Santa Cruz and Capitola, California

Santa Cruz is a beautiful beach town right on the coast of California. This town is big on surfing and of course skateboarding as well and provides you with a ton of small town attractions a long with the city shopping life. This is going to be a play by play on the events that I did on my two days in Santa Cruz!

 On my first day in Santa Cruz the first thing I did was go to the Santa Cruz Pier and have a nice breakfast out on the ocean at a good little cafe on the very end of the pier. The pictures on the left is the view of Santa Cruz and the Board walk from the end of the pier.

This is a picture of my very yummy breakfast that I literally inhaled before taking on the city of Santa Cruz. The breakfast consisted of 3 Pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 eggs over easy, and a side dish of fruit. Everything was super good except for the fruit it was honestly pretty gross, but overall it was a good start to a great day. 

After starting off the day with a hardy meal we made our way over to the surfing spot in Santa Cruz since, well, Santa Cruz is a surfing city. The waves were not at there best that specific day but that of course did not stop the locals from going out! There happened to be a surfing competition going on as well as you can see on the left hand picture, so that was cool to watch. 

This is the view of the pier from the cliffs on the west side of the pier. As you can tell the day got very overcast and was pretty chilly on my first day. 

After the surfing competition I decided that I was time to go check out the sites down at the famous Santa Cruz Board Walk. The photo below is of the main road going right a long the board walk.

To my pleasant surprise this particular day on the board walk was the Santa Cruz Chowder Fest! This is a huge event in Santa Cruz where everyone come out to test the sixty plus different clam chowders!

As you can probably tell the Chowder Fest is a big deal in Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is known for being a surfing/skate town. Every store that you walk into in downtown SC basically has a section that looks exactly like this... For all the skaters out there make your way to Santa Cruz.

After a long eventful day walking around the streets of Santa Cruz you NEED to go to I Love Sushi and taste some of the best sushi Santa Cruz has to offer! This is only half of my order. Needless to say I had a fantastic dinner to end the day. 

After your all done in Santa Cruz you have to make your way to the town called Capitola! This town is so beautiful you will not want to leave it. Capitola is a small surf town right on the beach with many mom and pop stores a long with, of course, surf shops. 

In Capitola there is a fantastic family friendly beach for all of those beach lovers out there to soak in the sun.

The Santa Cruz/ Capitola area is such a beautiful fun place to get away too. Take some friends, family, girlfriend or boyfriend, and treat your selves to some good food, tanning, roller coaster riding, and wave catching in beautiful Santa Cruz.

ANNECY, FRANCE

ANNECY, FRANCE

Annecy is a small and beautiful medieval town located in the southeast part of France in the Rhone-Alpes. This town is known as the "Venice of France" because of all the canals flowing throughout the city a long with the romance that fills the air when walking down the roads of Annecy. There is nothing better than walking around this town surrounded by beautiful architecture, a view of the lake, while being looked down upon by the medieval castle above you. Make sure Annecy is on your next list of places to go. 

This is a picture that many people may recognize because it is one of the most photographed places in the country of France. This (in my opinion) is a perfect example of how Annecy combines both medieval times and modern times together as you have a beautiful medieval prison known as the La Vieille on the left side. If you want an amazing postcard this is the place to go. 

This is a Picture of the entrance to the Château d'Annecy. It was built sometime between the 13th and 16th century and served as the house of the Counts of Geneva. It has now been restored and serves as a museum to the city of Annecy. 

Of course you must make sure to hit the market in the old town of Annecy as they will have all the meat, cheese, fresh fruits, veggies etc... that you can imagine with some very friendly people. Get to know the community and build your relationships would wide. What can be better than eating while meeting new people?

Honestly I have no idea what this place is but I believe it was a bed and breakfast... It was located on a street leading up to the Château d'Annecy.




The beauty of Lac D' Annecy is truly breathtaking, by far the prettiest lake I have seen along with lake Geneva in Switzerland. You could enjoy a romantic picnic in the park while you take in the beauty of this wonderful creation.

After you have finished your romantic picnic looking at the lake it is time to get on the lake! Take a trip with Pont des Amours and get up close and personal with this jaw dropping lake! Im sure your date will love it as well. 

 After you have finished on the lake please please PLEASE take the time to stroll around Annecy and take in the beautiful buildings, calm canals, and reflect on life. To me this town has got to be on everyone's top destinations list.

 Everything in Annecy makes life seem so simple and peaceful as if there were worries to be thought of, life is good in Annecy.

