SAN FRANCISCO AND ITS COAST: MONTEREY SANTA CRUZ

At last we're back in the United States; this year we choose California and its parks. With our travel companions Lorenza, Fabrizio, Francesca and Carlo we rent a minibus that takes us to Bologna airport...where we make a stopover in Munich before arriving in San Francisco towards the evening of 5 August 2005. Our hotel MONTICELLO INN is right in the centre and very nice.....

The next day we immediately start visiting the city...brrrrrrrrr it's so cold, I recommend bringing heavy clothes because, especially in the morning, it's very very cold...We pick up our Cable Cars at the terminus, which takes us to the famous LOMBARD STREET...which is the most winding street in the world....The view from there is very beautiful...you can see the whole city with all its ups and downs...what a struggleeeeeeee......We arrive at the famous PIER 39, a beautiful pier where, if you're lucky, you see the sea lions...and from where we can also see ALCATRAZ. There's a display of beautiful colourful fruit...and you can also eat the New England chowder, a clam and potato soup served inside a round bread with the crumb removed...we didn't dare eat it though.....We also visit GHIRARDELLI SQUARE with its chocolate factory..

We cross NORTH BEACH, the Italian district with the beautiful church of St Peter and Paul and the famous COIT TOWER...We then arrive at CHINATOWN, very colourful, and then reach the FINANCIAL DISTRICT where the tallest building in San Francisco stands, THE TRANSAMERICA PYRAMID...

The second day we start from the CIVIC CENTER, where the CITY HALL (town hall) with its beautiful dome is...and we reach the famous GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE...how cold it was, and it was even raining...we couldn't see it well because there was so much fog wrapping around it...We also cross on foot the nearby park, famous for THE CONSERVATORY OF FLOWERS (greenhouse) and for the academy of sciences....We take the bus again to finally pick up the car that will take us along the Californian coast...When picking up the car we have a little problem with the payment, which however is then sorted out without any trouble...Self-accounting, we decide to return to the GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE and then set off towards the coast...Along the way we encountered breathtaking landscapes...The first stop is Santa Cruz, famous for its amusement park on the beach...where we stay in a nice motel.....

The next day we set off for MONTEREY, where we see lots of sea lions and lots of other fantastic scenery...We drive along the 17 MILE DRIVE, a beautiful road that runs past golf courses and super-luxurious villas, and then reach CARMEL, a very pretty place with typical bars...in one of them we stop to eat too... We set off again and travel until late in the evening, without meeting a living soul around, to reach BAKERSFIELD...Our next destination is LAS VEGAS...