San Francisco Labor Day trip!

Over the long holiday weekend I took a trip to San Francisco to visit my daughter and her husband. Just a quick trip for a few days to hang out and spend some time (and money) with the kids! This will be a short blog post as it is not nearly as exciting a trip as some of my international trips. Much of the time was spent hanging out, eating, playing dominos, chatting and well…eating!

Friday, August 29 was a day that I had off from work but the kids had to go to work. So I decided that instead of my normal “shopping” day that I do when in the city I would go to a day spa and have the “pamper me” treatment! It was glorious!!! I went to the Burke Williams spa in San Francisco (located in the main mall near the Powell BART stop). Purchased an “all day” inclusive package that included a sugar scrub, a 50-minute deep massage, a spa facial and a pedicure. It was lovely and I felt like Jell-O when it was over!

After my spa day and a quick lunch in the mall I headed back to the kids apartment in San Mateo and rested for a while until they came home from work. We then went out to dinner at a local San Mateo restaurant and caught up from the day. All in all a lovely day!

Saturday, August 30: I have done all the major “tourist” stuff many times before. Meghan has lived in the Bay Area since she went to school out here in 2007. So I have managed to hit all the high spots before. I wanted to do something different. I had heard about a Rosie the Riveter museum located in Richmond, CA. I was really excited to go see the museum and check out the stuff they had there that commemorates the women who worked in the factories and shipyards for the war effort in WWII. Meghan and Don were not thrilled to go there but I convinced them that it was something that they would enjoy and that it wasn’t something that would take more than a couple hours.

I really enjoyed the museum. It is part of the U.S. National parks so there are no entrance fees (free!!). Located right on the water in Richmond, there is also a ship that you can tour through as well as a restaurant (which was closed for a private party when we were there). We toured the little museum and also were able to view a quilt exhibit that was being held there (we had no knowledge of this before hand just stumbled upon it). It was great to listen to a short Q&A with the ladies who made the quilts and one of them was an actual “Rosie” who cracked us all up when she said she had to lie about her age to get a job in the shipyard!! 

Rosie statue

Entrance to the museum

After our “Rosie” tour we decided to grab some lunch and take the longer way home (a more scenic drive). We headed to an In N Out burger (Yum!) and drove down the coast to get back to San Mateo. Great day and perfect weather!

Sunday, August 31: Today’s festivities included a trip to Monterey, CA. Meghan was very excited to visit the Monterey Aquarium (she has a membership pass) and see the fish, seals, penguins and all the rest. Having the membership pass you are able to enter at 9 am instead of the normal 10 am open time. It was nice to get a head start on the crowds (children everywhere!!). The jellyfish and the penguins were my favorites, although the tentacle exhibit was cool too!!

Overlooking the bay at the aquarium 

Jellies!

More jellies!

Penguins at play!

We decided after the aquarium to take the scenic 17-mile drive, which hugs the coast and it was worth it! I don’t think that I had every been on this road before and I enjoyed it. We got out of the car a few times to walk on the beach and take pictures. Note that there was spots that it was very busy, it was Labor Day weekend and everyone seemed to have the same idea. No worries, because the traffic (for the most part) moved along well.

From the 17 mile drive!

Mommy and daughter!

We then headed back to the pier in Monterey to have a late lunch at a restaurant that Meghan had made reservations for. Old Fisherman’s Grotto was really nice! The food was excellent and we had a table overlooking the water. The portions were so huge that it felt like we couldn’t even walk back to the parking garage to get the car! But we made it and I can admit to taking a lovely nap in the backseat of the Volvo all the way back to San Mateo!!

All in all a lovely, relaxing weekend that was spent with the kids. We spent quite a bit of “down time” playing dominos and chatting amongst ourselves and just hanging out. It was nice to travel back to San Francisco and really not do the traditional “tourist” stuff. As much as I love SF and what it has to offer, sometimes getting out provides a nice break. And many thanks to Southwest Airlines for having both my connecting flights in Midway on time and leave on time. Appreciate that!

