It's hard to explain Texas to my British friends. How to tell them about our pride in our state, from the size to our history to our weird traditions like mums, high school football and the State Fair?

I told you before about our Euro-trip for Paul's graduation. Three weeks jaunting around on vacation.

Then came my graduation - a slightly less grand scale, due to the fact that Paul was working and low on vacation, plus I had to start beginning of June. Therefore, 4 days in California.

For some reason, California has always held a certain appeal for me - perhaps it's the film industry (as a film major, although perhaps not aficionado), the climate, although I think after my lessons in Istanbul, it's probably the water.  Regardless of why, I was excited for my first time in California.

We stayed in Union Square, in the middle of it all. Perhaps Paul's nightmare with all the shops surrounding it, including a Tiffany's. This was a great place to stay in the city, and gave us easy access to get around to all the sites.

We checked out Fisherman's Wharf to see the famous seals and have some true San Fran fare - clam chowder in the sourdough bread bowl (or chicken noodle soup in my case). The wharf is a fantastic place to walk around and people watch as well.  We walked around to the Ghiradelli shop as well, happy to sample some chocolates and buy some to take back.


We also took the ferry over to Alcatraz and get a tour of the famous prison. You can get an audio guide to tour you around the inside of the building and point out the most famous parts, including the recreation of the prison break-out.  Outside of the prison, it is weird to see the beauty of it now, with some parts in disarray, but having been taken over by flowers or local plants. You also get some great views looking back towards the city.



To break-up the sightseeing, we spent the next day on a trip up to Napa. There are plenty of options for day trips out there (the wine buses), but luckily we knew someone in the area, so we had a ride up there. We checked out several wineries, including Pine Ridge (which is where I found my favourite white wine), Silverado, Cliff Lede (great champagne) and St. Supery, where we got a tour of the wine making process. I wouldn't have called myself a wine fan at the time, although my tastes have since evolved, but even if you aren't a fan of drinking, the views in the area are fantastic.



For our last day in San Fran, we saved the best for last. We had found a tour that took you around to the famous sites from movies throughout the city. Everything from Mrs. Robinson & Full House, to the famous car chase of Bullitt, to Lucas Studios in Presidio. For a  movie major and fan, it was fantastic to get a glimpse of the real life sets.


We spent the rest of the afternoon on bikes, wandering around the city and biking (halfway) across the Golden Gate Bridge. We got a last glimpse of the water and city skyline before heading back to the airport.  There's something about that city that captured my imagination and heart.

One of my favorite British things (besides high tea) are the hats. They were first drawn to my attention at the Royal Wedding, and while wedding is probably the more common function for a good hat, I found another. The Ascot.

The biggest occasion for the Ascot is the Royal Ascot where the hats are taken to a whole new level. That, plus all the special rules for dress, such as woman must wear dresses with sleeves at least one inch thick, even if a cardigan or blazer are covering the dress, or if they wear a pant suit, it must be both matching colour and fabric. Or for men, they need to wear tails and a top hat!

But, alas, we were in Norway this weekend and missed out on this glorious festivity.

I was not to be deterred though. The Ascot hosts other races throughout the year, so we found one in early September that was the Food & Wine Festival. Perfect? I think so.

So we joined our friends the Houses for a day at the races! We bought premier tickets, as these had a 'stricter' dress code, which I thought would mean more hats. Sarah and I decked ourselves out in our fanciest hats for the occasion.

Striking a post in front of the track where the winners are paraded

The most difficult thing about a fancy hat? Not knocking someone else in the head while trying to pose close to them for a photo.

Fancy hats call for fancy dress

Besides the hats, there was lots to do at the races. With our premier tickets, we had access to everything but the boxes, meaning we could head to the top of the trackside building to sit down and watch the races, or enjoy a glass of bubbly.

We also had the chance to get right next to the trackside. This was much more in the action, because you could see the horses as they raced past. In the 30 minutes between races, this was also the place you wanted to be to place your bet.

Ascot building and other race goers waiting for the action

Each stand had information on the upcoming race - the horses and the odds on each.  Most of the time, the odds were the same, but once you knew your chosen horse, you had to try to get yourself the best deal. We were small time gamblers, usually just 5 quid, but the bets could go up much higher.

