The Basketball Family - or not?

My brother became a basketball coach 1972. Ever since then I have heard about basketball at home. When my brother's son was 7 years he was introduced to the sport and immediately liked it. Now basketball was even more present in our family gatherings. I think that I, just because of this exposure to the sport, never got really interested in it.

Last time when the three of us went to visit our sister/aunt in California, it was outside the basket ball season. So already before we decided when to go on this trip, it was decided that it should be within the NBA season.  An NBA game was a must. I wasn't really up for it, but decided to tag along anyway.

On Monday night - it was the night with an capital B for basketball. It was time to see the game between Golden State Warriors - Minnesota Timberwolves.

We headed off to the game more than a couple of hours before the game started. The idea was to be there early, so we could experience the pre-party. I don't know if there was that much of a party, but it was nice to be there before the big crowd.

On the way to the game - we took the train. :-)

Excited faces - waiting for the game to start

The sugar on the cake of the evening was that it was a FANS NIGHT - some kind of celebration of the Warriors fans. This meant that T-shirts were handed out to everyone, there were lots of Fan-lotteries, Fan-activities, video from the players to the fans and other stuff.

Fan night with special fan t-shirts

During the game I mostly looked at the cute guys, followed the show (and listen to the screaming fans) and tried to follow the statistics of the game. (Numbers usually interest me), but I wasn't really impressed by the game. I thought it was just me, not understanding the game. But after the game I was surprised to hear that both my brother and nephew felt that the game was boring and not played with a full heart. The players seemed to have done exactly what was asked of them, but there was no enthusiasm in it. In the end - it was still fun to have seen an NBA-game. At least we now know what it is all about.

As always - there is a lot of show added to a sports event in USA

The final shot by the cutest guy and the best player - Curry.

A short hike

On our third day in California we had to cancel our plans to go to Napa Valley today (due to my brothers bad back). Instead we decided to go to a vista point and a park close by. Monica's friend Jerry who was familiar with the places came along for the ride and to guide us.

First stop was Windy Hill - a place where you on a clear day can see both Silicon Valley and the shore line. It was a short hike there, only 2 km back and forth. But unfortunately we didn't have a totally clear view. We saw Silicon Valley, but the shore was hidden behind a big cloud. 

I would have loved to run on these amazing trails looking down on Silicon Valley, but my new, equally amazing hiking boots are not really made for running. :-)

Somewhere under or behind that cloud you will find the Pacific Ocean.

The second stop was the Castle Rock Park. A park with many trails, but since the present company was not in the best shape and my nephew was tired and wanted to stay in the car for a sleep, we ended up taking a very short hike, only about 1,5 km. :-) (Not a lot for a girl that did 29 km hikes with a back pack on the last trip.) But it was just nice to get out in the forrest. The main attraction in the park was a collection of strange looking rocks. The rocks are great for climbers that want to try out different grades of climbing. We hang around for a while to check them out. I think it was the first time ever I have seen climbers in the forrest carrying mattresses. 

The cliffs were excellent for the the climbers to practice on, but they were also quite funny to look at. For example the giant nostrils made me giggle.

The land of Shopping

The second day in California was a light variant of the first day. I just went to ONE store, instead of one huge mall. But what a store. It is my favorite store in USA - REI. It carries outdoor - and sport clothes.

Since last summer I haven't bought any hiking clothes or equipment even though I needed quite a lot. I waited for the California trip. Especially I needed boots. Hiking boots it's a sensitive thing. They have to be bought with a great deal of care, since you know that you will have a long relationship with them. My first pair I had for 7 years and my second pair I have had 8 years. 

So it was with great expectations I entered the shop which I planned to spend a couple of hours in.

First I got slightly disappointed! I was off season, so there wasn't a lot to choose from and there were not much left in the "Clearance" either. But I found a nice young guy that could help me to find at least the basics that I needed: Hiking pants with zippers (which they have stopped making for some strange reason), wool T-shirt, Fleece and hiking underwear.

And then we stepped into the boots department. I think I tried hiking boots for more than one hour. And finally I found my pair in the correct size (which was a struggle to find since the translation from European to American sizes were different from one pair to another). A pair of Assolo, light weight Gore-tex , with good Vibram soles (and only a hiker understands the last sentence). I was happy!!! The young boy that helped me was also happy - I was his best customer that day. And I managed to finish almost my whole shopping list in 2 days. Only a few minor thing and pair of jogging shoes left. Pretty awesome to feel on top of the shopping schedule. 

