Visit to California

I was asked to prepare one more plan for visiting States. This time my friend needed plan for visiting California in 2 weeks - of course it's not possible, but I was trying to do my best. I divided places to few parts and enlisted the most interesting things (obviously it's my choice, so you don't have to agree with me :)

First, LA

This is rather boring and overcrowded city, you can use it as an arrival/departure point, because flight tickets from Europe to LAX are cheap (about 1000 USD for return ticket if you're lucky). Generally I do not recommend visiting LA, but if you insist, my personal recommendation is to see at least following places:
- Hollywood Boulevard - and its Walk of Fame
- Crystal Cathedral

- Beverly Hills - just wander a little around and see how boring it is
- Universal Studios
- Santa Monica beach - I don't know why, but I like this stinking place

Of course there's a lot more, but you'll spend most of your time in the traffic jams, so not much time will be left for real sightseeing tours - I recommend going somewhere else and see better things. But choice is yours!
And if you want to spend very romantic night near LA, I definitely recommend wonderful hotel in St. Paula - Glen Tavern Inn. It's really perfect. And don't forget to ask for a room with jacuzzi!
Second, San Francisco & Bay Area

It's much more interesting than LA and I suggest you to spend most of your time here. I had known one better city once, but it hasn't atmosphere anymore (I mean New Orleans), so SF became my favorite. Below is the list of my beloved places in the city and around:
- Golden Gate - do not confuse it with Bay Bridge!

- Bay Bridge - this bridge is also nice and leads to Trasure Island with a great view of the city (especially in the evening or early night)
- Alcatraz Island - I've never been there, but heard that people like this prison! Strange...
- Russian Hill/Lombard Street - famous crooked street of San Francisco. Must see place!
- Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf - this place has the atmosphere - just walk around, but watch for pickpockets!
- Chinatown - pure Honk Kong in the middle of San Francisco! Really interesting place and good restaurants if you like chineese food
- La Honda Rd (84) - beautiful road going from seaside to Mountain View (it connects 1 with 101), wonderful views of redwoods! You must drive this road and I guarantee you'll remember it forever!
- University of California, Berkeley - nice place with a lot of beautiful chicas and great atmosphere of student's village - definitely worth seeing!
- Standford University - the cradle of Sun Microsystems Inc.
- Lake Tahoe - selfexplanatory... Once I dreamed of buying house near the water, but it was too expensive back then. Now everything changed, so maybe I'll get back to this idea.
- Napa Valley - very picturesque place and nice for wine tasting. Recommended and very romantic!
- For shopping activities I recommend Gilroy (outlet center) and Milpitas Great Mall of America

Of course there's a lot more to see in Bay Area/Silicon Valley and I also suggest to take a 1 from San Francisco to Half Bay Moon (good access to the ocean and beach) and 101 then 880 around the Bay itself. Doing this loop will allow you to see most of the Silicon Valley Companies. If you're looking for good/cheap/well located hotel, you can try Holiday Inn San Jose (once it was Hyatt and it was even cheaper...).

Third, Las Vegas Area

My friend told me, that he dreams of a small detour to Las Vegas during their trip over California. Of course it's possible to go there for one or two days, but it's definitely too little to fully appreciate this city. Usually people who visits LV for one day are later saying that it's plastic and boring city and this is not true. You must spend at least a week there and then express your opinion. In 99% of cases it'll be opposite :)
My list of places that you must see being in LV:
- Fountain in front of Bellagio Hotel - I can spend hours staying and watching - for me it's like the eight wonder of the world!
- The Venetian - when you see it from the outside, you can think you're in Venice, but it's just a hotel in LV. But if you get inside, you'll be shocked! There's real Venice under the roof - amazing! - Treasure Island - when I was a child, I dreamed of becoming a pirate - here you can realize your dreams of childhood and see pirates with your own eyes - check the schedule of the shows and reserve best seats ahead!
- Hotel Paris - recently I was staying in this hotel occupying a room with a view to the Bellagio Fountain - unforgettable experience! And do not forget to go to the Eiffel Tower and see fountain from above!
- Calico Ghost Town - you can visit it on your way from LA to LV or on the way back. It's place where time stood still... very atmospheric place.
- Route 66 and other ghost towns - in California you can still find old parts of famous Route 66 and usually you can also find old buildings or even abandoned towns - you can find list of them here.

Again, I can tell you much more about the area, but don't want to bore you, so listed only "must see" places (again in my personal opinion). One more thing I can tell about Las Vegas is the hotel recommendation - you can sleep in one of the famous hotels across The Strip (Bellagio or Trasure Island are my dreams!) or if you want something more remote with very comfortable bed and at affordable price, try Emerald Suites.

Fourth, National Parks and nature of California

Yosemite NP was the first park of USA I've visited in my life and it left permanent trace in my life. I've fallen head over heels in love to California and National Parks of America! But California offers much more than Yosemite - just see the list below - this is very short and covers only basic recommendations for people that are short of time.
- Yosemite National Park (and inside the park don't forget to see attractions like sequoias in Mariposa Groove, view from Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley itself, all of the Falls, etc. The only good lodge is located in Wawona, but it can be a bit expensive, so it's better to look outside of the park)


- Death Valley National Park (in this wonderful NP you should definitely visit Zabriskie Point, Badwater, Furnance Creek, Artists Drive and more if you have time). If you plan to spend night near this park, I recommend looking for a cheap motel in Beatty, NV or Baker, CA.

