOW. The last weekend of March, Katie invited us to her parent’s chalet in Lake Tahoe for some relaxing. We were planning on doing some skiing, but in the end lazy relaxing took over. And the fact that we didn’t pack our skiing outfits when we came to California also had something to do with it, naturally. But we had the best time there, the chalet was beautiful and the hot coco at the fire pit was delicious. Porter also loved the snow and looked very handsome in his little jacket.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/snow.jpg" alt="the three of us" title="the three of us" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Tahoe%20lift.jpg" alt="Porter on the slopes" title="Porter on the slopes" /></div>
<p>And then, April arrived, and so did the first visitors. My (Melanie’s) parents were the first to set food on American soil (well, not literally but you know what I mean). </p>
<p>After having a rainy rest day to get over the jet lag, skies cleared up and we started their 10 day visit at San Francisco. Although SF has a reputation of being misty and windy, we had fantastic weather. This allowed us to have a wonderful cycling trip over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. A must-do! Luckily there is a ferry that takes you back to SF, because what goes down must come up and the cycling trip mostly went down.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/SF%20fiets.jpg" alt="bike on golden gate" title="bike on golden gate" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/SF%20golden%20date.jpg" alt="Golden Gate bridge" title="Golden Gate bridge" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/sausalito.jpg" alt="Sausalito" title="Sausalito" /></div>
<p>During our 2 day stay in the city we also went to Pier 39, ate the famous Cioppino (a fish soup with big crab paws in it), climbed the steep streets to see the most winding street in California, Lombard street and had a ride on the cable train. </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/SF%20view.jpg" alt="Cable train" title="Cable train" /></div>
<p>And last but not least, we did the night tour of Alcatraz. Although we were a little bit skeptical about this very touristic tour at first, it turned out to be a fun and interesting experience. Not only do you get great stories about prison life but you also have the best view on the San Francisco skyline by night.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/alcatraz.jpg" alt="Alcatraz" title="Alcatraz" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/SF%20by%20night.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>SF by night</strong><br>Focal Length: 5.0 mm<br>Exposure: 1/8<br>F: 3.4"><img class="" src="/images/California/SF%20by%20night.jpg" alt="SF by night" title="SF by night" /></a></div>
<p>From the city to the total opposite, Carmel by the Sea. A cute little sea town where all the rich Americans and tourists with taste reside. Its most famous inhabitant is Clint Eastwood who was mayor of this town a few decades ago. But that is certainly not the only thing that this town can brag about. Little streets with art galleries, beautiful bed and breakfasts, Efteling-like houses, good restaurants and an amazing beach with great views are all on display in Carmel. I know I sound like a tourist info site that tries to lure tourists to Carmel but honestly, it is a magnificent place. We stayed at the Green Lantern Inn where breakfast was good and the afternoon tea (with salty and sweet treats) was even better.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Carmel.jpg" alt="Carmel" title="Carmel" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/carmel%20sunset.jpg" alt="Carmel sunset" title="Carmel sunset" /></div>
<p>South of Carmel places like Big Sur and Point Lobos are great to have a walk and enjoy the best that nature has to offer (my god, I really sound like a travel agency). We walked through Point Lobos park and thanks to my dad’s old-school binoculars were able to see sea otters and seals playing in the water. They were a little harder to get on camera but there were other things worth photographing as well.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/point%20lobos.jpg" alt="Point Lobos" title="Point Lobos" /></div>
<p>Monterey is another town/city close to Carmel, famous for its aquarium and canned sardines (that was before they over fished them and no alive sardine was found anymore). I have to confess that I have never in my life heard about Monterey. My mum on the other hand was recalling scenes from a certain movie with Robert Redford that was filmed in Monterey. The generation gap…
We visited the aquarium and although the fish tanks were nice, the jelly fish were the coolest!</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Monterey.jpg" alt="Monterey" title="Monterey" /></div>
