Why I Love San Francisco

This past July, I went to San Francisco to visit a friend, and with every moment I fell more in love with this city than I already am.  Here’s why.

Natural and Architectural Beauty:

A gorgeous Bay day

Palace of Fine Arts

Coit Tower

The Golden Gate Bridge peeking out through the fog

All my 90’s kids will recognize these from the opening credits of Full House.  The Painted Ladies in Alamo Square are the epitome of the Victorian era homes in San Francisco.

The Ferry Building is one of the must-go places for me every time I go to the city.  Inside, you can find all kind of artisan food mongers, butchers, creameries, coffee shops, and restaurants.  It’s my heaven.  Turns out, the actually ferry leaves from here as well, who’da thunk it?

To me, the Transamerica building is the building that makes the San Francisco skyline. Well, that and the bridges.

Go ‘Murica!

The Food:

The food scene in San Francisco is so wonderful.  As I’m sure you’ve picked up by now, bad food is a deal breaker for me.  Luckily, San Francisco and I can continue our love affair, because this is the food mecca of the US. The plethora of fresh produce and locally made goods makes each trip to the farmers market or a restaurant a special treat, and actually makes you excited to eat healthy. Imagine that.  Like this proscuitto with almonds and piquillo peppers from Bar Jules in Hayes Valley. Okay, so maybe proscuitto isn’t healthy, but I’m willing to look the other way on this one.

Or their fantastic chocolate cake.  I couldn’t wait to taste the fresh whipped cream before taking the picture.

My fave in the city

farm:table is one of my favorite places to go in the city.  Their menu is different everyday depending on what’s fresh, and then tweeted to their loyal foodie followers.  Seating is limited in their tiny space, but if you’re lucky you can catch a table outside and enjoy a rare sunny day, an egg and bacon sandwich on a housemade bisquit, and a latte with a friend.

The perfect remedy for a hangover is this s’mores rootbeer float from Cole Valley’s The Ice Cream Bar Soda Fountain. Trust me on this one.

And the fruits and veg.  The variety here is amazing, and I will eat heirloom anything. 

Tomato love.

The Quirks:

All the things that make me smile.

Playing tourist with the lower Haight bunny

A ceiling made entirely out of wine corks. Genius!

Reppin’ my Indian brethren

Just like me.

Walking up these stairs was terrible, but beautiful at the same time.

Hey, book people, make sure if you’re ever in the city you visit City Lights.  It’s pretty great.

And the most important thing in San Francisco that makes me smile.  My amiga that I met in Spain, Casey.  She willingly brought my into her home, tour guided me around the city, and made sure that my body was always drunk or full of food.  What a good friend!

Early morning mimosas to kick off a day that almost killed me!

Oh yeah, did I mention we went to the Pride Festival the weekend after DOMA was declared unconstitutional? I LOVE SF!!

The Escapades of a Domesticated Suburbanite

Hello, dear reader. You may be wondering what the hell I’ve been up to for the past few months.  Well, I’ve been in California trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life.  The day-to-day of that looks pretty boring; breakfast and coffee, workout, a few episodes of whatever tv show I’m into that moment, lots of musing, intermittent internet job searches, cook dinner, rinse and repeat.  A domesticated suburbanite, if you will.  I’m definitely not in the place I was hoping for at this point, but I still take the time to be grateful that I am in the situation that I am in (loving family, positive attitude, place to live etc.).  But in the meantime, I’ve been FUNemployed!

Since returning home from Europe, I’ve spent time in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Las Vegas, Lake Havasu, and I took my grandpa’s ’79 Corvette (well, if we’re getting technical, I’m on the title, so it’s psuedo-mine) on a road trip up California’s beautiful and scenic Highway 1 from the Orange Country area to Berkeley and back. I really should have been writing about this stuff as it was happening, because I’m not going to lie, it was pretty awesome. But we must remember I’m a huge slacker.