We have one BIG issue on the trip. My brother hurt his back a few weeks back. It was getting better before the trip. But the long flight here and the first long day of shopping completely destroyed it. So now we mostly see him laying down and he has a hard time to move and can't sit in the car. This meant that the planned trip to Napa Valley today had to be moved until Wednesday. Hopefully he will feel better then.

My brother's normal position at the moment

Another trip has started - CALIFORNIA 2014

Here we go again. :-) Another trip. And this time to my beloved California. I don’t really know how many times I have been here, but at least 10. For more than a decade I went here at least once every second year, sometimes every year. These California trips didn’t stop until I realized that if I spent all my money and vacation on California I didn't have any money and vacation left to see the rest of the world. So now I don’t come here as often. Last time I was here was 2011. :-)

The main reason that I come here so often is that my sister lives here since 1982. The last three times (including this one) I have travelled with my brother. The last two times my nephew has also joined. So nowadays this is the family vacation place.

When we, in february, decided to go here, I immediately also decided to fly with Lufthansa and use my old points to get an update to business class. On these long-haul trips it is such a relief to travel business. I queued for the tickets at least 2 months, but I finally managed to get the tickets.

With the information above you have the basic for my trip: family vacation with comfortable traveling. Not at all the kind of vacations I usually have, I would almost state it is the opposite. Even the focus on this vacation is totally different - shopping, wine tasting and good food. Of course I try to exercise, but nothing compared to my activity trips where everything is about moving, in one way or the other.

The trip has started off quite calm. A nice relaxed flight Stockholm - San Fransisco without any issues. I didn’t ran into any strange people, didn’t experience anything unusual. The only thing that was somewhat hard was that I was awake for more than 28 hours in a row, since I had an early morning flight. I woke up at 2 PM Swedish time and went to bed at 9 AM CA time (9 hours time difference). My normal nap on the flight became very short since I was traveling during the day and that makes it much harder to sleep. Ah well - not really a problem, is it?!

Since I'm here with my nephew that LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to shop we spent the whole first day shopping. We went to Milpitas where they have huge mall with only Outlets. We spent a good 4 hours there and came back with many, many bags. I bought 5 tops, a dress, 2 pairs of jeans, a jacket and a skirt. My nephew had many more bags and even my brother and sister managed to get a few things. It was really cheap. A couple of times I went to the cashier and was expecting to pay one price and ended up paying half of what I thought, since there was an additional discount. Nice surprise you could say.

Today we have lazy day catching up the jetlag. But I will go to favorite store to look for hiking clothes. No - I didn't skip hiking completely from this trip. Tomorrow we are off to Napa Valley.

Yesterdays result!

Chile 2014 summary including a slideshow

I'm home again. Sitting in my sofa and feeling great! It was a wonderful vacation. It was everything I expected and more.

My highlights were

• My birthday. I loved everything about that day. It was fantastic weather, a wonderful hike, a good dinner, sweet cake and great company.
• The 29 km hike with the AMAZING views and the race in the end. The 2 beers after the hike tasted like heaven
• The horse back riding. It was just lovely
• To taste wine is always on my list. I could have tasted some more though….
• To spend time with Maria. She is one of my best friends and to have all this time to talk about everything was the best.
• Maria's and mine fish&seafood dinner. It tasted FANTASTIC

I learned some things about Chile:

• That Patagonia is cold was expected, but that the beach is cold was a surprise. Santiago was hot though.
• Chileans are very friendly and nice. Every time I thought someone was about to fool or trick me, they were actually just nice and friendly. This was a very pleasant surprise.
• The service, at least in Maitencillo, was a bit different. I think it might be because they were not used to foreigners there. Hardly anyone spoke any English (which was not the case on all other places I visited)) and they were not really keen to help. At times it felt like we were disturbing them when we asked for help or assistance.
• The food varied a LOT. I honestly don't understand how a beach village like Maitencillo couldn't serve a great fish or seafood dinner. The only great dinner we had in Maitencillo was the one Maria made.

