Glasgow to Poggibonsi - a long day

I was up at 5:15 yesterday for the bus to Prestwick. Dozed much of the flight to Pisa, then discovered that Kevin and Maureen were in the row in front of me. They must have been snoozing too! They are off for a couple of days in Siena before the Villa Pia kneesup. I don't have much of a plan, but that's pretty much how I like it. I had an early light lunch in central Pisa - outdoors by the duomo and tower. The tower is such an iconic image of Italy it is difficult to just head off without taking another look. It doesn't seem to have leaned much more since the mid 70s, but they have cleaned it up a bit.
Back then I did some work with Piaggio in Pontedera, and I wanted to go by and see how they were getting on without me. Pretty good seems to be the answer. They make Vespa scooters and other light vehicles, and business seems to be booming. I had a wander round the Piaggio museum, but this was a rather weird experience. There seemed to be absolutely no-one on duty (except maybe some CCTV) and I was free to wander round the whole place. I was particularly taken by the prototype(?) one-man mini-helicopter. Just what I need for my arrival at the James Bond party. Shame there was no-one there to make the sale!


After that I thought I'd head for Florence, but decided to move on after a quick (actually not so quick) look around. It is of course a really great place - but don't take a car! I ended up in Poggibonsi, in the middle of Chianti country, and am very pleased with this result. Another nice old mediaeval town, but with a modern outlook, a good hotel and excellent trattoria. And no tourists. Magnifico!
Here is a photo of the Pisa tower, and one of the mini-'copter.

Home again

I'm back in Glasgow, and ready to have an afternoon snooze. The flight was trouble free, except that I didn't sleep at all, and for the unexpected news at this end that my luggage has decided to continue its holiday and has gone off to San Francisco! The airline promises that it will be with me tomorrow, but I will believe it when I see it.
The last important bit of news from the NY trip is that we managed to dig out a restaurant with garlic soup on the menu - the El Quijote on 23rd Street (more or less next door to the famous Chelsea Hotel). Lunch was good and the soup tasty, but like so many Western restaurants they have chickened out of presenting a real garlic soup and what these folks offer is an egg-yolk soup with a bit of garlic and croutons thrown in. That's Judith with the soup!

Last day in NY

Yet another quick update here. I'm nearing the end of a short but very pleasant visit to New York. The 39 Steps was excellent - a comic version which is a take-off of the 1930s Hitchcock movie. Yesterday Judith and I took a long stroll round the "Green Flea" Market at 77th Street (highly recommended for all sorts of interesting stuff), before I went off for a look at the Ground Zero site. The highlight of my stay in NY has to be the Laura and Stephen engagement party in Greenwich Village yesterday evening - a true New York experience, complete with band and catering - and a view of the Empire State Building. Very many thanks to Rheda for the party and to Judith for her wonderful hospitality! That's Rheda with her daughters Susan and Laura in the pic.

NYC

I'm in NYC for a few days c/o my old friend Judith, who I haven't seen for 20 years or so. Today we have had a very pleasant walk round the American Museum of Natural History and back through Central Park (on a fine Autumn day). Tonight we are off to a production of the "39 Steps" at the Cort Theatre on 48th street.
And I am pleased to report that Elaine and Chloe are safely back and that all is well there - except that Tanya the Sheltie seems to have put on a bit of weight!

Farewell to LA

Just a quick note here to say that the last two days have gone very well, with Disney yesterday and Huntington Beach again today - and some more boogie boarding. I think we all feel we have just scratched the surface in terms of what is on offer here and we would love to be able to stay longer! But tomorrow we all move on, leaving LAX in the morning: Elaine and Chloe for Edinburgh via Newark; me for a few extra days in New York before I have to get back where I came from.