<p>On our way home we made a quick stop at Santa Cruz, a city famous for its Boardwalk that offers unlimited fun all year round. My dad and I took a ride in its most famous attraction, the roller coaster ‘The Giant Dipper’! Apparently this roller coaster also got used in many older movies but again, from before my time… Nonetheless, the ride was fast and bumpy, I loved it, my dad’s back not so much.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/giant%20dipper%20movie.jpg" alt="Giant Dipper" title="Giant Dipper" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/santa%20cruz.jpg" alt="Santa Cruz" title="Santa Cruz" /></div>
<p>The ride home was calmer than the roller coaster ride but the views were better.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/vuurtoren.jpg" alt="lighthouse" title="lighthouse" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/vuurtoren%20menp.jpg" alt="mum and dad in front of the lighthouse" title="mum and dad in front of the lighthouse" /></div>
<p>Back home and reunited with my lovely hubby (who had to work whilst I was traveling with the parents, life can be unfair), we went to a baseball game. The Oakland Athletics against Seattle. We were supporting for Oakland. They lost. Although the rules of baseball aren’t rocket science it was still hard to always understand who was doing what and why all of a sudden people could start running without a ball being trown. But the beer and hot dog and the company were nice so it was a fun night out.</p>
<p>We spend the next day at Half Moon Bay hiking along the coast and afterwards we went to Sam’s Chowder House to eat the famous lobster sandwich. </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/hmb%20hiking.jpg" alt="Half Moon Bay hiking" title="Half Moon Bay hiking" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/lobster%20sandwich.jpg" alt="Lobster sandwich" title="Lobster sandwich" /></div>
<p>So we had cioppino, sardines and lobster. Just two things left we needed to have a culinary orgasm: wine and oysters! </p>
<p>Wine: Napa Valley! By now, Andrew’s friends Tom and Thomas arrived and the six of us went to Napa. What happened on Andrew’s visit I don’t know and you know what they say, what happens in Napa, stays in Napa. I know that on my trip I was the responsible young driver and very responsibly drove my parents to some wine tastings. After a week of seeing magnificent nature, Napa was somewhat a disappointment. Not the nicest road to get there and the town of Napa was pretty boring. But who knows, maybe if I wasn’t so sober I would have loved it all :-) </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Tom%20and%20Thomas.jpg" alt="Tom and Thomas" title="Tom and Thomas" /></div>
<p>Oysters: Driving back from Napa we made a stop in Point Reyes national park and apart from the scenery, there was something else that caught our eye. Hog Island Oyster Farm! At this place you can have a picnic with sea view and taste delicious oysters. Honestly: one of the best experiences I had in California so far. Made me consider a career as an oyster farmer.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/hog%20island%20oyster.jpg" alt="Hog Island Oyster Farm" title="Hog Island Oyster Farm" /></div>
<p>As a cherry on the whipped cream, we had a surprise visit. Whilst standing on a beach were we just stopped to stretch our legs and let Porter out, we saw whales. And not in the far distance as a Fata Morgana, no, there were a couple of whales sticking their heads out of the water and diving under so you could see their tail fin, only a couple of meters away from us. We were so stunned that by the time we thought about getting the camera out they were already gone, but still a memory that will always last.</p>
<p>This is already becoming a very long post and we are not even mid April yet.</p>
<p>On April 11th, my parents left for Belgium in the morning, and my friend Melissa arrived in California around lunch time.</p>
<p>Two weeks of girl power! Meaning: shopping on Union Square in SF, dancing at Mollie Magees in Castro Street, afternoon picnic at Crissy Fields in SF, sun bathing at the pool (one of our 3 pools) and… Hollywood!</p>
<p>When I was 12 I used to save up pennies with the genius and not so original plan of going to Hollywood and becoming a movie star. The latter didn’t really work out and those pennies were spent on shopping instead but still, I finally made it to Hollywood!</p>
<p>A 6 hour drive through amazing scenery took us to the city where dreams come true.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/road%20LA.jpg" alt="Road to Hollywood" title="Road to Hollywood" /></div>
<p>Well, I don’t think everyone’s dreams came true as there were a lot of homeless people and wannabe movie stars who work as companionship ladies. But that didn’t spoil our fun.
We saw the Hollywood sign, walked the Walk of Fame, photographed the Kodak theatre, saw Spiderman, Darth Vader and Catwoman and last but definitely not least, stood in front of Astrid Bryan’s villa. And it was… ameeeyzing! </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Walk%20of%20Fame.jpg" alt="Walk of Fame" title="Walk of Fame" /></div>
<p>We also went to Venice Beach but it was a little bit to cold to parade in our bikinis.</p>
<p>Safely returned home we enjoyed the very warm weather at the pool and worked on our tan.