I have to say that South America continues to be one of my favorite parts of the world. On the other hand - I don't really have any parts that I don't like.

So as a summary - I can recommend Patagonia and Santiago. Maitencillo requires a friend like Maria - a close friend that speaks fluent Spanish and can cook. I don't think that too many people are as fortunate as I am. :-)

Until my next trip - Take care everyone! Check out the slide show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaW85ZbpjEc&feature=youtu.be

Never give up the search for a great meal

When you are traveling one of the most exciting things is the food culture of the country you are visiting. I have been to countries where I found the food a bit boring (like Cuba - not a lot of spices there) and others that gave me a pleasant surprise (like Malaysia with their mixed food cultures). My impression of Chile started off quite good. The food in Eco Camp was great and we enjoyed great 3 course dinners every day. My expectations of the food in Maitencillo was therefor quite high. As a beach village I was expecting great seafood and fish dishes. 

The cabin that my friend and I rented was located next to one of the most popular restaurants in the village, so that was the first place we tried out. The food was OK, not great, but not bad either. Then we tried the restaurant that was famous for the best ceviche in town (a South American dish that is slightly different made in each country). I couldn't eat more than a third of it. I just didn't like it. We took in second dish and I could eat it, but didn't really enjoy it. At this point we got bit worried. Was there any great food in the village?

We checked the internet and found that besides of "our" restaurant (that belonged to our cabin) there was another one that was highly recommended. We decided to go there for dinner. This time we chose a dish from their "Recommended" page - their Frutti de Mare. Again - we were very disappointed. It was hardly eatable. This was not the way to enjoy the wonders from the sea just next to us.

The next morning we decided to check out the local fish market. We had decided to cook our own dinner. We walked around and then approached the fishermen that we felt gave us the best first impression. My friend Maria, who speaks fluent Spanish, did the talking. Even if I didn't understand that much of the discussion I got the feeling that the fisherman took an immediate liking in Maria. He was showing her everything and was eating everything, raw, in front of us just to proof how fresh and good it was. Maria even tried some herself. We ended up buying mussels, sole, scallops and much more. Suddenly we had spent more money on the fish market than we would  done in an restaurant. But the plastic bag with fish and seafood that we carried with us was very heavy. Then we spent the next hour buying all other things that was needed to create a fantastic dinner. In the end the whole food shopping tour took us more than 2 hours.

Maria checking out the fish market

Big mussels

Our Sole files' in preparation

In the late afternoon I went for a jog and Maria started to prepare dinner (yeah - she spoiled me.) At dinner time we then enjoyed mussels as entree and sole with all scallops, shrimps and other seafood for main course. We finished it off with fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries together with ice cream. And BOY what a great dinner it was. Everything tasted like something from heaven. In the end I could hardly move, since I had eaten too much. But we still hadn't finished it all. We had a great lunch the next days and could even offer the neighborhood cats a great feast.

Birthday Celebration Dinner

Dessert 

Strange Maitencillo

Maitencillo is a funny place. Or should I say strange. 

First of all it is beach place, but it is cold. You look out the window and think it will be 25-30 degrees C outside and then you go out and freeze.During the night the temperature comes down to 14-15 degrees C. During the day it is only around 22-23 degrees C. In the mornings I actually use a fleece.  But it is a very nice temperature for running.

Second of all they have turned the day around, even though they have daylight as the Swedish summer. For example - according to the hotel information breakfast is served 8.30-11.00. But when I, the first morning, came to breakfast at 8.30 they looked at me like it was 5.30 in the morning. They hadn't put the tables in order or even started to make breakfast. So I had to come back 30 minutes later and then they actually came and told me that breakfast was ready. I was the only one who wanted breakfast that early. None of the market places, restaurants or coffee places open before 12 and most of them open around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The beaches are empty until 3 in the afternoon, but they are full with people at 7 in the evening. Most people seem to eat lunch around 3 in the afternoon and everyone goes out for dinner around 10 in the evening. It is very confusing.

In principle the whole city is organized so that you should sleep long in the morning. It is too cold before 12 and nothing is open. But as hardworking women Maria and I wake up at 9 every morning. We need to find a way to change our rhythm so it is in sync with the rest of the city.

Evening light in Maitencillo