Santa Monica

Last stop on our California tour - Santa Monica.  What a spot!  Such a great place to truly enjoy yourself and your time off.  Sunny, blue skies, lots to do and see, and a very relaxed atmosphere that made me feel right at home, even on the opposite side of the continent.

One of the most memorable things we did in Santa Monica was rent old-school bikes and give ourselves a tour of the beaches and coast (Santa Monica, Venice, Marina Del Rey).

[the iconic Santa Monica Pier]

[bike rentals - best idea ever!]

[canals of Venice - an easy stop on the bike route]

[lots of pelicans at Marina Del Rey]

As I mentioned, the area has a totally relaxed vibe.  The huge beaches, plentiful palm trees and gorgeous sun didn't hurt.

[beach at Santa Monica]

[in love with palm trees]

[being Californian on Venice Beach]

We also hung with some locals at the Daily Pint and tried the stellar beer list there and at West 4th / Jane.  I think I've said this before, but Californians really know their beer.

[shuffleboarders @ the Daily Pint]

Look how much fun Hogie is having!

More California posts here and here.

Hollywood

Our trip to L.A. wouldn't be complete without a visit to Hollywood.  To me, it was as essential as seeing Times Square in New York City.  A quick ride on the Metro took us from Pasadena to Hollywood and Vine.

Even the Metro stop itself was movie-themed.  Check out the station walls and ceiling covered in old film reels, and note the "stage" in the background.

A street shot at dusk:

The Walk Of Fame was a must as well.  It's hard to avoid, actually.  From the Metro stop all the way to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, there were hundreds of stars.

Including mine:

[the star actually belongs to Laura La Plante]

Outside Grauman's:

Blooper reel:  we took our time strolling down Hollywood Boulevard, checking out the star's names, dodging evangelical end-times promoters, partaking in happy hour, etc.  The final destination was the Hollywood and Highland centre, where there was supposedly a great view of the Hollywood sign.  We all really wanted to see the sign "lit up at night" at the end of our stroll.  Well, here it is folks:

Apparently a myth (made up by us) that the sign is lit up at night.

Epilogue:  before Mike and I left the city, we ended up exploring Beverly Hills and serendipitously got a shot of the sign after all (full daylight).  Mind you it was at 15X zoom through power lines, but it was still fun to see in person!

Next stop, Santa Monica.

Pasadena

Following up on my last post, I'm here to tell you a little about Pasadena.  It's not only home to that little old lady, but also the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where my brother's been pursuing his PhD for the last several years.

[via Google Maps]

As you can see, it's a tad northwest of L.A. itself, right at the foot of the mountains.

It seemed like a great place to live!  Clean, well kept, a nice downtown area with great shops and restaurants.  Of course, the warm and sunny weather didn't hurt the first impression.

A shot of city hall:

Hanging out downtown:

Mike and my brother, the whole reason for the trip!

This was taken at Lucky Baldwins, a fabulous Pasadena pub where they know good beer.  Excellent beer in fact, so much so that I felt like I was back in Belgium (they had a Belgian beer festival on the go).  Mike and Tim were beside themselves when they found out there was a very special launch of a Californian triple IPA happening on Sunday afternoon.  West Coast IPA is their favorite type of beer, so this was going to be triple the fun.  We had to jump through several hoops to qualify for the tasting, but it was worth it!

Here we are with our coveted glasses of Pliny the Younger, Russian River Brewing Company's IIIPA:

(I've been known to like a West Coast IPA myself).

Later that day...

We found ourselves poolside at the Westin Pasadena, soaking up some California rays!  The heated pool and great view didn't hurt either.

On Monday, Evan took us to school for a tour.

This is his building - home to some great minds.  The building itself was impressive.  The architecture was interesting with few right angles to be found.  It was filled with creative thinking spaces, for instance, rooms with entire chalkboard walls and colourful, comfortable seats.  When you are a theoretical astrophysicist, a place to think is the main tool you need (oh, and a ridiculously large computer).

The campus is home to many olive trees.  At one point, the dean had a bet with some students that they couldn't produce a bottle of olive oil from these olives.  Well, they did, and you can now purchase Caltech olive oil!

The "Gene Pool" - check out the double-helix tiling at the bottom.

Loads of turtles in the turtle pond!

We did see more of Pasadena - mainly restaurants, which I'll try to cover in a "California - the food" post soon.  It was great to finally see Evan's home here.  As I said, it seemed like a beautiful place to live.  Particularly since there was no snow and it was 25-30 degrees in March!

California!

Just a week ago I returned from a vacation in glorious, sunny, southern California.  The trip was a long time coming.  My brother has been in grad school there for the past four and a half years and we were long overdue for a visit on his turf.  Also, friends of ours have been raving about southern California as a vacation destination for years!  They twisted our rubber arms a few months ago and before we knew it, the four of us had the trip booked.