I'll put 5 on 7!

After I picked a horse (most often based on the name), we waited, admiring the track, the pretty day and chatting. Once the races started, the game was on though! Sarah and Paul ended up winners for the day, each winning about enough to cancel out our loses. Perhaps I need to go again next year so I can find my winning horse!

And they're off - til next time!

We often have walked through Kensington Gardens with Belle, around the paths, trying to avoid the Round Pond so Belle doesn't join the swans, and strolling by Kensington Palace.

But, we have never taken the time to venture inside.  When my parents were in town, we decided to finally stop by.

Besides being the home of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Palace is famous for it's detailed history of Queen Victoria. You hear Victoria & Albert's names over all types of monuments, but I wasn't too familiar with their history.

Victoria became Queen at age 18, and would go on to become the longest serving British monarch, with 63 years on the throne.

Many stories about Victoria though talk about her relationship with her husband Albert, and what they achieved together. Albert took a strong interest in arts & industry, famous for the Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park in 1851. They also had 9 children together (geez!).

Wedding gown - see how short she was? 1.52m - less than 5 ft tall!

The stories aren't only about the happy times in the relationship; some stories also talk about Victoria after the untimely death of her husband. She went into mourning for years, only wearing black for the remainder of her life, and avoiding public appearances for many years following.

Mourning garb

The exhibit is covered with quotes from letters from Queen Victoria over the walls and glass, a very quirky modern museum throughout.

While this is one of the largest portion of the museum exhibit, there are a few other wings as well.

There are the Kings and Queen State Rooms, with history of other parts of the British monarchy. Lots of intrigue and drama of course. Make sure to check out the "interactive" type displays in each room, otherwise you may run through them without gathering any information. Sometimes they are fake newspapers and gazettes, other times it may be a voice whispering through the walls.

Exhibit to represent Queen Anne & her children - 17 pregnancies with only 6 children living; of those, only one lived past infacy only to die at age 11 of suspected pneumonia

The newest exhibit we saw was Fashion Rules. It is not a very large exhibit, but features dresses worn by the royals, including the current Queen, her sister Princess Margaret, and probably most famously, Princess Diana. The most interesting part was comparing the fashions of the Queen to her sister, one needing to be more conservative, while her sister had the possibility of playing with fashion a bit more.

Ball gowns galore

Overall, the museum was interesting. Not my top visit in London, but worth a check out if you are around the park. One piece of advice - if you want a nice, quiet museum experience, you may want to skip out on Family Fridays.

While we mainly went to Croatia to enjoy the beautiful beaches, we had also heard about the lakes there. There are a few different options to check out lakes there, including Krka and Plitvice. Paul wanted to check out Krka since it was closer, but Sarah and I ruled in favour of Plitvice so the decision was made.

We picked it because of its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The drive was further than Krka, nearly 3 hours, but it was full of beautiful scenery. We had checked the weather before we left, which predicted some rain, although we asked around and they said it usually always rained some there. About 30 minutes before we were scheduled to get to the lakes, the skies opened up and rain poured out. Add in to that the thunder and lightening, and I was getting anxious about our 4 hour hike.

We arrived at the park and saw we were not the only ones with that concern. People milled around, those prepared decked out in their own rain gear, and others less prepared (ourselves included) buying flimsy ponchos and umbrellas from the gift shot.

After we were geared up, we started our hike down into the park. Within 5 minutes, the rain had stopped.

Of course. We were happy for the weather in the end though - the rains kept the park cool & much less crowded than it usually would have been.

The park includes just over 73,000 acres and 20 lakes, meaning lots to see. Of course the primary attractions are the waterfalls (which weren't as full due to the summer), but there's lots of beautiful streams and the color of the water is breathtaking. It's so blue and clear, that from above, you can see straight down to the algae on the lake floor.



We started off with a hike on the east side of the park, stopping often to enjoy the views and catch our breath. I'd like to pretend it was for the 3 year old that was on our tour, but I probably needed it more often that he did!

Up next was the boat ride to take us to the other side of the park. We enjoyed more lake views, before finally coming upon the "train" which took us back to the park entrance.