Anyway, about two months ago my dear friend Katie is awesome, and asked me to join her in Vegas to celebrate her passing her nursing boards like a boss.  Not one to pass up a reunion or shenanigans, I agreed.  Her friend Casey joined us for the weekend, but Katie and I were there for a week.  Let’s preface this story by saying a week is entirely too long for someone to visit Las Vegas.  It’s a miracle that my liver survived the week, but I’m convinced that if I can survive a week in Vegas, I can get through anything!

Casey, Katie and me.

From the top of the Rio. Don’t go here if you want to live.

On our first night we went to a club at the top of the Rio that I will never go to again.  On our way down to make our way back to the hotel, the elevator got stuck.  With about 13 people in it.  For an hour.  At 4 in the morning.  In Vegas in AUGUST.  It was the hottest and sweatiest thing ever. Hotter than hot yoga.

Way too many strangers in an enclosed space.

Me so pretty.

There was one guy in the elevator that kept prying open the inner door of the elevator and trying to open the outer door to get airflow.  We were stuck between floors, and once I read this story about a person that died trying to climb out of an elevator that was stuck like that because when they were halfway out, the elevator slipped down and they were cut in half.  So I kept telling him that if the elevator moved he would get his arm chopped off and it would be a total Tarantino movie in that elevator, but he wouldn’t listen to me.  Later, the firemen yelled at him for doing that. VINDICATION!!

Anyway, after escaping the death trap, management told us that it was our fault the elevator got stuck because there was too many people on it, which is total B.S.  I’m not a math genius, but an average elevator has a capacity of 3000-3500 lbs, divided by 13 people, each person would have to weigh more than 230. Now, a lady never reveals her weigh, but that elevator was filled with mostly skinny bitches (Katie, I’m talking to you), so it’s kind of a stretch for me.  Anyway, they gave us a free water. Whoopedy doo. I hate the Rio and I’ll never go back (unless it’s free).

While there, we saw The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s play at the Cosmo pool, and Karen O is such a badass.  She rocked a gold sequin blazer all night while jumping around like a wild woman.  It was rad.  The venue there is really awesome as well, and tickets are relatively cheap- about $36 bucks.  Downside? Drinks are like $15… sooo… boo.

Sunrise at the Cosmo.

We also met some crazy characters, as per usual, especially this group of Aussies.  We lost one Aussie for about 30 minutes, and when we found him again, he was extremely intoxicated and ended up faceplanting in the middle of the casino at the Cosmo.  Definitely a highlight of my life.

The Faceplanter

Not sure what is going on here, but it’s magical. And probably unsanitary.

I’m sure he’d be super proud of himself if he knew that he’d made it onto a random American girl’s blog.

Besides partying entirely too much, we also managed to have some incredibly delicious meals at the Cosmo. Pizza, tapas, burgers and alcoholic milkshakes, McDonald’s at 6 am.  You name it, we ate it.  And then some gambling and clubbing action as well.  It was seriously a great week.

$71, the most money I’ve made in 2013.

Butts. And boobs. WIn.

Hipster Katie.

Giant cowboy hat, giant sunglasses, and a Burt Reynolds look alike. It’s funny.

And the fun doesn’t end! Tomorrow, I jump in my car to meet my amiga for another Vegas trip! Catch you later, reader friends, let’s pray for my survival!

Random and Weird London

First off, I’ve spent the past few days giving the blog a makeover… not quite done yet, but check it out and please leave any comments or things you’d like changed in the comments section.  Also, if any of my readers out there are fancy pants computer whizzes that can make me a cool logo, like a bee flying around a globe or something, I’d be willing to commission a piece!

Anyway, flashback to London, mid-June. I was feeling out of sorts on my last few days of travel.  I was sad to split up with Katie, sad my adventure was over; I just felt blah.  Thankfully, London had my back and provided me with beauty and all kinds of weirdness.  The street art in London is amazing.  There is a tunnel where it is legal to do graffiti, as long as they keep it clean, so of course the best pieces were found there.  There would be new pieces every day, it was really fantastic.

Too true, wall.

My friend Joe, taking a picture of me taking a picture of him.

Blurry Katie

It’s not street art, but I was laughing my ass off.

One of the days we made the trek out to Greenwich, which was lovely, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it was enjoyable.  We were all crabby, and picked fights with one another all day.  Oh well, I had fun anyway!

