Napa valley - For wine lovers

Napa valley...Place for wine lovers....people who love wine should not miss a visit to this place. The views are beyond belief and the wines are the finest in the world.Napa Valley is a great way to spend the day.you can visit winemakers and drink incredible wines.Make sure to plan on a lunch and to see around three to five wineries. Large wineries have more extensive facilities and tours, but small wineries can provide a personal experience.

Drive to the Napa Valley and see beautiful wineries and tours. Highway 29, North of the City of Napa is where most wineries are concentrated. For real fun & relaxation, stay over in Napa. If possible, avoid weekends when it is extremely busy in Napa. Also, Napa Valley is MUCH hotter than San Francisco so dress accordingly.

You can take a Train Tour as well which is available twice a day. 1st tour will be in the morning and the next one will be in the afternoon. its a 2 hour tour across the wine country...

and you can also do Hot Air Balloon Ride in the Wine Country. I think it costs 100$ per head.
There are lot of wineries but the one we visited was Castello di Amorosa near Calistoga. Quick view in the image....Its a 12th century Tuscan castle winery where you may tour and taste world class wines.

You can either take private tour or you can look around the castle by yourself. There is an entrance fee for this , $30 for private tours where you will get to taste the wine from the barrel its like touring+tasting they will take you around the castle and explain the history,wine making process and you will taste some incredible wines.... you will get a good view of the other wineries in napa from here..

If you don't want to take private tour you can take $15 wine tasting tour in which you will get to taste 5 wines and walk around the castle.

Here the film BEDTIME STORIES has been shot.....

SanFrancisco-Places to Visit

Next time when you are in San Francisco make sure to visit the places below.

Note: As SFO has lot of bridges and there comes the Tolls...so please organize the places to visit looking into map to avoid paying toll twice.

1) Golden Gate :
You can not miss this place if you are visiting SFO. This is the gateway where bay meets the pacific ocean and its a national landmark .This picture is taken from the Parking vista point near SFO.

Once you reach the Golden gate you can either
(1)walk through the bridge
(2) you can Ride a Bike on the Bridge

On either side of the Bridge you will find parking lots where you can view the bay.

2) Crooked Street:
Lombard Street in SFO is called Crooked Street, So What does this mean? The steep, hilly street was created with sharp curves to switchback down the one-way hill past beautiful Victorian mansions. If not for the byzantine curves, easing out this treacherous slope, people would be killed rolling down.
The street is paved with bricks and is an amazing site to see. Picture shows howz it.....
You should take a ride on this street....Its amazing & Thrilling experience.


3) Pier-39 or Fisherman's wharf: Here you will find lot of shopping malls and seafood restaurants. You can see sea loins,From here you can take Ferry Rides.

Before coming here make little research on free parking lots near this place, otherwise you will end up paying lot of parking fee....($6 an hour not sure)

4) Alcatraz Island: This is in the middle of the SFO Bay, This was used to keep Prisoners. Its an historic place. Guided tours will be available if you are interested in history......

5) Twin Peaks : its almost in the centre of SFO,This place gives the best view of SFO.Named for it’s two virtually identical summits, Twin Peaks, stands at an elevation of about 922 feet, second highest in San Francisco. Though, best known for it’s viewpoint and it also gives beautiful view of the market street.

This should be a must stop on the list of the visitors to SFO.

6) Treasure Island: Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland. It is connected by a small isthmus to Yerba Buena Island. When you enter the SFO first you will find this place. Where you can get the first view of Downtown SFO and Alcatraz island.

The island offers spectacular views in good weather


7) Muir Woods :
This place is a short drive (may be an hour) from Golden Gate Bridge.Its a windy drive to the forest through the headland hills.There is an entrance fee of 3$.Where you will find lot of old redwood tress tall and very big and you will know how to find out an age of trees.You can take trial through the forest and there is beautiful creek inside the forest. This place is very calm and cool.

There are 3 walks, from one-half hour to 1.5 hours, and much longer hikes if you wish. The forest park is actually paved to make it easy for wheelchairs and mothers with strollers. The longer hikes are unpaved. The 560 acre park includes six miles of paved, mostly level trails on the canyon floor.