The beach

Today was beach day. There is a wide choice around here, but we settled on Huntington Beach, mainly because it is relatively close. It turns out that it is one of the best surf beaches around; so we all had a go at boogie boarding. This is a short board that you lie on; so it is a whole lot easier than the real thing. Anyway it is great fun and we had some difficulty in pulling ourselves away. We stayed in Huntington this evening - for a stroll through the evening street market and dinner. Elaine undertook some fairly serious retail therapy! All in all, this is a great place. It is Disney again tomorrow, but Thursday is scheduled for the beach again and it will be a difficult choice between Laguna (as planned) and going back to Huntington. Sorry, but today's picture has to be me with board and wetsuit. The air temparature is high seventies, but the water is pretty cold!

Rubberneckin'

We have been all over the place these last couple of days - as tourists in LA. Yesterday I did the driving; today we took a small minibus guided tour. So we have been to many of the hot tourist spots in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica etc. It is genuinely good fun in lots of ways - e.g. bumping into movie icon lookalikes at every turn. Everything from John Wayne, Jack Sparrow, Batman, Dorothy (from Oz), Marilyn Monro, and Spiderman (halfway up a scaffold). My new favourite place here has to be the LA Farmers market: a great place for lunch and people watching (and lots of shopping if that is your fancy). Venice Beach is about the only place that has been a bit disappointing. It seems to have lost its cool and moved to the sleazy side. My solo pic today is of the "bakery for dogs" at the farmers market. I just like the name!

Disneyland

Of course Disneyland was always central to the plan for this trip, and we have spent the whole day there today - at least till after the fireworks show. A great experience, which everyone should do at least once. The camera has recovered very slightly, but the display still isn't working, which makes it pretty difficult to take pictures. And this computer doesn't allow any editing. Nevertheless, I offer a pic of Elaine and Chloe yesterday at KBF and today on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disney.

Knott's Berry Farm

Another brief update today. Elaine and Chloe arrived safely and on time yesterday, and they have acclimatised pretty well after a decent night's sleep. Today we took the relatively easy option of the Knott's Berry Farm just down the road, with its great selection of roller-coasters and the like. We all survived - except, rather sad to say, my camera, which had a significant water encounter during the Bigfoot Rapids ride. Maybe it will dry out OK but I am pessimistic about that. Tonight we took a drive and saw the Disneyland evening fireworks from a distance. The weather forcast tomorrow is for one of the cooler days, and we seem to have voted for a Disney day. Sorry no photos to post for now!

LALA Land

Just a quick note here. It is Thursday morning and after yesterday's drive I'm in Buena Park, Orange County, just south of Los Angeles. Elaine and Chloë are due to arrive later today. Knotts Berry Farm is across the road and Disneyland is just a short drive away. Plenty other things to do too of course, and the sun is shining!

Kings Canyon and Sequoia

It is Tuesday evening now (at the EconoLodge in Visalia), after another day of National Parks: Kings Canyon and Sequoia. Again I feel I have only scratched the surface of some fantastic places which are preserving unspoiled mountains, forest and wildlife. The highlights of these parks are the giant Sequoia trees. They are the biggest in the world and so they are of course truly impressive. My pictures include "General Sherman", the biggest of all. He's the one on the left in the photo where I couldn'e get the whole thing in. Many are up to 2000 years old. It is worth bearing in mind, though, that these guys were still in short trousers when the Fortingal Yew was already 3000 years old (according to some anyway)!

More interesting wildlife today too, including another wolf, some little things I can't name, and (I'm pleased to say) a black bear which was happy just nosing about while I took a photo.

Yosemite.. and Squaw Valley

Yesterday was a long but excellent day. I got to the Yosemite National Park pretty early and generally just mosied around the valley, mostly in some degree of awe at my surroundings. The valley is just a small piece of the Nat. Park, but no doubt the most popular. Yosemite really merits a whole holiday on its own, especially if you want to include some serious rock-climbing - but there are lots of lesser challenges and things of interest. My pics can't do them justice, but I'll have a go with El Capitan (3000 ft rock face) and Half Dome. Despite the bear warnings I didn't meet any of those, but I did encounter some deer and a wolf just strolling along the road (maybe looking out for the deer I'd met earlier).