Till next time good bye from one of the most amazing towns in the world. Good bye from Annecy, France. 

The "City by the Bay"

     San Francisco is a wonderful city that draws people from all over the world to come experience the many diversities that San Francisco has to offer. San Francisco has many tourists attractions such as the internationally known Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz or "The Rock', Pier 39, Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, and much more. To fully experience San Francisco one must go there, but if that is not a possibility at the moment then I hope this helps you feel as if you have been there.


The "City by the Bay" is a well desired destination for many people all over the world because it has a little bit of everything for everyone. San Francisco is the largest densely populated city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States, so be ready to be crowded. San Francisco was founded on June 29, 1776, when Spanish colonists came to the San Francisco Peninsula and built a fort. San Francisco grew very quickly but was overcome with disaster in 1906 when a big earthquake and fire destroyed much of the city. Now, obviously, the city has been rebuilt and is a major tourist attraction to those who want to experience life as a San Franciscan.

     One of the most well recognized land marks in San Francisco, the West Coast, and even America is the amazing Golden Gate Bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge is 8,981 feet long (nearly twice the length of any bridge in existence before the Golden Gate Bridge) end to end and the towers on the bridge are 746 feet above the water making the Golden Gate the second largest main span bridge in the United States.  The Golden color of the bridge is actually an orange color that in the sun looks golden at a distance, hence the name the Golden Gate bridge. 

Alcatraz is another popular destination when visiting San Francisco. Alcatraz was home to some of the worst and most popular criminals in history including Al Capone and the "Bird Man". Alcatraz, also known as "The Rock", is located on a rock in the middle of the bay. The island has gone through many changes such as being an army fort, Indian riot location, and of course a prison. If you plan on making a trip to Alcatraz make sure you book tickets at least a year in advance, just a little helpful hint. 

Fisherman's Wharf is also a very big tourist attraction including the famous Pier 39. Here you can get all your San Franciscan gear and treat your self to some good eats right a long the bay. Also make sure to get your world famous sour dough bread from the Boudin bakery and Ghirardelli chocolate from Ghirardelli square. Make sure if your down on the pier at night to go on the outside deck of the pier on the west side to capture the night skyline of San Francisco. 

A place many people may miss when they go to San Francisco is the Golden Gate Park. I personally really enjoy this park because it takes you away from bustling city and helps you settle down and enjoy nature like trees and grass. The Golden Gate Park also includes a Japanese Tea Garden which is very beautiful. 

Although it does cost money to go through this garden I believe it is a memory that will last. Plus there is a very cool bridge as shown below that makes a great photo.

This is a beautiful fountain in the Golden Gate Park where local artist gather to show off their pieces. 

Now what I am about to show you is not something that is on the list of tourist attractions of San Francisco, but it is something I believe is a must do if you are up for some sneaking around. 

The St. Francis hotel in San Francisco is a high end hotel and very fancy. One of the coolest things about this hotel is its glass elevators. Now I must explain to you that this is not something you can just go and pay to do, these elevators are opened only by people who are staying at the hotel because you must use your card key to get into the hotel. So this is what you have to do. 1. wait outside the elevator for someone who has a key to get you into the elevator. 2. make sure they are going to a level higher than 25 in order to get a good view of Union Square and San Francisco in general. 3. Do not get out of the elevator because then you will have to wait for someone to get you back in. 4. Enjoy and act natural. 

This was my view from the 30th floor at night. 

Lombard Street is also a must seem, as it is one of the worlds windiest roads and it is right in the middle of the city. If you take the famous San Francisco cable car up and down the steep streets of San Francisco you will get a great view of Lombard street looking down from the top. 

These are only a few of the many places that San Francisco has to offer but given only a day in San Francisco this would be my to do list that  I would suggest to you. Not only will you get to see the tourist attractions of San Francisco you will also get a scenic look at the city that many people may not get to experience. I hope you enjoyed this small tour of San Francisco and until next time...

Keep on Traveling

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral is one of the most incredible pieces of architecture in the world! Built by Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul's Cathedral was completed in 1711 on Christmas day. The highest point of the cathedral, the dome, stands at 365 feet. The dome on St. Paul's is one of the largest domes in the world. 

St. Paul's Cathedral is truly a magnificent building once you realize all the things that this building has gone through during its life time. The Cathedral lived through the "Blitz" which were bombings in the second world war! The cathedral received  numerous bomb blasts in which one bomb was actually able to enter the cathedral and blow a hole in the ground above the crypt below. If this wasn't enough for the cathedral it also outlasted London's second Great fire. During the war St. Pauls was looked upon as a place of hope! If the cathedral still stood tall then God is looking over us all. The cathedral was vital for British morale and helped the British get through the dark days. 