- Sequoya & Kings Canyon NP (if I have only a day I'd focus on the plan presented here)
- Monterey Bay - beautiful place with wonderful aquarium
- Pacific Groove- my favourite village at the ocean side. Wonderful views!
- Morro Bay - nice place on the way from LA to SF if you take 1. You can see famous Morro Bay Rock and have a good lunch here. It's just an option for stopping by, not a must see attraction.

Please treat this short summary above as a starting point for planning your trip in details. From the other side if you've only two weeks, you'll not be able to see all mentioned attractions, so you must take difficult decisions.

Proposed map of the trip below:

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All pictures in this blog entry comes from my archive (usually scans of analog photos or pics taken with poor digital point-and-shot cameras - so I'm very sorry for the quality).


Good Luck Marek!

Phototrip Memories #1

Over two months have passed since we got back from famous Phototrip 2008. And I still can't forgot how nice time it was! I watch my pictures every few days and still can't finish processing them and presenting to you, but just to make you happy while waiting, I'd like to show you some of my best memories from the trip. That's why below you'll find some funny pictures (at least for me they're funny :)

First, our Humi at Car wash in Flagstaff, AZ - view from inside of course. Colored sprays were something new for me:


And another pictures showing how small is a trunk in H3 (or how much luggage we had!):

Another picture is our tent in Havasupai campground - just wanted to show you how we managed to sleep there :)

And one interesting thing is when you can see polish game on the shelf in states! It's really sight worth seeing, especially when you know the guy who started all the CD Project company back in 1994 and what he reached in few years....Congratulations Marcin!!!

The last funny picture was taken when we were trying to put all our shopping into suitcases on the last day in small hotel in Phoenix, AZ. Of course it was impossible to put all the stuff altogether with their original boxes, so we had to unpack them all and as you know garbage cans in hotels are always too small, so we had to put all the boxes next to the can building something similar to the tower... but just see it yourself:

All of the above pictures were taken by my friend with Ixus camera (box above :), but he allowed me to share them :)

What a Year!

Year 2008 is one of the best in my life as far as trips are concerned. Of course it costs money, but as I can see all people around go here and there, because dollar is so cheap, euro is also cheap and even british pound is very cheap! I can afford to travel more and I'm just doing it - you never now if next year will be as good as current one.
And that's why we decided to spend one more weekend in Spain this year! We plan to visit Alicante and vicinity on the last weekend of holidays. And this time it's not gonna be just a pleasure trip - we would like to look around and maybe find some nice apartment for sale. The plan is to buy something and start letting it out just to get money. So I can call it a business trip! We'll see what's actually possible and what's only the urban legend about real estate market in Costa Blanca.
Of course I'll take all the photo gear with me and count on possibility to take any good pictures. So please be patient and you'll find here something in first days of September'08. But in August I'll for sure publish something from my rapidly coming trip to Tuscany and Bavaria! What a great year! I'm happy to have so many photo opportunities!
And by the way, I decided to show you two more interesting pictures from last trip to Vienna. Just guess what's it - I was surprised seeing these monsters... it's more like in Romania, not Austria.

Another trip to US? To go or not to go - this is a question!

Me and my wife had an opportunity to go to the States in November, but because of different time limitations we decided to quit. This trip was planned with our friends, so I wanted to help them and prepared short plan for a week trip over the Utah/Arizona based on start/end point in Las Vegas. I think other people can also use this plan and that's why I'm publishing it below. It has two options:

Option I
Day 1 - Arrival to Las Vegas, Night in hotel in Las Vegas
Day 2 - In the morning head to Grand Canyon South Rim visiting Hoover Dam and SkyWalk on your way. I recommend sleeping in Grand Canyon Caverns Inn just to have good starting point for Day 3.
Day 3 - Use Indian Rd to get to Hilltop Parking, then take helicopter and in 10 minutes land in Supai Village. Later take 2 miles walk to famous Navajo Falls and Havasu Falls and if still have time and energy, you can also make another mile to Mooney Falls. It's not very hard trail, but watching Navajo requires to get through the water, so water shoes are recommended. After day full of exotic views get to the village and take the flight back to Hilltop Parking. Get back to Grand Canyon Caverns Inn for a night. This excursion requires to reserve flight ahead. You can do it only by calling Havasupai Office directly - all the details you'll find on their webpage.
Day 4 - On that thay you'll finally reach Grand Canyon South Rim. I recommend to take the shuttle to visit the whole west side of the park and later your own car to go east visiting all the vista points on your way. Later head to Page for a night - I recommend Best Western at Lake Powell Blvd.
Day 5 - In the morning visit Lower Antelope Canyon and later Upper Antelope Canyon. If you want to have more time for taking pictures in Upper Canyon, definitely make a reservation through "Antelope Canyon Tours" - you'll have 1.5h time in the canyon. It's perfect to choose a trip at 11:30 or about it depending on the season. Tripod is recommended, because to take a good picture you need to have times about 30s. Later you should go to the vista point of Powell Dam and to Horseshoe Bend for sunset. It's good idea to spend another night in Page.
Day 6 - Go to Bryce Canyon NP through Kanab. Take the whole day to see this very interesting park and spend night in Ruby's Inn. They have cheaper and more expensive options, so you can easily find something for you.
Day 7 - Go to Zion NP. On your way to Zion you will pass Bisons on your left. There's good restaurant next to the Bisons and you can eat bisonburgers! In Zion NP I recommend to see Emerald Pools, Angels Landing (if you've enough time and energy), Temple of Shinava and Wheeping Rock - just a basic set. Later you can spend a night in Springdale or Hurricane.
Day 8 - Get back to Las Vegas.


