California

I went to a conference in San Jose this week and spent the weekend beforehand in San Francisco visiting friends and checking out the city. The last time I was here it was all about the major touristy sights; this time it was about the nightlife, good food, and friends. I met up with Jonathan, a friend from college, for Ethiopian food (my first time) and then went to a bar in Berkeley with some of his friends.

I went out a couple of nights with Manuel, an old coworker from DC. We had excellent sushi, went to a super-posh lounge, and explored Napa. I tried to defend our Virginia wines but I have to give it to Napa- they know what's up with wine. In Virginia, I go to vineyards and find one or two wines I like. In Napa, I liked every wine! It was amazing. We closed one of the wineries but the girl was very friendly and we ended up there for another hour, in which she just kept pouring us more wine!

I did a quick tour of the major sights to take pictures with my new camera. Here's Manuel and I near the Golden Gate bridge and then one of the sea lions in Fisherman's Wharf. I am in love with the Bay Bridge. The Golden Gate is fine, but the architecture of the Bay Bridge is amazing. It's 2 levels, one for each direction of traffic. The architecture is raw- that's the best word I can use to describe it. You can see all of the beams and bolts. It is gorgeous in how raw it is; I couldn't get enough.

I have to comment on the traffic. I drove a couple of times during "rush hour". It's in quotes because I think they are adorable for calling it rush hour. It's true that there are a lot of cars on the road, but everyone is going 70mph. That is NOT rush hour! Rush hour is the beltway in DC that creeps at 10mph and sometimes doesn't move at all. It was also different in Cali because people don't honk. Everyone is polite and will even let you merge if you put your signal on. It was like being in a foreign land. I'm used to road rage as a normal occurrence in DC.

I will always love the west coast. The air is completely different out there. It's always the first thing I notice when I get off the plane. It's more clear because it doesn't have all the humidity and just feels different and more fresh. Everything in Cali is so much more chill and laid back than the east coast too. Love it.