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This trip to California was planned in honour of Paul's big 40th birthday.
Here is a pic of the birthday boy this morning . . .
Our plan for today is to walk across the Golden Gate bridge to celebrate.
Later today we are enjoying a feast at our favourite restaurant in the city - the Slanted Door.
After dinner we will have cake and a special bottle of vino.
We woke up on our last day in Paso Robles feeling torn – there were things to do in the area but at the same time we were focused on packing up and leaving the next day and meeting our friends in SF. Top on our mind was the two cases of wine sitting on the floor. Suddenly we were nervous about how that wine was going to make it home.
The rental had a flyer for wine shipping – we out the address in the GPS and off we went to ship a case of wine home to our US address – we could go across the border at a later date and pick it up.
Having addressed that worry we were off to more wineries. Not sure that this makes sense at all to those who are reading but it made sense to us!
Paul had requested lunch at Justin winery which is waaaaaaaaaaay out in the wilds of the west side. Along the way we passed an old favourite - Adelaida winery – so we decided to head in for a visit. They were doing some major construction at the winery – apparently building a palace of a tasting room, spa and mini resort. I was a bit nervous – sometimes a drive to create a wine destination resort can negatively impact quality and drive UP price point.
Happily this was not the case. The wines were as yummy as ever. We tasted 7, had a lovely chat with the tasting room staff, bought a couple of bottles, and were on our way.
It was a half hour drive from Adelaida to Justin- it really is a destination. Many others had made the trek making us glad that we reservations for lunch. We were seated outside on the terrace with a lovely view of the vineyard. I ordered a flight of white wines and a rose, Paul decided to just enjoy a full glass of the rose. It had been a few years since we were at Justin – happily the wines were as good as ever.
We had never eaten at Justin before but we liked the philosophy of using local, fresh, seasonal ingredients.
I was feeling the effects of all the eating we had been doing so I went light – vichyssoise soup to start and a salad. Paul ordered a pasta dish which he declared to be one of the best pasta’s he has had (not including any that I have made, of course).
After eating we popped into the tasting room and bought a few bottles of wine to take on our journey.
Our next stop, as we continued driving the wilds of the west side of Paso Robles, was the Paso Olivio olive oil farm. They too had huge construction underway with a new tasting room and inn coming soon. We bought some olive oil and headed back to the Schoolhouse.
Back at the schoolhouse we enjoyed the benefits of traveling slowly – time to put our feet up, nap, read, and enjoy this beautiful spot.
It will be hard to leave.
It has been four years since we had been in Paso Robles - we were amazed at the change in the town. While it still very much had a small town feel to it there had been amazing growth. Perhaps the biggest change has been in the growth of the wine region - grapes were growing everywhere . . . the only patch of green in the drought burnt out countryside.
We decided to have breakfast at an old favourite of ours: the Cowgirl Cafe . . . it was great to discover that it was every bit as wonderful as it had been. It's a bit over the top with the ode to times gone by but the service is great and the food delicious.
After breakfast we wandered around the town. The small town, down in the country feel was everywhere - especially with few establishments being open before noon!
We did some shopping in the stores which were opened and relaxed in the town square. This was a civilized way to spend the day – relaxing under the oak trees and watching the world wander by.
Our next stop was some of the East side wineries. The divide between the east and the west of paso, essentially the 101, is the source of conflict within the wine community. The East side is relatively flat and far more accessible with larger commercial wineries. The West side is hilly; the wineries tend to smaller and less commercial. As a result they seem to experiment with their wines a bit more.
All of that aside – there are good wines to be had in both areas and in fact, some bad ones.
We visited two of the East side wineries that Paul had selected – Robert Hall and Eberele. We had been to Eberele before and liked it. This time we weren’t thrilled so our visit was short. Robert Hall was better but it wasn’t a tasting experience which blew us away. Of course, even with not being blown away by the experience, we still had at least 6 bottles of wine in the back of the car and our purchases from wandering Paso earlier in the day – since it was getting HOT and we didn’t want things cooking or melting we elected to head back to our schoolhouse to drop things off, have some lunch, and relax prior to our visit at AmByth winery. I had made an appointment for 3 PM leaving us plenty of time for lunch and a nap even.