The view of the Cathedral is absolutly breath taking. Standing up close and personal to this beautiful building is truly a life long memory. Inside the cathedral people are not allowed to take pictures of any kind, so sadly this is as far as I get to show you. 

Something very interesting about this building is that it is not built on concrete or stone. The Cathedral is built all on clay. When Sir Christopher Wren started this massive project he had a choice between sand or clay to build the foundation with. As many people think sand is not a good foundation because it is loose and when you pick it up it goes through your fingers. Clay was obviously the better choice because it could be compacted.... Well Sir Wren was wrong in his decision because when the foundation was built Sir wren began to start seeing cracks in the lower parts of the walls. This was caused because when a lot of weight is applied to clay the clay starts to sink and so a result of this was the Cathedral foundation began to sink into the ground. Sand was the better choice because when pressure is applied to sand the sand holds firm. Who knew. 

Now I know I said that people are not allowed to take pictures inside the cathedral, but I can be a bad boy sometimes and break a couple rules here and there. Lucky for you now you get to see a little bit of beauty that St. Paul's has to offer. This building was so inspirational and emotional everywhere you look. I know personally that I could really feel the Lord's presence and the vastness of the inside make me feel so small. This is by far one of the top places to go if you want to reflect one on one with the Lord. 

This dome is something else let me tell you! Looking up at this work of art is mind boggling and made me pretty dizzy. Now lets talk masterpiece. Yes the art on the dome is beautiful and thinking of the person with the job of painting this is really scary if you think of it. The real masterpiece is what you do not see. Inside looking up at the dome it looks as if you are looking at the top of the dome that you can see from the outside, but really you are looking at the bottom of dome in which Sir Wren creatively made to hide what was above this art. The inner dome is hiding a brick cone that holds the top of the dome from crashing down into the floor. The secrets of the Cathedral are many with false walls, illusions, and stair cases inside the walls. Talk about mysterious. 

What you are seeing right now is the two towers at the main entrance of St. Paul's from 528 stairs high or 278 feet up in the air. The views are to die for from the top of St. Pauls.

 The Views of London from the top of St. Pauls

Because who can resist a selfie on top of St. Paul's Cathedral? Ignore my friend in the background..

Well this concludes our segment on the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England. I hope it was enjoyable, historical, and entertaining. 

Untill next time, Keep on Travelin

PARIS

Paris! What a beautiful city! This place is filled with love, passion, fashion, history, honey mooners, and plenty of sights to see. Thinking of Paris most people think of the Eiffel Tower and love, but there is much more to Paris that meets the eye, so lets go explore!

So in order for us to start this journey through Paris we first must take the Chunnel!

The Chunnel is a really cool experience because you get to see all different people of London and hopefully your a people person because you WILL be up close to a stranger

 This is a cool boat tour down the Seine river you can take while in London. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. On this tour you will get to see the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the outside of the Louvre, where Napoleons tomb is located, and the beautiful bridges that Paris has to offer.

 The Notre Dame Cathedral is a spectacular sight to see! You may recognize it from the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. For the record I am pretty sure I spotted him on one of the towers... Anyways this is another beautiful gothic church that was built hundreds of years ago. Inside you can take all the pictures you want and sit in the pews if you wish to pay your respects to the creator above. For an extra fee you can also climb to the top of the tower and see the hunchback.

The Louvre is one of if not the biggest museums in the world. I spent hours running through this building and still didn't get to see the entire thing. This is where the famous Mona Lisa is kept on display as well.

The Arc de Triomphe is a memorial for the ones lost in war. Here you can find the tomb of the unknown soldier. This giant memorial is surrounded by the largest roundabout in the world! This round about has 12 lanes all going into the same roundabout with no line dividers. Talk about crazy

This is what the Arc de Triomphe has a view of all day everyday from the top! This is the famous Champe de Elysees. This is where all the ladies dreams come true walking down this road with their arms full of fancy bags from all the big name stores. Talk about fashion.

This is a newer Catholic Church in Paris sitting on one of the only hills in Paris.

Right next to the Catholic church is the Artist square or Montmarte. Here you can find good eats while also getting your portrait painted by only the best that Paris has to offer.

 Paris has something for everyone. Whether you are an artist, historian, fashionista, or a die hard romantic Paris is the place for you.

Till next time, keep on travelin.