Till next time…Travel on…

Upcoming travel plans! San Francisco, Prague and Italy!!

I know that it has been a while since I posted anything on the travel blog. A few life changes and a move back East to relocate to Rhode Island as well as work have been keeping me busy! But never fear fellow travel-addicts! I am planning a couple of fabulous trips in the next few months!

First up? A quick trip over the Labor Day holiday to visit my daughter and son-in-law in San Francisco. I love visiting SF, it’s such a cool city and it never hurts to add family to the mix!  Normally we just hang out and go out to eat at some great restaurants.

Next up? I am planning a trip to Prague over the Thanksgiving holiday. I went to Madrid last year for Thanksgiving and I had such a great time I thought I would travel again for the holiday. Once you get out of the airport in the U.S. then it is easy peasy to travel overseas. And November is a great time because there are fewer crowds and thus fewer tourists. Flights not booked yet but stay tuned because that should happen real soon!

And next year? Well there is a trip planned to Italy with my fabulous friends Chris and Geoff who have been there many times and plan to show me around! We are looking to do Rome and Venice and I am so excited to see Italy with folks who know Italy! I find the thought of Italy rather intimidating as a solo traveler so I am glad to see the sights with friends! We are tentatively planning for late February/ early March to also avoid the crowds and the heat (the last one is for me, as I am not heat tolerant!!).

Well, that’s the plan for now. Stay tuned for updates and if anyone has any tips for either Prague 

Austria: the pastry tour!!!

So I decided to do a pastry heavy blog post because of the amazing pastries that I encountered on my trip to Austria. Seriously, this was some fabulous stuff!!

Famous Sacher Torte at Hotel Sacher Cafe

Cafe Sacher sidewalk cafe

Fruit filled pancakes (similar to crepes)

Cafe Museum

The best apple strudel and melange coffee at Cafe Museum

My grocery store dinner!

Apple strudel and melange coffee

Bratwurst street food!

Wiener Schnitzel

Apple strudel and melange at Aida cafe

From the hotel bakery

Apple strudel and melange in Salzburg

Honestly, this is the place to go for sweets. At least in my opinion. Seriously, did I mention the apple strudel????

Austria: day 6: The last day of vacation!

Today was my last day of vacation in the lovely Austria. I didn’t have an exact plan on what I wanted to do but since the weather turned out to be so nice my thoughts were that I would take the subway out to the Schonbrunn Palace, which was the summer palace of the royals. The gardens were supposed to be just beautiful and it was the perfect day for it.

The Schonbrunn palace is the large yellow colored palace that you probably have seen in travel magazines or online at some point in your life. It is rather famous and one of the most popular attractions in Vienna. I had already toured the Hofburg and wasn’t really planning on fighting the crowds to see the inside of Schonbrunn. I was going to get some outside time and wanted to do that early before the sun was at it’s hottest.

Shopping for my summer home!

Once I got there it was already really busy and it was only 9 am and that was when they opened up! I bypassed the crowds and headed for the right side of the palace that was where the carriage house museum was. I love me some royal carriages! Since everyone and their mother, brother and uncle were heading to the main area it was the perfect time to visit the carriage house museum. Turns out that there was only me and another 2 couples so we had the place to ourselves. Before the school kids showed up. Because everyone hates them!

This was for the royal kids. Yeah, really!

No need for the "my other car is…" bumper sticker!

The mourning carriage

They allowed photos to be taken here and really there were some stunning carriages including some for the children of royalty as well as the mourning carriage that took Empress Sisi through Vienna after her assassination. I think that the ticket was E6 and well worth it!

After that I just walked around the grounds of the palace. It was just a little too early in the year for the flowers in the gardens to be fully in bloom but still it was lovely. Very sunny and windy but the grounds of the palace were stunning and huge! You could really spend a whole day there.