I've decided to have a look at the Sequoia National Park too, and so I drove in the early evening through Fresno and stopped over for the night in Squaw Valley (pop. 2691, elev. 1700 ft - but I think the population estimate is a serious over-estimate). I was beginning to think I'd driven too far into the wild but was pleased to come across the Squaw Valley Motel. Think "Bates" and you'll be pretty close, but it had everything I needed. Bear Mountain Pizza just along the road did me proud with the Polar Bear (garlic chicken) pizza - with extra anchovies and roasted garlic. This morning I found the local community library - who provide free internet access. Thanks for the tip Moira! Now I'm off to Sequoia to look at some big trees.

Sonoma to Yosemite

A longish journey through country varying from mile after mile of wineries, wide rivers, fertile flatlands to the foothills of the Rockies. I stayed overnight at the Vantage Lodge at Bucks Meadow, on the edge of the Yosemite National Park. My solo picture is of an intriguing sounding bar just back down the road a bit, by one of those rivers. It seems Scotch whisky has some low cost competition around here! It looks like a biker stop, & I wouldn't want be in their way after visiting that bar. In case anyone is interested there is a bartender job going!

Sonoma

It is Sunday morning and I'll be leaving Sonoma for Yosemite later today. Erica and John have been fantastic hosts again, and the neighbours have been equally welcoming here. Friday evening ended up in a pretty late-night session singing along to John's guitar and harmonica, or to the Rhapsody internet service. Lots of Elvis and Proclaimers stuff, I seem to remember! And that was after my induction to Wii tennis and 10-pin bowling. Yesterday we took a tour of some of the wineries in the Sonoma valley, taking many samples along the way, and visiting the Jack London museum. I'm very glad that John was doing the driving! Last night we had a very fine meal chez Maria, and with neighbour Nancy there too.

Thank you to all of you for a wonderful couple of days. My pictures are of Erica and John at Benziger winery, some of their vines, signposts to more wineries, and the moon from Maria's garden - with some of her very own Redwoods!

Carmel

Another quick update. Deirdre volunteered to drive down to Carmel yesterday, for which I am very grateful. we had a very pleasant trip, with lunch at Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf before a long walk with Ellie on the beach at Carmel. The swell and the waves are pretty powerful and impressive; so this isn't a place to go for a dip in the sea. But it is clearly a great place to go for a walk with a dog, especially one like Ellie who loves to chase balls and doesn't mind getting wet.

On the way back I had to take a photo of "Garlic World" at Gilroy - a town which apparently bills itself as the garlic capital of the world when they have their annual festivals in July! I'm afraid we didn't have time, though, to check out the menu.

In the evening D&D and I had a fine meal at the local Brewery restaurant, (after watching the VP candidate debate on TV) and before the late night arrival of Stephie from Tahoe.

Saratoga

Just a quick update here. I'm now ensconsed at the Anderson mansion in Saratoga with David and Deirdre and Ellie the chocolate labrador. Looks like we will be heading down to explore Carmel this afternoon. I think Ellie is looking forward to a walk along the beach!

On the road again

Yes I'm back on the move again. Yesterday's long journey from Glasgow to San Francisco worked out exactly according to plan, but it was via Edinburgh and JFK, and so added up to a pretty long day. I'm staying with Erica and John for a couple of days, and they have been fantastic in welcoming me to their part of the world and in providing a whistle-stop tour today. Highlight was of course our lunch at the Stinking Rose. This is a specialist garlic restaurant, and as soon as I heard about it I knew I had to pay a visit! My excellent lunch consisted of garlic,onion and potato soup (good stuff, but very different from the Nepalese stuff), roast chicken and potatoes with 40 cloves of garlic (no kidding) and then of course the garlic ice-cream (again no kidding!).
My pictures are of the Stinking Rose, me with the soup, Erica with the ice-cream, and some views of SF on what has been a beautiful sunny day. Perfick!