Lovely skyline

I have three words, and they equal happiness…

PITCHERS OF MOJITOSSSSS!

I miss this bun.

Look at that face…

Can you see the window cleaners? I watched them for about an hour… I don’t know how they do it, heights are terrifying!!!

Cute houses

London Eye

We stayed with my friend Joe, and he lives really close to the London Eye, it was a great starting off point to explore London by foot.

London Eye + Big Ben

Weird bridge thing from one building to another

London Eye at sunset

Now, since this is my last European travel blog post (not forever I hope, but for now), you might be asking, “Brittany, what is the weirdest thing you saw while in Europe??”  To that I will respond, “Well, my friends, the strangest thing I saw was the Naked Bike Ride in London.”  Yes, you read correctly.  Naked. Bike. Ride.  I’m not sure how suitable these pictures are for work, I’m pretty sure I picked the ones that you can’t see anyone’s junk, but there are definitely butts.  Lots and lots of butts.

This bike ride was in support of “a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world.”  It was ridiculous, hilarious, and borderline gross.  It was the cherry on top of a really amazing 6 month journey sundae.

London Food Adventure

The last few days of my trip were spent wandering around London and enjoying London’s excellent food scene.

My favorite of the markets (of any market, anywhere really) was the Real Food Market at the Southbank Centre.  Near the London Eye, the Southbank Centre is a complex of art venues, and is really a great place to visit. It has a really awesome community garden.

The Real Food Market is held Friday-Sunday, and has everything from fresh produce, honey, curry cooking in giant pots, to locally brewed craft beer.  I feasted on the best roasted hog sandwich and a local lager.

This sandwich will haunt my dreams forever, because I doubt I’ll have to opportunity to slow roast a whole hog, and if I do, I know it won’t be this amazing.

The other amazing market I went to was Borough Market, one of the oldest markets in London.  Borough Market sold more gourmet type products, both local and global, as well as produce.  For a food lover like me, these markets both felt like little slices of heaven.

We also visited Chin-Chin Labs, a nitrogen ice cream place, which was absolutely phenomenal.  I had the peanut butter popcorn icecream with white chocolate covered potato chips and caramel pretzels as a topping.  It was too good to share, so us fatties each got our own.

 

And the irony is, after eating all of this amazing food, this is what I miss most from the UK that I can’t get in the US.

Haribo, it’s time to get your s**t together and bring Tangfastics to me. Because ‘Kids and Grown Ups love it so’… and I’m not sure which one I am just yet 🙂

 

 

 

 

Birthday Adventures!

Spending my birthday on Santorini was really fantastic.  Katie and I rented ATV’s and drove from one end of the island to the other. Even though ATV’s don’t even go that fast, I felt like a badass, but I think Katie thought I was trying to kill her. Sorry dude, I wanna go fast.

Our major attraction of the day was Red Beach.  Now, I’ve heard a lot of cool things about Red Beach, but it was honestly a crazy, awesome, magical (insert a ton of adjectives here) place, and I couldn’t get the huge goofball grin off my face.

Can you see the doors in the cliff?

I’ve been told I look naked in this picture. Trust me, I wasn’t.

I’m looking at these pictures thinking that they definitely don’t do it justice.  Trust me, if you’re ever on Santorini, GO HERE!! It was so cool. Also, you can’t tell from this picture that I was having an absolute panic attack because I let Katie swim out into the damn ocean with my most important possession (after my passport, that is), my iPhone. Thank god Katie is basically a chick Poseidon from all her years on the swim team and can tread water for days with one arm out of the water. Additional panic moments when the camera wouldn’t work and I had to tread water with both arms out of the water to try to delete some pictures so we could snap these gems.  And I’m really not that great of a treader.

The strangest part of this beach and the ocean were these little flakes of seaweed that floated in the ocean and when they washed up on the shore it made like… a seaweed pillow? I don’t know how to explain it.

Seaweed pillow? Cushion? Quicksand?

Anyway, sea weed got everywhere, and I mean, place you don’t want sea weed. Yuck.