After that I jumped back on the UBahn and headed towards someplace that was on my radar for apple strudel. Called Café Museum it is located near the museum quarter and near the Karlsplatz UBahn station stop. The coffee and strudel was everything that it was supposed to be. And more. But I am planning a pastry blog post so we’ll talk more about that later!

I though that on my last day I would just stroll around the center shopping area, both window and people watching! It was a lovely day and the sun was shining and I really enjoyed walking around. Didn’t really buy much (some coffee for Ed) but it was still a nice way to end the day.

I had planned to go to a place for dinner that was mentioned in my guidebook. Called Brezl Gwolb, it is listed as a 16^th century restaurant that serves classic Viennese food. It was a little difficult to find but after I located it was worth the search. I had something called “roast joint” which looked and tasted like a type of pot roast with potatoes and a glass of wine. I also had desert, which was a fruit filled pancake type similar to crepes. Amazing! When I mentioned to the waitress that I found her restaurant in my guidebook, she was very excited about that. She then took me downstairs to the cellar area where they had another seating area altogether. It was dark and crowded but so very old world and if I had known I would have asked to be seated there (although it was too early in the night for that, I don’t think they use that space until later in the evening). Great food and really great service, highly recommend it.

Brezl Gwolb

Brezl Gwolb

Last stop was the park across the street from my hotel. I didn’t want to spend too much time there but I wanted to just relax in the early evening. They appeared to be setting up for some type of festival they were having the next day (Friday, the 9^th) so there were tents going up all around me. I found a quite stop near a duck pond and relaxed a bit before I had to go back and pack for the very early morning flight home (leaving the hotel at about 4 am!). 

Duck pond

Austrian ducks: they speak German!

As the vacation comes to an end I can only hope that you get to visit Austria one day. I found the city to be busy and bustling but also clean and welcoming. It is extremely easy to get around, either by walking or public transportation. And take the wine tour. Remember, take the wine tour!!!

Austria: an Ugly American post:

So I thought that I would make a quick post about the “Ugly American” stereotype and my thoughts on one incident I had in Austria. No pics on this one, folks!

We all know about the Ugly American stereotype, no need for me to go into it here. If you don’t know about it then Google is your new best friend! For me, I honestly can say that up until this trip I hadn’t really encountered much of it. I mean I saw the random 50ish male with a fanny pack as well as the loud groups of college students getting drunk (looking at you, Amsterdam!). But nothing really blatant. Until this trip.

I was walking around Vienna in the main “touristy” center of town, just checking things out and seeing the sites. Window-shopping so to speak. I went into one of the many little shops mainly to get out of the direct sunlight that was blazing down on me. I was looking around, generally minding my own business. Then I heard/ saw this exchange:

A young (16 to 19 year old) obvious American girl was walking through the shop with either her mom and grandma or perhaps mom and aunt. Mom was about my age and grandma/aunt was a little older. No distinguishable accent so I couldn’t say if they were from a specific area of the U.S. (i.e. the South or Wisconsin). Young idiot girl (her new name, BTW) was wearing short cutoff shorts (and they were short!) and slurping her obligatory Starbucks venti frappuccino and complaining to her mom that she didn’t want any of “these souvenirs” because they all said Wien on them and not Vienna. Young idiot girl (had she been paying attention) would have known that Wien was the German word for Vienna and actually the CORRECT name. Yeah, young idiot girl.

To be closely followed by older idiot mother and older idiot grandma/aunt. Who proceeded to badger the salesclerk (who was doing them a favor by speaking English) by asking how much this item cost in “real, American money”. Because apparently Euros are now not “real”.

I kind of hid in the corner while this was all going on. In of course the loudest voices possible because they are Ugly Americans. I so wanted to go up to the salesclerk after they left the shop and explain that we are not all like that. But I didn’t have the heart. I just kind of left, shaking my head as I went along.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am as patriotic as the next person. I am a proud American and all that we stand for. I only speak English (although I can understand to read a few words of Spanish). But I at least try to learn a few words of the local language (hello, good morning, thank you, do you speak English) to try and not appear to be a complete idiot. And I always try to respect the country that I am visiting. I never want to be labeled an Ugly American. This was probably this young idiot girl’s graduation gift from mom/grandma/aunt and all she was doing was complaining. Stupid Ugly Americans…..