Of course, on the way back to the house we 'happened' to drive past one the newest wineries in Paso. Calcareous is high up on the top of a hill with stunning views and amazing wines. It was a happy stop for us.
Our friend Hande suggested we go to AmByth. She was impressed with their natural approach to wine making. I knew if Hande suggested it then it was a must. AmByth is located high on a hill in the Templeton area. They dry farm. They add nothing to the soil that isn’t 100 % organic and natural (I guess that is a redundant phase). They use no chemicals on weeds or other flying pests. Their natural approach continues into the winery where they had stop the grapes, and add nothing to the wine – the fermentation is completely natural with no yeasts being added.
The owner, Phillip, explained how they came to make wine this way. It was an interesting journey and it was hard not to be caught up in his passion. It was even harder when we tasted the fruit of their labours. We tried 8 or 9 wines, including some still in the barrel. They were all well-made and interesting. We also sampled some of their olives and their olive oil. The depressing thing was trying to decide what to buy to bring home – damn you Canadian laws only allowing 2 bottles of wine per person.
Back at the house we relaxed, enjoying the peace and tranquility of the schoolhouse. It had been an amazing day in Paso Robles.
This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'lavender'.
We are currently in California staying in a beautiful rental house. The property is beautifully landscaped and the lavender by the fire pit is in bloom . . .
The time change was playing games with me - wide awake at 3 AM Pacific time because my body was thinking it was 6 AM back home. I forced myself to sleep as much as I could but in the end 5 AM was all I could manage.
Paul did a far better job with his snoring allowing me a few hours to catch up on emails and work stuff.
After breakfast we loaded up the car and prepared to head out. I couldn't leave without seeing the beach so headed to Goleta Beach. It had a great pier which allowed us to get some awesome shots of the shore.
It is a 2 hour drive from Santa Barbara to the rental house in Paso Robles. We broke the drive in half with a stop in Los Alamos at Martian Ranch and Vineyard. It turns out our friend Shannon was in the area visiting with friends from Spain she arranged for a wine tasting and even brought along a picnic lunch.
An eclectic grower of Rhone and Spanish grape varieties, Martian Ranch & Vineyard is a biodynamically farmed Estate vineyard and winery. Their vineyards were planted in 2008, with the first Estate vintage in 2011. Biodynamic vineyard consultant Philippe Armenier has been involved since the planting of our first vine, and is now Winemaker at Martian Ranch.
The wines were amazing, the grounds lovely, and the company great. It was one of those wonderful moments that you just didn't want to end. Sadly, though, we had to drive further up the coast to Paso Robles and our home for the next three nights.
When we got to the Summit Schoolhouse we were amazed. This 1890s one room school house has been beautifully restored and is likely the finest rental house we have ever stayed in. The owners are clearly meticulous - not a detail has been overlooked. Whereas many rental houses contain cast off low-end furniture this house has the best of everything.
It will be depressing to leave on Saturday!
Traveling is never easy these days. No matter the precautions that are taken, the plans that are made, the mental list of things to avoid. That being said, we arrived in California relatively unscathed.
One of the benefits of all of this flying back and forth to Ottawa that I've been doing (44 flights since January) is that I earn e-upgrade credits. I don't earn many miles for these flights - in fact I'd need to travel back and forth 300 times before I'd earn enough points for a trip to Europe! Nonetheless, those precious e-upgrades allowed us to upgrade to first class.
This had many benefits - a shorter wait to check in. Whisking through security. Followed by plenty of time to relax in the lounge. In fact we had so much time to relax that we looked at out watches in shock - it was time to board!
We raced to our gate and didn't have to line up - we got to just walk on the plane.
No sooner had we sat down when we were offered water or OJ.
As the plane boarded we noticed the maintenance workers working feverishly with something in the ceiling. This was offputting.
Then I noticed the guy sitting across the aisle from us - it was Jorge Garcia who starred as Hurley in LOST. This got us thinking - something wrong with the plane, an actor on board who starred in a TV show about a plane crash. Hmmmm - if we were ever going down in a plane crash this would be the trip!