For lunch we stopped at a little roadside hole in the wall and got the most delicious gyro.  It was the best I’ve ever had, plus is was like 2 euro… Amazing.

Wet hair, covered in seaweed, no complaints.

After a day of adventure, we went and cleaned ourselves up and then ATVed our way to Oia for dinner to catch the sunset, a must if you’re on Santorini. You know all the movies that take place in the Greek Islands and you’re like, “oh, I HAVE to go there!”  They are probably in Oia.  It’s gorgeous.

Oia falling into the sea

View of Fira from Oia

Hemingway + Rent-a-Cat. Excellent business model.

Katie and I went to a great dinner.  When in Greece, eat as much lamb as possible.

Birthday present

The surprise was lovely lamb.

So, as I’m sure you’ve picked up, I’m a big sunset person. I make a point of stopping to look at the sky, and I could never live on the East Coast because I can’t imagine looking at an ocean and not getting to see the sun set on it. It’s just weird.  So my birthday present was this gorgeous sunset.

I love the very beginning of twilight (no, not the book), when the colors from the sunset still have bits of orange, and you watch it fade to dark blue.

That night, Katie and I went out like wild women.  Lots of people worry every year they get older, but I proved to myself that I can still have just as much fun as I did when I was 21. The problem is the recovery.  I spent the next day in bed, ordering room service, watching movies on my computer, and vowing to never drink anything that is green ever again.

All in all, I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better way to mark the beginning of a new year.  I was in a beautiful place, with a great friend, going on an awesome adventure.  What a great day.

Magical Santorini

Hi friends, sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. I’ve been wallowing in the fact that my travelin’ days are over (for now, not forever!).  I’ll get more into that later, for now, let’s just enjoy the magic that was Santorini.

Santorini is a lovely island; a beautiful, volcanic desert stuck in the middle of the sea.  White buildings contrast against the Grand Canyon-esque cliffs that go straight into the clear royal blue water.  Katie and I stayed in a 4 star hotel in Fira for 1/8 of its regular cost because we booked it the night before we left (procrastinators unite!), so it was by far the most comfortable of our stays during our stay.  The place was called Astro Palace…what a ridiculous name. We almost didn’t stay there due to the funky name, but I’m glad we did because they treated us really well.

Anyway, the best part of Santorini were the veiws. I know some of you (Dad) get upset when I don’t post any words, but Santorini left me speechless!

Which do you like better? Santorini by day, or Santorini at sunset?

Are you ready for some sunsets?

Happy Bee at sunset

Last Santorini sunset

The nightlife on Santorini was pretty fun as well.  We went to a little Scottish bar (which wasn’t Scottish at all) called the Highlander pretty much every night, and we met some really fun and interesting people.  Just like pretty much everywhere else we went, we met tons of extremely friendly Australians, including a high powered female business owner (she’s like besties with the Prime Minister). That’s a number I’ll hold onto in case I ever need to move to Australia!

Midnight of my birthday disgusting sugary shots!

I spent my 26th birthday in Santorini, but that gets its own post!

 

Mykonosssss!

Starting off, Happy 4th of July to all my American friends, both at home and abroad!

Here I am sitting on a patio with a gorgeous view of Napa Valley, CA, and I’m trying to force myself into getting caught up here.  It’s hard to believe it’s been about a month since Katie and I visited Greece and I finally got some sunshine in my life.

First, Katie and I went to Mykonos, an island in the Cyclades island chain in the Aegean .  It was definitely not what we expected, Katie likened the Greek Islands to “little pieces of Albuquerque in the middle of the ocean.” The Greek Islands really are desert islands, and it’s really bizarre. Someone else described Mykonos to me as “a bunch of drunk 18 year olds throwing up on each other.”  While I think this description is a bit harsh, it is definitely one of the party islands.  Despite this reputation, what we found was beautiful ocean views and a very charming main town.

I did a lot of sun laying while in Greece; at this point I was just exhausted and so happy to be in a place where the sun was shining and I didn’t have to wear my overcoat every day. But I did manage to take a few pictures.