We also went to Santa Cruz were we had a blast. Unfortunately all but 7 attractions were closed but that didn’t spoil our fun. And honestly, after the 4th attraction which was a spinning, turning who knows what, our stomach was getting somewhat upset. The carrousel was more our thing :-)</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Winding%20thing.jpg" alt="stomach turning attraction" title="stomach turning attraction" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Carrousel.jpg" alt="Carrousel" title="Carrousel" /></div>
<p>By this time Andrews parents had also arrived in California. They rented an RV and went to Carmel with Andrew. And from what I heard, they enjoyed it as much as I did.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/doll%20and%20patrick.jpg" alt="Dominique en Patrick" title="Dominique en Patrick" /></div>
<p>The rest of the week Andrew’s parents traveled to Napa where Patrick trained for his next Iron Man on his hired Specialized bicycle and Dominique enjoyed the views and weather. Unfortunately they could only stay for 6 days.
So that leaves us to just the three of us again! And now that we both had a small taste of what California has to offer, we plan on making many road trips in the future!</p>
tag:lovely-planet.org,2012-03-11:/Califorelaxinia/Califorelaxinia2012-03-11T08:00:00Z2012-03-11T08:00:00Z<p>Meet Gregory [Gregreh, (pronounced with a posh british accent)], aka Greg.</p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Greg.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Greg</strong><br>Focal Length: 35.0 mm<br>Exposure: 1/200<br>F: 7.1"><img class="" src="/images/California/Greg.jpg" alt="Greg" title="Greg" /></a></div>
<p>Yup, we bought a car. He is a 1999 Volkswagen Passat Sedan V6 (V6 means a hell lot of power) with a moonroof. And he is awesome! The funny thing about buying a car in the US is that buying a car is easier than buying a phone card. There was no credit check!! </p>
<p>Now that we have a car, we can go wherever we want. And that is exactly what we are doing. </p>
<p>Although we are trying to get used to the American way of life, we are still true to our belgian identity. And Belgians need their beer. Luckily belgian beer is a big deal in the US so it was just a short drive to Oakland to drink a refreshing belgian blond in beer-bars like ‘Beer Revolution’ and ‘The Trappist’. We were joined by a bunch of diverse people: a few Americans, a Canadian, two Brits, an Australian, a Brazilian, The Belgians, a moose and a wild boar.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/beerbar.jpg" alt="Beer Revolution" title="Beer Revolution" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/moose.jpg" alt="New Friends" title="New Friends" /></div>
<p>But no worries, we are doing more than drinking beer! Whilst Andrew is working really hard, I am looking for things to do to fill my week days. Luckily, there is so much going on in the Valley. There are the Yoga classes I frequently attend with my partner in fitness Katie. We found a nice Yoga center in Mountain View where the teachers don’t look like freaky monks and we are successfully taking two classes a week. And I have to say, we are getting pretty good. Not head-stand-with-legs-in-the-air good, but not-falling-over-when-standing-on-one-leg good. </p>
<p>I also got a few shifts at the Palo Alto Animal Shelter. Every tuesday I go in and pet and brush cats for 2 hours. I absolutely love it! The cats are so adorable. I have to stop myself from taking them all home. Every other friday I have a dog shift where I go dog walking and play with the cutie pies on the play yard. At this moment there are just four dogs waiting to get adopted and 3 of them are Chihuahua mixes. It is quiet funny to walk a Chihuahua cause when it doesn’t listen, you just pull the leash a tiny bit and the dog is lifted in the air. Not that I do that…</p>
<p>Apart from the shelter, I started doing some voluntary work at StartX, the company where Law Gives has its office. Every three months new start-ups get office space at StartX and this weekend it was ‘moving in’ day. I helped getting the office ready for the newcomers and went shopping for supplies. The plan is to spend two afternoons a week at StartX and help them out with practical stuff. And at the same time I get to spend a little more time with my better half. </p>
<p>But, as the title of this post says, Califorelaxinia implies relaxing and that is a task I am willing to take seriously. Last weekend the weather was perfect (think 25 degrees Celsius). On saturday, after taking a relaxing class of Yoga, Katie and I had a tanning session at the pool. Oh yes, have I mentioned yet that we have 3 pools? Must have slipped my mind. We drank non-alcoholic margaritas (although it wasn’t our intention that they were non-alcoholic), read gossip magazines and had an ice lolly. </p>
