We made it to San Francisco

We just came back from our California adventure, it was such a nice break. We feel so happy and energized (well now, actually, jet-lagged). We traveled on April 30 (and totally missed Willem-Alexander's inauguration ceremony), but, as we flew KLM, the Royal Dutch airlines, we did get special commemorating orange cake at the time of the celebration.

Because it was windy, our flight took a different, longer route and we flew over Greenland. It was quite impressive to see the polar ice sheets. And San Francisco... really such a vibrant, pretty city. Be prepared to hear everything about it on the following days. We walked pretty much everywhere, it is almost as if there were lines dividing the cities' different neighborhoods as you get a very different vibe in each of them. The financial district reminded us of London, Hayes Valley could have been somewhere in Southern France, Chinatown is huge and really, only Chinese is spoken there, so it's like a mini-trip to Asia. At the Mission district I really thought I might have been dropped on the other side of the border, in my beloved Mexico. There were taqueria's, authentic Mexican bakeries (pan dulce anyone?) and grocery shops with every Mexican product you could imagine (so our pantry was replenished with Abuelita chocolate, accordingly). Needless to say we had avocado on sourdough bread and mango for dinner and breakfast every night and morning.

 I was a total tourist, jumping up and down when I saw the Golden Gate bridge for the first time, in all its red glory, from Baker's beach. On the weekend we went on an express road trip to Yosemite National park, Turlock (where we slept and went to a movie theater and an all-American diner), Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Pigeon Point. Nature is so beautiful, and I was impressed at how much there is a culture to protect it. Even the Twin Peaks area is kept as a breeding for the Mission blue butterfly (Aricia icarioides missionensis). And there were sea-lions at Pier 39, just like in every movie. We were so happy to finally meet Lauren, Kamel  and baby Gabe, who are indeed better in real life :). I wish we lived closer to each other!

I will now proceed to read all of your stories... it was hard to keep up on the blogs I read while I was away. I'm sorry that I was a little late with replying to your lovely comments (but I read them all, and now they have all been answered to). I hope you have a great weekend, full of adventures, or rest, as needed :) .