First afternoon: all of us at poolside in Pasadena.  Thirty degrees - not bad for March!

 Just a taste of the fabulous food we had:

I fell in love with palm trees...

... and generally felt right at home in California.

More posts to come!

NYC

This fall I was lucky enough to make a trip I've always wanted to make.  To celebrate our 30th birthdays this year, three of my girlfriends and I decided we'd visit New York City (that's 120 years of life experience, for anyone who's counting).

I had never really visited the US.  Not for a proper trip.  There were a couple of half-hearted day trips across the border to Maine, but those don't really count.  So, it was time.

I have long been curious about NYC, given it's pervasive presence in pop culture.  I also have a few favorite blogs based in and around New York including A Cup of Jo, An Apple A Day, and Darling Dexter.  And who wouldn't want to hit the streets of Manhattan after watching a few episodes of Bill Cunningham - On The Street?  With my wardrobe, I know he'd spot me right away and probably do a whole video on me...

Anyway, on to some highlights of the trip!

We stayed in a New York hotel that's been around forever, the New Yorker.  It was very central, had great Art Deco styling and was quite clean.  Four people to a room was pushing it, but doable.

Because it was so close, we happened to hit Times Square almost every day.  Dundas Square in Toronto has nothing on this place.  It was constantly packed with people, no matter the time of day.

Another iconic symbol of New York that we passed daily:

On the top of my list of things to do in NYC was Top of the Rock, a trip to the top of Rockefeller Centre to see the whole of Manhattan.  The views were incredible!  Especially the one with all the cute girls in it.

It was mid-November, so Rockefeller Plaza had the beginnings of its legendary Christmas display.  Like the massive Christmas tree - with six storeys of staging required for its decoration!

The rink was open as well.  There's something funny about a Zamboni in Manhattan.

After seeing how huge Central Park was, we had to go take a look.  We must have spent a couple of hours there and only covered less than a quarter of it.

The show we decided to see was a comedy that had won numerous Tonys: Avenue Q.  Sort of an existentialist/realist take on modern urban life.  Performed by puppets.  Here is a sample from the soundtrack.

The Museum of Modern Art was another spot I couldn't miss.  Partially because of a special exhibit:  Plywood.

...and it's role in mid-century design, of course.  Not just plain old plywood, that would be weird.

For example:

Mmm, plywood.

Looking back at everything we did in the city, it's hard to believe we spent only three days there.  Yet, there is so much I'd like to go back and do!  So, the Big Apple is still on my list of "places to see".

Ok, I'm stopping this monster post right here.  There is a bit more NYC to come (NYC: The Food).  So stay tuned.

Brugge

Continuing on with the story of our European adventure... after discovering Düsseldorf and eating our way through Chimay, the husband and I made our way to Brugge, Belgium.

Maybe the prettiest city ever.  Legend has it that Brugge was spared the drab-ification of the Industrial Revolution thanks to the thriving lace-making industry in the area.  Or that's what I was told when I first traveled there in 2003.  On this trip I learned that the city's history is not so simplistic.  Brugge at one point was supposedly the commercial centre of the world, has a history of attracting great European artists, and was once actually a port city (silt deposits now place it a-ways inland).  These days it seems to have a reputation in Europe for being a big tourist trap.  But, like all good cliches, Brugge's reputation is rooted in truth - it's a great spot to visit!

We spent hours on end traipsing over the cobblestoned streets in the historic (UNESCO-historic) city centre.  The streets circle around the Markt and run parallel with the many canals of the city (hence the alias "Venice of the North").    We found tiny cafes, funny little homes, and some hole-in-the-wall-ground beer cafes.

Our lodgings were lovely to look at, though a bit damp in person (I guess that was to be expected in the bargain lodgings of "Venice of the North").

The food was excellent.  For an example, see our moules-et-frites, below.  On a few occasions we hit up the grocery stores for picnic fare and lunched near the windmills on the perimeter of the city.  Simple and romantic - fitting for our honeymoon.  We also ate delicious Belgian waffles but they didn't come close to lasting long enough to be photographed.  Luckily, they're safely stored away in my food memory.

I can't not mention the beer.  Belgium has so many beer styles, some only to be found in that country.  There's not really beer there - except the odd import - that would really be recognizable as beer to the Canadian mass market.  Many Belgian styles are sweet and/or have a high alcohol content, but really the styles run the gamut.  To generalize, it's the kind of beer you savour and relish.  You won't see a Belgian chugging.  You don't buy a 2-4 in Brugge.  In short, Belgian beer is an art form.  When's the last time you went to a Canadian pub, asked for the house beer and got this:

Served on it's own tray, in it's own glass, on a doily, with a side of specially selected local cheese.  Belgian beer.  That's what I'm talking about.

To me, Brugge is a wonderfully rich city and well worth a visit.  I've been there twice and I'd love to go again.

The next European stop will be in the Czech Republic.  So stay tuned...