As soon as the family was seated behind us I realized that I didn't care for them. One child insisted on cawing like a crow. The other, whom I called 'kicky', insisted on kicking my seat. NON. STOP. The mother was one of those fussy people who had a need to work everything through by over-talking it. It was not long until I wanted to rip open the curtain separating we first class folks from the unwashed and give them a 'look'.
Happily I was soon distracted by take off.
Once we were airborne we were advised that the in-flight entertainment system was not working - this solving the mystery of the maintenance workers. We would have to entertain ourselves.
I didn't have long to worry about it however because our flight attendant - yes, there was one flight attendant JUST for the 16 people in first class - started to bring around hot towels and booze. Conscious of the fact I'd need to drive once we got to LA I behaved. Paul on the other hand happily drank red wine until he looked over at me with a loopy smile and said 'I hve never been drunk on plane before'.
Our lunch was good. A three course meal with real cutlery that actually tasted of food. We started with a quinoa and roasted vegetable salad. Paul had the beef tenderloin with smashed red skin potatoes and veggies for his main, I had a Thai Green Curry Chicken. Dessert was a giant, warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream. Of course this served to prove that airlines CAN manage decent food service.
After lunch we slept and tried to ignore annoying family behind us.
It wasn't long before we were flying over California. We were shocked at how dry it was from the air. I knew there was a drought but I was unprepared for how brown and burnt out the state would be. You could really tell the golf courses - SIGH In the face of crippling drought I guess some folks are exempt.
Once we had landed we made our way to the luggage carousel where our luggage was among the first to spit out of the chute - another perk of first class.
We walked to where the rental car shuttles pick folks up and waited forever for a shuttle to take us to the Budget lot. Then we discovered a new type of chaos when we arrived at the rental car lot. I have never seen so many folks, bags in tow, lining up to get a car. We had rented through Costco and got a GREAT deal but honestly, I was regretting every minute of it as I waited in that line.
45 minutes later we had our car loaded up and we were on our way.
It had been almost 3 hours from the time of landing to departing the airport area!
I had hoped that a 1 PM arrival time meant we'd avoid the worst of the LA traffic. I guess we did avoid the worst of it but it was still pretty gross.
Our plan was to head north to Santa Barbara and spend the night there.
The hotel was a newish Marriott in Goleta, just north of Santa Barbara. When I checked in I was given an upgrade to a suite which was lovely. The hotel was built around a beautiful courtyard with a putting green, pool, hot tub, and numerous areas to sit and unwind.
After we got settled we debated where to go for dinner. In the end we went to a local brew pub where we could try samples of beers and eat yummy food (according to Yelp).
Yes indeed, the beers and the food was all amazing! Yelp came through for us.
There was a Costco and BevMo nearby so we checked them out after dinner and stocked up on 'provisions' . . . OK . . . booze for our trip. One of the finds was the amazing limoncello from Ventura. We bought a bottle and afterwards wished we had bought 3.
We sat in the courtyard, sipping our limoncello and relaxed before bed - a great finish to our first day in California.
Paul decided that he wanted to celebrate his 40th birthday in California. Our plan is to fly into LA, pick up our rental car and head up the coast. Our first stop is Santa Barbara
The next day we're off to Paso Robles.
On the way to Paso we plan on hooking up with our friend Shannon at Martian winery for a picnic lunch, wine tasting, and no doubt plenty of laughter. Shannon knows great wine so we know this visit will be a blast.
Once we head out it is a short drive to Paso Robles and our vacation rental. The Summit Schoolhouse will be home for the next three days. This is our fourth visit to Paso but our first in a vacation rental. We are looking forward to wandering the country roads in search of great wine by day and hanging out on the terrace by night.
We have a list of 12 wineries we want to visit- it is tough since there are more than 200 in the area. We want to revisit some old favourites and check out some new ones. The one thing I know for sure is we'll buy far more wine than we can take home!
On Saturday we pack up the car again and head north to San Francisco.
