Day 9: Napa Wine Country
Since we have to park our car here in San Francisco, we need to get out of the city early. Otherwise the 'meter maids' will come and give us a parking ticket after 9AM. On todays menu we have a mix of sun, cabriolet and wine. Liza really wanted to come with us, but Jack told me she wil be at the hostel at 11AM. So we had two hours to spend on parking and internetting.
11AM and we were ready to explore the Napa wine valley. We headed up North onto hwy 101, over the Golden gate bridge and into the countryside. Where we passed endless desolate hills on yesterdays trip, today we enter a more green and populated area. The mercury was rising quickly and before long, we had to put the top up and turn on the airconditioning.
On the way to Napa we passed an old landing strip where a navy blue WWII fighter cought our attention. We decided to make a quick stop to check it out. Upon entering the 'airport' we were greeted by an old veteran who gladly takled about the strip and its aircraft. It turned out to be a landing strip and hanger for private planes, some of which flew in the last great war. Their owners were as antique as their aircraft. We were free to walk around the area and the hangers, it was nice to see a piece of history so well preserved.
Napa is a touristic town, it has a Tourist Info Center and 30 shops which sell wine, honey, mustard and other local delicasses. Every building is painted a different pastel, too sweet if you ask me. We tried the free food in every shop, and with a bloodsugar as high as the local temperature, we continued to one of the vineyards on Altas Peak, for some complimetary wine tasting. The sign in front of the winery said 'on apportment only'. We got in anyway, it turns out it is just a formal thing to prevent people from drinking whenever they like to. Liza and Bart both chose some wines to taste, I was today's designated driver. The wine started good, only to get better with the price. The most expensive one in the tasting topped $80 a bottle, 2004 preserved something something... Going to a tasting room and not drinking wine raises some questions. I couldn't get away by explaining I am the driver, so I admitted not to like wine, or beer for that matter, and that port is more to my liking. It turns out, that there is one port brewery in the north of the valley. Off to the North then!
Bart and Liza, a bit tipsy from the combination of good wine, no food and extreme heat, were having a great time singing along with all the songs on the radio. Deeper in the valley, the thermometer indicated 119 Fahrenheit, that is more than 48 degrees celcius! Refusing to put the top on, we were sweating like crazy. We reconed it is better to burn in the Californian dry sun then to suffocate in humid Dutch heat. We arrived at the hippie vineyard to see if the redneck yankees here can also brew a good port. Ofcouse I could only smell and take small sips, the port was very different from what we are used to. One had a strange chorizzo taste with a GREAT aftertaste. Where the next one was like a fruity tast explosion with a lesser aftertaste. But I have to admit they were all great. The riesling dessert wine was a perfect ending.
We drove back south so SF, got off the highway and entered yesterdays muir beach viewpoints again. We wanted to see a sunset at the beach, but it was much too crowded. Back to the vista again then. We were just in time to jump out the car and catch the last 10 seconds of sunset.
Back in town. Liza still wanted to get me a cake for my late birthday. So we stopped at Marcy's, a luxury store, took the elevator to the cheescake factory on the top floor. The place was very crowded, but the cake was huge and looked delicious. We took our newfound treasure to the hostel and devoured it. One piece of cake is like 1 1/2 meal, and it tasted great. Thanks Liza!
The day ended sadly thought. At the hostel we found that Luke, one of the guys which helped at the desk, died in his sleep. Although I cannot say I knew him very well, I know he was a great guy; always genuinely interested in people and spending every minute in the hostel talking to guests and helping them. He was only in his mid twenties. Very sad...
11AM and we were ready to explore the Napa wine valley. We headed up North onto hwy 101, over the Golden gate bridge and into the countryside. Where we passed endless desolate hills on yesterdays trip, today we enter a more green and populated area. The mercury was rising quickly and before long, we had to put the top up and turn on the airconditioning.
On the way to Napa we passed an old landing strip where a navy blue WWII fighter cought our attention. We decided to make a quick stop to check it out. Upon entering the 'airport' we were greeted by an old veteran who gladly takled about the strip and its aircraft. It turned out to be a landing strip and hanger for private planes, some of which flew in the last great war. Their owners were as antique as their aircraft. We were free to walk around the area and the hangers, it was nice to see a piece of history so well preserved.
Napa is a touristic town, it has a Tourist Info Center and 30 shops which sell wine, honey, mustard and other local delicasses. Every building is painted a different pastel, too sweet if you ask me. We tried the free food in every shop, and with a bloodsugar as high as the local temperature, we continued to one of the vineyards on Altas Peak, for some complimetary wine tasting. The sign in front of the winery said 'on apportment only'. We got in anyway, it turns out it is just a formal thing to prevent people from drinking whenever they like to. Liza and Bart both chose some wines to taste, I was today's designated driver. The wine started good, only to get better with the price. The most expensive one in the tasting topped $80 a bottle, 2004 preserved something something... Going to a tasting room and not drinking wine raises some questions. I couldn't get away by explaining I am the driver, so I admitted not to like wine, or beer for that matter, and that port is more to my liking. It turns out, that there is one port brewery in the north of the valley. Off to the North then!
Bart and Liza, a bit tipsy from the combination of good wine, no food and extreme heat, were having a great time singing along with all the songs on the radio. Deeper in the valley, the thermometer indicated 119 Fahrenheit, that is more than 48 degrees celcius! Refusing to put the top on, we were sweating like crazy. We reconed it is better to burn in the Californian dry sun then to suffocate in humid Dutch heat. We arrived at the hippie vineyard to see if the redneck yankees here can also brew a good port. Ofcouse I could only smell and take small sips, the port was very different from what we are used to. One had a strange chorizzo taste with a GREAT aftertaste. Where the next one was like a fruity tast explosion with a lesser aftertaste. But I have to admit they were all great. The riesling dessert wine was a perfect ending.
We drove back south so SF, got off the highway and entered yesterdays muir beach viewpoints again. We wanted to see a sunset at the beach, but it was much too crowded. Back to the vista again then. We were just in time to jump out the car and catch the last 10 seconds of sunset.
Back in town. Liza still wanted to get me a cake for my late birthday. So we stopped at Marcy's, a luxury store, took the elevator to the cheescake factory on the top floor. The place was very crowded, but the cake was huge and looked delicious. We took our newfound treasure to the hostel and devoured it. One piece of cake is like 1 1/2 meal, and it tasted great. Thanks Liza!
The day ended sadly thought. At the hostel we found that Luke, one of the guys which helped at the desk, died in his sleep. Although I cannot say I knew him very well, I know he was a great guy; always genuinely interested in people and spending every minute in the hostel talking to guests and helping them. He was only in his mid twenties. Very sad...
posted by Branko | 10:57 AM
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