<p>Sunday we had more relax time. We drove up to San Francisco to Land Ends Park. First we enjoyed the beautiful views on the Golden Gate Bridge and afterwards we had a lazy afternoon picnic. </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/goldengate.jpg" alt="Golden Gate Bridge" title="Golden Gate Bridge" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/picnic.jpg" alt="Lazy Picnic" title="Lazy Picnic" /></div>
<p>Small tip for when you are having a picnic when there isn’t a cloud in the sky: try to not have just 1 side of your body facing the sun. You will get weird tanning lines.</p>
<p>After the picnic we drove to Pier 39, a disney-like pier with great views on Alcatraz and with scaffolds full of sun soaking sea lions (they smell). We had a little photo-shoot</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/pier.jpg" alt="Pier 39" title="Pier 39" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/pieterkatie.jpg" alt="Pieter and Katie on Pier 39" title="Pieter and Katie on Pier 39" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/sealion.jpg" alt="Sea Lions" title="Sea Lions" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/piermel.jpg" alt="Mel on Pier 39" title="Mel on Pier 39" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/sun.jpg" alt="Sunset" title="Sunset" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/love.jpg" alt="Andrew and Mel with view on Alcatraz" title="Andrew and Mel with view on Alcatraz" /></div>
<p>Unfortunately, LawGives has a lot of deadlines coming up, so this weekend the boys had to work a lot. Tonight however we are having a BBQ in a house with lovely views on the hills of Los Altos, a jacuzzi, a swimming pool and a room full of music instrument. Yup, we still LOVE CALIFORNIA!!! </p>
<p>If you would like to know how Andrews weeks were, get him to write a blog post ;-)</p>
tag:lovely-planet.org,2012-02-27:/Getting-Settled/Getting settled2012-02-27T08:00:00Z2012-02-27T08:00:00Z<p>Getting settled… Easier said than done. It took us some time, a lot of patience and even more credit checks.</p>
<p>When you move to a new home in a foreign country there are many things you have to arrange. A new phone card, a bank account, a new house, furniture, a car, and so on.</p>
<p>Let’s start with the first thing. A phone card. Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it. Well, it’s not in the US. To get a phone card (for an iPhone) you first have to choose the phone company. When chosen, you need to choose between a big variety of plans. Then, you can still choose different extras for the plan. Not too bad till this point huh. But then comes the most important thing… Paying. Salesman: “Can I have your American Credit card so I can do a credit check?” (They basically check what you do with your money). Andrew:”I don’t have an American Credit card yet, but you can check my Belgian Visa card”. Salesman:”No, that won’t work, but no problem, you’ll just each have to do a $1000 deposit”. Andrew:”…”. Luckily, after hundreds of phone calls, Pieter managed to get us the cards via the company. But lets remember the word Credit check. It will be mentioned later.</p>
<p>The Bank Account. Andrew had set up a bank account during his last visit to California so we had a good base to start with. When still in Belgium he transferred money to this account but apparently money takes longer to travel than a contest pigeon. After being faced with the Credit check issue, we asked the very helpful bank assistant how we could get an American credit card. She told us that we first have to get a Social Security Number (we are in the process of getting it), then we get a secured credit card (with a $500 limit) and only when we have used this card enough, our Credit score increases. And only then can we get a real credit card. Well, we can actually get as many cards as we want, but she advised us on getting a maximum of 4 cards. 4! To get a positive Credit score you have to use these cards a lot. San Francisco shopping streets, here I come!</p>
<p>The new house. Finding an apartment actually went easier than expected. On his last visit Andrew checked out some residencies and was very enthusiastic about one, namely Avalon Creekside Apartments. And I have to say, my hubby has great taste. After looking at other apartments on the internet and exploring the neighborhoods, Avalon looked like the perfect place. Good location, nice and clean amenities, great atmosphere and a very spacious apartment.
But, yes, there was a but… the word we’ve come to hate over the last days… CREDIT CHECK. <br />
To be allowed to rent the apartment we had to pass the credit check. Problema! Thank God for a very sweet and helpful American, who was prepared to be our guarantor. Yuy, we have a house!</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/AvalonApartment.jpg" alt="Avalon Apartment" title="Avalon Apartment" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/299.jpg" alt="299" title="299" /></div>
<p>A house needs furniture. IKEA here we come! After spending hours at IKEA we had our basic furniture picked out. A bed, a table and four chairs (exactly the same chairs we had in our Ghent apartment), some basic necessities and a ginormous sofa bed! No excuses for our Belgian friends not to come over!