Little Venice

Okay, maybe it wasn’t THAT warm

The world-famous windmills of Mykonos

The pool at our hotel

As per usual, I took a bazillion pictures of the sunset, but my favorite part is capturing the moment when the sun sinks below the horizon.  Lots of people think the sunset is over once the sun goes down, but that’s not true, that’s actually when the colors start to come out. Trust me, I’m an expert.

One thing Mykonos is famous for is that they have 3 pelicans that have made their home there, and they have become the mascots of Mykonos.  Katie desperately wanted to find these birds, but we just couldn’t.  Then, one night when we made a wrong turn on our quest to find cocktails for less than 13 euro (that’s just insanity), we found him.  He was playing “fetch” with this guy, a local, who would toss the pelican a crushed up soda bottle, the bird would catch it in its giant beak, try to eat it, and then toss it back.  It was pretty hilarious.

The things I loved about Mykonos: $2 beers and kebab at a delicious little hole in the wall, the charming white buildings with blue doors and the contrast of the purple bougainvillea (for men: flowers), staying in a hotel with a pool for the price of staying at a nice hostel, and the views.  The water was so incredibly blue here, and the sunshine was to die for.

Mykonossssssssssss!

La Sagra del Vino

Now that I’ve started talking about it, I can’t stop.  La Sagra del Vino (translates to The Feast of Wine–my kind of place) is my favorite restaurant in Rome, for sentimental reasons, the ambience, and the food. Let’s start with the sentimental reasons- and I may have told this story before, but bare with me here.  During my time studying abroad in Rome the first time (2008), we were brought here three times a week, something that was included in our program.  Then when I came back to study the second time (2010), my friend Kellie and celebrated my 23 birthday here.  Katie and I coming back to enjoy an evening together brought back so many memories and so many good feelings.

The meals at this restaurant are top notch; Italian comfort food at its finest.  As a starter you are brought delicious sun-dried tomatoes and olives (my least favorite food, but I get it, some people like them) with fluffy fresh bread.  Then moving on to the best bean soup in the world; I would literally give up a limb to have the recipe. There are many choices for your pasta dish, but I always go with the carbonara, which is incredibly rich with it’s thick pancetta, fresh eggs, and rich cheese.  Other options include cacio y pepe and oxtail, among others.  Meat dishes include oxtail, which is braised in a spicy tomato sauce and is fantastic, world famous meat loaf (no ketchup needed), liver, and occaisonally some delicious osso bucco. For dessert, there is only one opti0n- biscotti dipped in vin santo, a sweet white wine.

Carbonara

Eat Me!

There is nothing special about the appearance of this restaurant, but it is so quintessentially Italian that it makes up for it (plus the food is so good, so who cares what it looks like?).  The tables around you are filled with chatting and laughing friends, and you are treated as a friend of the owners rather than as a customer. The son of the restaurant, Valentino, is the liveliest of the bunch.  He remembered our group of study abroad kids, so he may or may not have given us a special customer price.  When we tried to leave a tip to make up for it he said, “Never tip a friend, this is home.”  I left the place in tears, because I truly felt at home.  This was my last night in Rome and I still have no idea when I’ll be back, but it was a pretty excellent last night.

To reach La Sagra del Vino, take the A Line on the Metro and exit Cipro.  Go straight up Via Cipro, left on Vaile delle Medaglie d’Oro, which turns into Via Marziale.  The restaurant is on your left at Via Marziale, 5, 00136 Roma, Italy.  Be polite and call for a reservation- +39 06 3973 7015.

Travel Partners

Yesterday, I talked on the phone with Katie after being away from each other for 10 days.  I didn’t know how much I missed sharing every mundane detail of my life with her, and I ended up getting really sentimental. So I’m going to get sappy here for a minute and write a tribute to my first and most frequent travel buddy.

Katie and I met back in 2008, when we studied abroad for a summer in Rome with the University of New Mexico. We were Roman roommates, and we shared this gem of a room.

Hell.