8) Thamalpias:
This place is an half an hour drive from Muir woods again its a windy drive. This place is very beautiful and scenic you will get the view of SFO and bay.beautiful mountains.

This place is perfect place for picnic in early summer.You can spend a day in this greenery and wild flowers.

Little further there is Greek theatre....




9) Ghirardelli Square: This is also one more place you can visit its nearer to Pier-39 where u will get to do free tasting of chocolates and purchase diff girardeli products and also you will find a ice cream parlour which is a world famous and its very tasty and melts in your mouth....yummmmmmmmmmmm. I don't know weather there are any factory tours because by the time we reach there it was late....you can explore it

10) China town : Its a quickest stop during visit to SFO, where you can explore some authentic markets and inexpensive Chinatown restaurants and i have heard that electronic goods are very cheap here. Its better to walk around the china town to explore the shops. worth of 1 to1 1/2 of your time.

11) Half Moon Bay: This is also one more place you can visit even though i haven't visited place but heard lot of good things from friends who visited the place.It contains beaches and better time to visit will be Summer.

12) The California Academy Of sciences: If you love science this is a good place to visit...There is an entrance ticket for this (I think its 25$) you will find rain forest,bugs 3D,planetarium,evolution of human,corals and lot of wild life displays.

Lake Tahoe - Things to do

If you are planning to visit Lake Tahoe which is popularly known among skiers but apart from that you can do lot of activities.

I visited South Lake Thaoe last weekend and wanted to share my experience.Its a very beautiful and scenic place. I don't know whether its a right time or not if you don't like cold then its the best time to visit Lake Tahoe.

We started Saturday morning 8:00 am from SF and reached at 11:30 am. on the way to Lake Tahoe you will see lot of pine trees and a beautiful creek.

There are lot of activities you can do here,like Para sailing,jet ski,kayak,boat paddling,speed boat etc....if its winter and like skiing you can do that.

First we went to emerald bay it was a breathtaking view...Its about 20 minutes from south lake Tahoe...Roads are very curvy.You got lot of vista points on the way you can do a pit stop and enjoy the view. you can look at the picture i have uploaded above,its taken in one of the vista point. The island in the picture is called Fannette Island.

If you enjoy hiking you can hike down from emerald bay park to a Vikingsholm castle and beautiful beach.... It is a exact reproduction of a Viking castle and best example of Scandinavian architecture in USA. This castle is located at the head of Emerald Bay on South Lake Tahoe surrounded by tall pine trees. Guided tours are provided during summer months.

On the way you can find Eagle falls....its really beautiful you can take time and enjoy the view...

You will find lot of beaches as well if you have time you can spend time in a beach and relax.one of them is Pope beach on the way to emerald bay.

On the second day we went on a cruise called M.S Dixie , you can book it online. it starts at 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. if you plan to take the cruise please use the facility of pick up and drop off call them to make sure, because they will charge you for the parking and if you are going there on weekends its difficult to find parking. There is also a dinner & lunch cruises depending on your time and availability you can chose. Don't forget to ask for free lunch coupons in the hotel lobby...

Next comes the Heavenly Gondola Ride,

This is one more way to enjoy the scenic views of lake Tahoe , Located one-half block west of California & Nevada State line, the Lake Tahoe Gondola is steps from most major lodging facilities, and puts the serenity of an alpine mountain within minutes of six casinos. The eight-passenger cabins take guests 2.4 miles up the mountain in 12 minutes while they enjoy views of Lake Tahoe.

Just when it seems the ride can't get any better, guests arrive at The Deck - a 14,000 square foot mid-station observation platform. Located at 9,123 feet, guests are treated to views of the Carson Valley, Desolation Wilderness and shore-to-shore views of Lake Tahoe.

At the Heavenly you will find the Zip Rider which is a high speed thrill ride from the top of Tamarack Express back to the top of the Gondola, a vertical drop of 525 feet..

And for the night life in south lake tahoe,enter into any of the casinos and find live shows and lot of events... :)