Because our rental car is tiny we had IKEA deliver our furniture friday morning. </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/IKEA.jpg" alt="IKEA" title="IKEA" /></div>
<p>So friday became furniture building day. In the absence of a hammer, Andrew used one of the basic necessities (aka a frying pan) to build the bed.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Pammer.jpg" alt="Pammer" title="Pammer" /></div>
<p>The car… still in progress…</p>
<p>Here are some pictures of our cute little town, Mountain View.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/MountainView.jpg" alt="Mountain View" title="Mountain View" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/CastroStreet.jpg" alt="Castro Street" title="Castro Street" /></div>
<p>Enough about the practical side, let’s talk entertainment.</p>
<p>I am planning on becoming a healthy California gall. With the huge portions of food, this might become a bit tricky. Katie, Pieter’s lovely girlfriend, had a great plan, Yoga!
Thursday evening Katie and I met up at the Avalon health center to take a class of Yoga. Since my knowledge of Yoga is limited to the sun salutation, I was a bit worried about the level (not being beginner). A very freaky looking dude (Katie: “he looks like the evil monk from The Da Vinci Code”, and she was so right) started the class with some relaxing <em>ohms</em>. So far so good. Unfortunately that was just the warming up. Seriously, at one moment (whilst we were in spreading leg stand with our head and arms between the legs) he suggested that those who wanted could continue in head stand. Whilst my head was still at least 50 centimeters of the ground, one of our classmates went straight to head stand. Even the 60-year olds were more flexible than I (and I am sorry Katie) and Katie were. We have decided we are going to try Yoga again, but we will start with the beginners classes.
Luckily after the class we went for food in a very nice restaurant in Palo Alto called the Fish market… I Like! And I got to sit in a Porsche!</p>
<p>Friday night we were invited to a Twenties themed party in SF. First of all, SF skyline by night is amazing! Unfortunately I have a very crappy camera that doesn’t work in the dark (hint Andrew) so a picture of that great scenery will be for another blogpost. The party was very sophisticated, there were interesting people attending the party and the cherry blossom garden was super beautiful. There were even cigars on sale.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Cigars.jpg" alt="Cigars" title="Cigars" /></div>
<p>Tip: if you want to get over a Jet lag: Go to bed late enough and wake up late enough.</p>
<p>Saturday morning/midday we woke up and felt like some sightseeing. So we went and did the Stanford Dish walk. The 3.5 mile walk is a great way to get an overview of the Bay Area. It provides views on Stanford and on San Francisco and the central point of the walk is a huge dish.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/TheDish.jpg" alt="The Dish" title="The Dish" /></div>
<p>And, if you are a squirrel lover, this is the place to be. They are omni-present. and they are so fluffy! Speaking of squirrels, check out the pimped out car we saw at a gas station.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/SquirrelCar.jpg" alt="Squirrel Car" title="Squirrel Car" /></div>
<p>In the afternoon we went to Target and bought household appliances (which took us a couple of hours). Afterwards, our Avalon community had a wine and cheese evening in store. We got to meet some of our neighbors (one of them: an engineer who works at Tesla Motors and offered Andrew a tour… He Likes!) and ate yummy cheese and drank not so yummy bubbly wine. It is so nice to know that your neighbors are very nice, friendly people. Most of them even know Belgium and some have actually been there. </p>
<p>On Sunday we had the best day. We went to the seaside! On a 40 minute drive from Mountain View lies the cute town of Half Moon Bay. After strolling in the picturesque town we had Lunch at Sam’s Chowder House. Oysters, Seafood chowder, Lobster, …, need I say more. </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/SamsChowderHouse.jpg" alt="Sam's Chowder House" title="Sam's Chowder House" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Oysters.jpg" alt="Oysters" title="Oysters" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Lobster.jpg" alt="Lobster" title="Lobster" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/MmmmWithAView.jpg" alt="Mmmm With A View" title="Mmmm With A View" /></div>
<p>WE LOVE CALIFORNIA!!!</p>
tag:lovely-planet.org,2012-02-20:/on-our-way-to-the-usa/On our way to the USA!2012-02-20T08:00:00Z2012-02-20T08:00:00Z<p>Saturday morning 6.30 am… the alarm goes off… On a normal day we would hit the snooze button a zillion times, but not today. Why not? Because in 4 hours we are boarding an aircraft that will take us to our new home in San Francisco, California, in the US of A!</p>