Paul rented a house in the outer Richmond district for a week. We have friends flying in to join us for the week and we are looking forward to wandering some of the neighbourhoods in the city . . . by now we've done most of the touristy stuff! :-)
Paul's birthday is the 30th. He has declared that he wants to start by walking across the Golden Gate bridge. Later that night we'll all enjoy a feast at the Slanted Door. Once we get back to the house it will be time for cake, ice cream, a special bottle of wine, and presents!
On one of the days we will head to Sonoma for MORE wine tasting and one another we hope to hike in Muir Woods and visit Sausalito. Other than that we are just taking it easy.
Our friends depart on the 4th. It didn't seem right to head home and miss the 4th of July celebrations so we booked a night at the Le Meridien and hope to catch some of the bay front 4th of July celebrations.
Paul and I off to California to hang out with friends for the next week and a bit - of course I decided to 'go' there for travel Tuesday this week . . .
I was in Ottawa for three days of bargaining last week. It was a busy time in the city: it is traditional for school groups to visit the nation's capital during June . . . the FIFA World Cup is on and Ottawa is one of the venues . . .there was a giant conference in town. All in all the city was bursting with people. As a result of this I was unable to book three nights in any hotel.
Feeling sorry for myself (one of the hotels was an Econolodge and I think it was one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed in!) I decided to go to the National Art Gallery . . . when feeling sorry for yourself art is a wonderful way to recharge your soul.
I'm not sure visiting the Alex Colville exhibit was the wisest choice. We had missed it when it was in TO so I figured I'd make up for that lost opportunity. I had only seen a few of his paintings and while they interested me I didn't know much about the artist and his work.
Colville was a realist - a style of art I don't really care for, nonetheless as one of Canada's more famous artists I decided to explore the exhibit.
I was struck by how unsettling almost all of his work was - in some paintings characters stare directly at you. In other paintings a single detail draws your attention with great clarity but when your gaze wanders you see other pieces of the story which don't fit - almost in a mysterious manner. A good number of his paintings hint at impending doom but are frozen in the moment leaving the viewer to wonder what might have happened. Very few of his paintings showed shadows being cast. The scenes he chose to depict are ordinary and yet unusual at the same time. Lone characters are shown in frankly lonely situations.
Needless I wasn't as recharged as I might have wanted after having seen the exhibit! While the art was certainly thought provoking it was not uplifting.
In search of that uplifting feeling I went to one of my favourite parts of the gallery - the Rideau Chapel. The interior decorations from this chapel, previously part of the teaching Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Ottawa, were saved from demolition in 1972. Designed by the diocesan architect Canon Georges Bouillon in 1887 they have been reconstructed in the heart of the Canadian galleries adjacent to the trees and flowers of the Garden Court. The marbled cast-iron columns, three altars, balcony, windows and soaring fan vaults, unique in Canadian ecclesiastical architecture, make this interior a priceless element of Canadian architectural heritage.
I was lucky to experience a special exhibit within the chapel. As I came closer to the chapel I could hear beautiful choral music soaring from within. It turned out that it was coming from 40 speakers located around the chapel walls. The voices you hear are the members of the Salisbury Cathedral Choir. They are singing a reworking of “Spem in Alium,” 1575, by Thomas Tallis[ a sculpturally-conceived sound piece which was designed by the artist Janet Cardiff, in a work by her entitled “Forty-Part Motet” (2001).
The full effect was stunning. I sat in the middle of the chapel and let the music flow over me in waves . . . this was the rejuvenation which I had sought.
Each voice was recorded individually, and is played back though a separate speaker. These speakers are placed all around the Rideau Street Chapel, the interior of which has been preserved entirely inside the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa. I sat in the middle of the chapel and heard the whole choir, as if they were everywhere in the room. I walked around, and could pick out the individual harmony parts as I passed each speaker. The setting of the Rideau Chapel speaks to a nineteenth-century Ottawa that is all but gone, and the music of the Motet evokes the Renaissance, heightened through electronic technology. All in all, an inspirational work of art.
When we met our friend Val for brunch at Langdon Hall we hoped to wander the famous gardens. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. SIGH The rain had stopped by the time we finished our meal so we managed go out and wander a bit but things were still pretty wet so we stuck to the paved paths.
As you can see from these pics the grounds are stunning . . .
. . . we definitely were able to see enough to make us want to go back!