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Option II
Day 1 - Arrival to Las Vegas, Night in hotel in Las Vegas
Day 2 - Go to Zion NP. In Zion NP I recommend to see Emerald Pools, Angels Landing (if you've enough time and energy), Temple of Shinava and Wheeping Rock - just a basic set. Later you can spend a night in Hatch on your way to Bryce Canyon NP.
Day 3 - Go to Bryce Canyon NP through Kanab. Take the whole day to see this very interesting park and spend night in Ruby's Inn. They have cheaper and more expensive options, so you can easily find something for you.
Day 4 - You'll spend this day driving to Moab. It will take less or more depending on the road chosen. Off season I recommend to take roundabout road. Spend a night in any hotel in Moab - you can have problem to find a vacant room during weekends, so be prepared. Prices are also different in different seasons. And I recommend eating in one of local breweries - they've good food and good beer.
Day 5 - You can visit Canyonlands NP and Arches NP - I assume you're time limited, so have to choose carefully. In Canyonlands NP you must see Green River Overlook and in Arches it's obligatory to see Delicate Arch (sunset time is perfect), Balanced Rock and Landscape Arch. If you've more time, I recommend Double'O Arch, but it requires some hiking. Spend another night in Moab.
Day 6 - Go south, visiting Monument Valley on your way to Page for a night - I recommend Best Western at Lake Powell Blvd.
Day 7 - In the morning visit Lower Antelope Canyon and later Upper Antelope Canyon. If you want to have more time for taking pictures in Upper Canyon, definitely make a reservation through "Antelope Canyon Tours" - you'll have 1.5h time in the canyon. It's perfect to choose a trip at 11:30 or about it depending on the season. Tripod is recommended, because to take a good picture you need to have times about 30s. Later you should go to the vista point of Powell Dam and to Horseshoe Bend for sunset. It's good idea to spend another night in Page.
Day 8 - Head to Las Vegas visiting Grand Canyon South Rim on your way. Just stick to points you can visit by your own car, because you'll have no time for shuttle. You should reach LV late evening.


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These two simple plans are based mostly on my own experience gathered during few recent trips to Southwest and they depend on season - in summer time you'll have more options, in autumn you've to stick to the plan and drive during evenings.
If you've another questions, do not hesitate to ask me.
Good luck!

Missing Prague pictures...

Asked for more? Here they're!

Just few more pictures from last weekend trip...

Flowers...
Lemurs...

Weekend in Vienna and Prague

So another weekend just passed very quickly. Fortunately it wasn't wasted time! I was in Vienna for Brocade Partner Night Event. Party itself was rather short, but luckily I spent the rest of my spare time on taking pictures of Vienna and later decided to get back to Poland through Prague to have additional opportunity for picture taking.
In Vienna I had time to visit famous Schonbrunn Schloss. And I must admit that it's the second thing I like in Vienna (first is Hundertwasser House), because generally this is rather boring city. They even don't know how to serve good coffee or apfelstrudel in the city center, so I don't know why people are willing to visit the city? But somehow there is a lot of tourists from all over the world that are trying to find something interesting. Good luck! I don't plan to visit the city center anymore, but I'll visit Schonbrunn for sure! It's great!
After few hours in the palace gardens (we had not enough time to see interiors) we headed to Prague and got there just for late dinner. I haven't been to Prage for last 3 or 4 years and in my opinion it changed completely. It's very expensive (much more than Vienna) and people are rude and are trying to cheat you everywhere. They see money everywhere - you've to pay even for going to the golden lane! What's even worse they want money for one ticket including all the Hradcany attractions! Few years ago, all of those was free and now it's about 400 Kcs what's too expensive for me and probably for many other people. This time Prague became loathsome to me and I don't plan to go there in next few years... there's so many more interesting cities in the world...
But I don't want to bore you with my whining - please just see few pictures:

1. Schloss Laudon


2. Ducks in the gardens of Schonbrunn Schloss


3. Schonbrunn Schloss itself


4. Another view of Schonbrunn Schloss

5. And another view of Schonbrunn Schloss


6. Animals in the gardens

7. And penguin


more pictures soon...