<p>First part of the journey: a 9 hour flight from Brussels to Chicago with United Airlines. UA, as many other airline companies, has a very cruel aircraft floor plan. When you board the plane you first pass First Class where seats are so big that you can actually house a small family in them, then you pass Business Class where seats are somewhat smaller but still big enough to seat the heaviest person in the world. Champagne, little appetizers and soft music create the perfect atmosphere. And then you enter Economy Class… one word pops up in your head, SMALL. Small seats, small leg space and very small TV screens (seriously, 10 on 10 centimeters). Oh well.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, we arrived in Chicago pretty fresh and excited to get closer to our final destination. After passing customs and changing terminals we had to wait 2 hours at the gate and had our first taste of the American way of life. Example: whereas in Belgium people usually read books or browse their phones whilst waiting at the gate, in Chicago they eat pizza and sip extremely large cups of Starbucks frozen caffe latte moccachinato… Other example: Their was a big flat screen TV that was broadcasting the funeral of Whitney Houston which was interrupted by ads approximately every five minutes, very moving indeed. </p>
<div class="align_center"><a href="/images/1024/California/Starbucks.jpg" rel="lightbox-blog" title="<strong>Starbucks</strong><br>Focal Length: 6.3 mm<br>Exposure: 1/60<br>F: 3.0"><img class="" src="/images/California/Starbucks.jpg" alt="Starbucks" title="Starbucks" /></a></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Whitney%27s%20Funeral.jpg" alt="Whitney's Funeral" title="Whitney's Funeral" /></div>
<p>The journey from Chicago to San Francisco was, despite of the small seats, amazing! Whilst they were playing “In Time”, the worst movie we have seen in a while, the scenery outside was astonishing. It looked like an advert for National Geographic. </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/airplane%20view1.jpg" alt="Airplane view 1" title="Airplane view 1" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/airplane%20view2.jpg" alt="Airplane view 2" title="Airplane view 2" /></div>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/airplane%20view3.jpg" alt="Airplane view 3" title="Airplane view 3" /></div>
<p>At 6.30 pm local time we landed in San Francisco, the city that is going to be our home for the next couple of months. Pieter Gunst picked us up with his antique red Chrysler convertible which was just big enough to fit our 80 kilograms of luggage and ourselves. We had our first lesson on how to drive in the US and a few traffic rules were pretty different to Belgian traffic rules. You can for example overtake another car on the left and on the right. At a crossroad without traffic lights the rule is first come, first serve and even when there are lights, you can always turn right even when it is red. Somethings to get used to…</p>
<p>We drove to our hotel in Palo Alto which has the applicable name: “Hotel California”. After puzzling our luggage in the tiny room we went for dinner in a restaurant across the road where the food was yummy (big portions and a lot of seafood), the waitress was super friendly (she’d better be for the 15% tip) and the Californian wine was very tasty. But the 24 hour journey had taken our energy so a few minutes after saying goodnight to Pieter we were snoring in our little-not Queen size-bed.</p>
<p>After a jet lag-fueled night we woke up at 6.30, excited to go out and explore the Bay Area.
Although the weather forecast told us that the weather wasn’t going to be good, we went outside and noticed that the jacket and scarf we put on weren’t necessary at all. Pieter picked us up with his roofless convertible and took us to Stanford University for a small tour and a big coffee and breakfast. Stanford University is a big green area with beautiful faculty buildings, palm trees and fountains. Not a bad place to get a diploma.</p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/Stanford%20main%20quad.jpg" alt="Stanford Main Quad" title="Stanford Main Quad" /></div>
<p>After sorting out some practical stuff we went to the farmers market in Palo Alto, where good looking and even better smelling food is sold by local traders. </p>
<div class="align_center"><img class="" src="/images/California/farmers%20market.jpg" alt="Farmers market Palo Alto" title="Farmers market Palo Alto" /></div>
<p>We spent the afternoon in Stanford Mall with Pieter and Katie and bought ourselves running shoes (full of good intentions). Afterwards we had lunch/dinner (the portion size was big enough to keep us full all day) at a real American diner. </p>
<p>Around 5 pm we took a little drive to Mountain View, the city where we are planning on renting an apartment. The jet lag however was doing its work so we went home before dark and enjoyed our evening in the courtyard of our hotel fantasizing about all the things that we are planning to do in the Sunshine State.</p>