Please note how thick and comfortable thin and ridiculously uncomfortable the mattresses look. Now, we were told by the study abroad office that our apartments would be air conditioned… that was a lie. A terrible, terrible lie.  So it was sweltering hot with no airflow for our first few nights in Rome, which meant we got no sleep.  Katie is REALLY fun to be around when she doesn’t sleep (lots of sarcasm in that sentence).  Due to the heat, we left the windows wide open so we wouldn’t melt like those corpses you see on crime shows (yes, I had to take it to a dark place), and I ended up getting a million bug bites.  I wish I were exaggerating, but I’m really not. One other girl in our program said, “I’m not trying to be mean,  but you look like you have the plague.” Have I mentioned how pleasant I am to be around when I’m itchy and apparently dying of the plague? It’s a miracle we didn’t kill each other, but really I think we bonded over our joint misery.  Eventually we got a fan, learned to cover our bodies in wet towels, and I wore nasty smelling bug spray 24/7, but I can’t say that we ever really got a good nights sleep.

The good news was, we were in Rome studying both Ancient and Renaissance art, so really, despite all the sleepless nights, I can’t complain.  Plus I got a really great friend out of it.

Katie and I in Assisi- we were babies!

We went through so many things that summer.  Me being upset because someone in our program made fun of my glasses (this person also wore glasses… it still makes no sense to me).  An Italian guy coming up to me in a club, humping my leg in time to the music, and then saying, “You liiiiike?” No, I really didn’t like. A really creepy ride home on a night bus that we really don’t like to talk about.

I’m making it sound like it was all horrible, but it really wasn’t.  We went to a million churches, saw some of the worlds best art and architecture, went into a private exhibit at the Vatican, and walked around on ancient roads. We ate so much gelato, had the best pizza in Naples, and had the best bean soup 3 times a week, for free. We danced around our apartment to Italian MTV, I drank a lot of wine, Katie drank a lot of Coca-Cola (at least that hasn’t changed).

Katie is still an artsy hipster, that hasn’t changed either.

Sitting on ice cube chairs in a bar in Rome, circa 2008.

The below picture still makes me very angry.  As you can see, the shoe on my left foot is broken, and Katie is laughing hysterically.  These are my favorite shoes.  When I got home, I glued them back together after a very mean cobbler told me it wasn’t worth it to fix them.  I still wear them often, in fact, I wore them to a wedding this weekend, where the bottom may or may not have come unglued again.  ANYWAY.  The shoe broke. I was devastated, and had to walk up a street that we had dubbed ‘Piss Street’ without a shoe on. It was really one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life (I’m very sheltered).

Katie laughing at me during a time of turmoil.

Katie and I in Venice

These experiences, and Rome, changed us.  We both agree that Rome is the bug that bit us, and we never really recovered from the bite.  Which is why we’ll always compare every other city in the world to Rome.

When we returned to New Mexico, we stayed friends.  We went to concerts together, hung out at cool bars and breweries, and even planned an entire trip to Australia for after graduation that we never went on because we both had boyfriends.

Katie and I post MGMT & Beck concert

One day, I was sitting at a cafe in Wales, drinking a latte and checking my emails, when I get a Facebook message from Katie asking me if I want a travel buddy.  A week later, Katie and I meet in Edinburgh and begin our month long adventure together.

After Positano, we went back to Rome together to enjoy the city where it all started. And enjoy some damn good bean soup.

I feel incredibly lucky to have such a cool, spontaneous, smart, and fun friend to explore the world with.  I can’t imagine this will be our last trip together, right?

Ocean Kayaking in Positano

While in Positano, Katie and I decided to go kayaking in the beautiful Mediterranean.  We explored the gorgeous coast line and took some really great pictures of my favorite city. We spent most of our time at Fornillo Beach, because it is less expensive than the main beach and has less people, and it is only 5 euro per hour to rent kayaks.

The best part about Italian beaches is that they rent out these ingenious beach chairs with shades that cover your face so you don’t get skin cancer and die, so we sunned ourselves on the beach for the rest of the day.  I was finally warm enough to go in the water, and as I’m getting in, I hear a guy down the beach yelling to his friends. “You’re in the Med, Son!” We spent that afternoon floating in the Med (son), trying not to get stung by the tiny jellyfish.

Take me back to Positano!