California

For those who haven't been paying attention to my Twitter account for the last week or so, I headed off to California with my mom for my cousin's wedding. Here's a day-to-day journal of what happened with photos taken by yours truly.

THURSDAY

We left for Los Angeles after the previous two flights got cancelled because of the weather. Actually, we got holed up in Philadelphia for FOUR HOURS in layover. On the flight to Los Angeles, I watched Once Upon a Time in America.

FRIDAY

We had a few hours before we had to go to Fresno for the wedding, so my mom and I went up to Santa Monica. Shops there are awesome.

Me squinting from the sun.

But after that, we got into a bit of a strain. First, the shuttle taking us to the airport was late. Then, the bus from the airport taking us to the bus station was late. We managed to get a later bus and train. On the train to Fresno, I watched THX 1138.

SATURDAY

There wasn't much to do in the area of Fresno we were in, so we stayed cooped up at our hotel room until the wedding (I took advantage of the hotel's high-speed Internet big time). The wedding was very nice. Rachel and Eric make a really cute couple (Eric is a really nice guy; he knows his movies too!). The only thing I didn't like was the fact I decided to keep my shoes on during the whole reception (got a blister as a souvenir).

SUNDAY

Brunch with the family! My uncle Rob (Rachel's father) has this really cute house in the Fresno suburbs. Headed up to Sonoma with another uncle, my aunt and my grandmother where the second uncle lives. Again, really cute house in the suburbs.

MONDAY

Headed up to San Francisco (finally!) later in the afternoon. View from the Golden Gate Bridge is AMAZING. Never realized how hilly of a city San Francisco is until I went there.

Like so.

TUESDAY

This is where most of the events of the trip took place. We headed downtown to the shops. Of course, being the book nerd that I am, we stopped off here:

City Lights, where Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg used to hang out.

And right next to the book store:

The street sign, that is.

Down the street was where we had lunch:

Cafe Zoetrope, owned by Francis Ford Coppola

Food was excellent, but the highlight of the restaurant is the fact it's covered practically wall-to-wall with production photos from Coppola's movies.

Spent the rest of the day walking around San Francisco. Also went up to Berkeley, but only for like a half hour or so. Later on in the day, we went down to Fisherman's Wharf.

Ghirardelli Square: proof I died and went to heaven.

Down near that general area:

Sup, seagull? What you doing ruining my pic of the Golden Gate Bridge?

Turn right:

Alcatraz: dunh-dunh- DUNH.

Keep turning:

San Francisco: the city I left my heart in.

I just love the architecture of San Francisco, evident in the pictures below.

WEDNESDAY

Heading back to New York. *sigh* All good things must come to an end. Flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia I watched Gone with the Wind; Philadelphia to Albany, worked on the review for it.

So that's what happened to me during that trip. I am definitely moving there when I'm done with college.