Austria day 5: The hills are alive with the sound of….rain???

Today’s festivities include a day trip via train to Salzburg. That’s right, the city where the Sound of Music takes place and was partially filmed. I was so excited to travel here and check out the old portion of the city and also excited to take a trip via train travel!

First up: the train travel. I took the U-Bahn from the Stubentor station (about 3 blocks from my hotel) to the WestBahn station to pick up the regional train. There are a couple of trains that travel from Vienna to Salzburg but from my research the easiest one is the WestBahn train that makes the journey every hour from Vienna and makes stops along the way. It costs E23.90 and you simply pay the conductor on the train. I was amazed at how easy it was and also how clean and efficient the station and the trains were. Take note, USA. This is how regional train travel should be!

https://westbahn.at

My train heading to Salzburg!

And it's in English!

The trip took almost exactly 2.5 hours and you come into the main station in Salzburg. Since I really had no idea where I was going I stopped into the tourist center in the station. Picked up a map and a Salzburg travel guide and found out that there is a bus that will take you into the old part of the city. Or you can just walk. I chose the walk option. Turns out it was simple and about a mile walk.

Once in the old part of the city, it was lovely. I did spring for the “touristy” horse and carriage ride, only because I hadn’t done that in Vienna. Although expensive, it was a nice way to get your bearings in the city. I then walked around, taking pictures and generally just being a tourist. Take note, the city center (the old part) is very small and really can be done in a few hours. There are churches and some museums to visit but I didn’t do any of that. I checked out the Mozart statue and of course the horse fountain that was in the Sound of Music.

Taking a carriage ride

Main church in town

Mozart: he's the dude here

The weather was not being cooperative having started as gloomy and progressed towards drizzly and then rainy throughout the day. I decided that if I was going to go up to the fortress then I should do it before the downpour started! I took the tram ride up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress and was able to enjoy some amazing views of the city! Well worth the trip up! Apparently you can walk up the mountain but that was not for this girl! It is straight up about a mile up a very steep mountain and as far as I’m concerned the E11 that they charged for the ride was well worth it!

The horse fountain in the Sound of Music

The selfies are getting better!

After getting me medieval fortress on, I came back down the mountain and thought lunch would be a good idea. It was beginning to rain quite heavily now and just as an FYI when there are cobblestones and rain hits them, it gets quite slick. Yeah, time for a break! I found a restaurant and had lunch. Nothing to write home about and I guess that they cater to tourists quite often. But it was a hot meal and a place to rest while it was raining.

The view from the fortress: amazing!

The fortress

They didn't throw me in the tower so I must have been well behaved!

Another stop on the Salzburg trail was a place called Christmas in Salzburg. I had done some research and knew that this place sold handmade Christmas ornaments that were hand painted on eggs. Very delicate and supposed to be a must see. So after asking about 4 people where this shop was I found it and spent way too much money there. But I figured that this was a truly special memento of the trip and was able to justify it that way. Also, I did buy some for gifts!

Pretty much by that time it was raining hard and since I had a mile walk back to the train station I headed out and battled the rain to get back. I probably should have taken the bus but I’m stubborn and it just seemed like no big deal to walk. It wasn’t a big deal but that would be where another person would come in handy. One to hold the umbrella and one to hold the shopping bag of purchases! No worries, a little water never hurt anyone!

Again another great, relaxing train ride home and back to hotel with my purchases and wet jean legs! I am told that Salzburg gets quite a bit of rain throughout the year, so my experience should be rather typical. All in all I enjoyed Salzburg but perhaps was a little underwhelmed, I think that I thought it would be larger than it was. It was beautiful and I had a good time, but the rain did dampen my spirits a bit.