Blog
Popular tennis tournament is underway at Indian Wells
| 11 March 2010
If the sunshine and the warm weather were not good enough reasons to visit Southern California, a good sporting event such as Indian Wells is certainly an incentive to go. The Indian Wells WTA is on this week and is looking very promising with former champion Justine Henin still in the race for the title, but it is the battle in men tennis that is hot at the moment. With so much talent at the top the battle for the number 1 spot is open for the takings.Federer is the favourite -as ever - to win the title, but he should watch out for talented Novak Djokovich, Andy Murrey's skill on hard courts and Davydenko's top form, which has never abandoned him in the last couple of months. Indian Wells will mark the return of Rafael Nadal after yet more time out due to injury so we'll be in for high quality tennis from this true desert oasis situated at the bottom of the Santa Rosa Mountains.
Trekking holidays in Wine Country
| 22 February 2010
For someone who loves food, wine and active holidays the choice offered by Wine Country Trekking is a dream come true. Five days of walking in the beautiful sceneries of Napa and Sonoma wine country between luxurious inns with a lot of wine tasting and good food in between. And with all that walking, there will be no feeling secretly guilty about savouring the delicious food this part of the Country has to offer. A trekking and foodie holiday is the perfect combination, eat and drink and then walk it off. There is no better combination. The treks on offer are operated in the San Francisco Bay Area, which covers the most amazing sceneries. What's good about the Wine Country Treks is that they are self-guided so you won't be trekking in large groups but with your friend and family using the detailed guides included in the holiday. Accommodation, breakfast, lunch and wine tastings are all included, whilst dinner has been purposely left out to give people the freedom to pick their own favourite restaurants.
Baby Panda makes its debut at San Diego's Zoo
| 10 February 2010
The 5 month old baby Panda Yun Zi has made his debut at San Diego Zoo back in January. He's the cutest thing still practicing his climbing technique and movement. It is possible to see the latest addition to the panda's family at San Diego zoo from 9am to noon.
Dogs surfing in San Diego
| 29 January 2010
After little dogs in handbags, it's the turn of dogs on surfing boards. This is the new big thing and San Diego is just the place for it. The spectacle of dogs riding the big waves is a phenomenon that is taking the world by storm as dog surfing is getting huge in San Diego and around the world. If you don't believe it click play on the video and watch for yourself.
San Diego Restaurant Week
| 28 January 2010
If you are visiting San Diego this week, don't miss out the opportunity to try some of the restaurants taking part in the San Diego Restaurant Week, which is on until 29th of January. Choose from over 180 restaurants offering a 3-course meal at $20, $30 or $40 depending on the venue. A full list of restaurants is available here.
Foodies, a Southern Californian Blog have been given a sneak peek to sample one of the restaurants taking part and were very impressed with Island Prime, on Harbor Island with stunning views over Downtown San Diego. Judging by the look of those pictures and the description of it I think it would be difficult not to be impressed.
Discover San Francisco at Bay level with City Kayak tours
| 21 January 2010
Sporty tourists will cherish the opportunity to discover San Francisco from the water taking one of the trips offered by City Kayak. They offer kayaking trips suitable for beginners, intermediate or full adventure excursions to Alcatraz Island and Golden Gate Bridge for the experienced kayakers. Trips from South Beach Island to Downtown San Francisco, Mission Creek and McCovey Cove are ideal for beginners and families as the water conditions are mostly calm and easy to handle. Typically double recreational touring kayaks are used for speed and stability; however single sea touring kayaks are available for strong paddlers.
For people with some kayaking experience, amazing trips at sunset, full moon excursions and fireworks kayak trips are available.
For further information on seeing San Francisco from bay level click here.
Palos Verdes Peninsula
| 13 January 2010
Palos Verdes is an oasis of greenery in a Los Angeles region dominated by concrete and asphalt; it features horse trails, ocean cliffs, tide pools, Eucalyptus trees, and nature walks with stunning ocean views. Although there are few formal bike trails, it is generally easy to bicycle in this area so much so that it’s considered a cyclist heaven with no zoned-out pedestrian as on the beach or speeding drivers.
Palos Verdes beautiful drives, North, West, East and South surround the peninsula and are a good start to visiting this scenic area if you are not the hiking type, but whichever way you visit keep your camera close as you’ll want to capture it all.
Christmas season at Legoland
| 10 December 2009
Christmas trees are up everywhere across the Country and Legoland in is not behind in the race to the most spectacular trees around. A 30 foot tall LEGO tree built with more than 245000 DUPLO bricks stands high in the park and every night until the 24th of December a selected guest switches on the lights. Another impressive Christmas sculpture is the life size Santa and Reindeer made of LEGO bricks. So if you are heading to San Diego with kids don’t miss out on the Holiday celebrations at Legoland where from the 26th of December through to the 31st visitors will be entertained by fireworks at closing time.
Spotting the stars on Rodeo Drive
| 17 November 2009
All LA visitors at one point or another would make their way to Rodeo Drive to window shop in the world’s most famous and expensive street. Personally I find window shopping where I cannot afford to buy anything a form of torture or even worse a self inflicted punishment. Torture or not the curiosity of visiting the place where the rich and famous shop is just too great as Rodeo Drive is one of the attractions most visited by tourists in Los Angeles. If then you throw in the possibility to spot the stars while they are chilling and spending thousands of dollars on a single outfit you can consider yourself lucky!
Wine, food and music at one of San Diego's best hidden venues
| 03 November 2009
Syrah wine bar is one of the top spots that have made it to the Best of San Diego 2009 edition by San Diego Magazine. A hip underground bar decorated in Alice in Wonderland style with a unique mix of old and new which makes it super trendy with the San Diego’s downtown crowd. The door to the club is concealed by clover and people inside can see the puzzled looks on new comers looking for the entrance through the security cameras. A spectacle, apparently, the usual find very entertaining. This trendy bar as an interesting wine list and a selection of tasty food bits served on wooden boards. Every Saturday between 8 and 9pm, the house sommelier hosts a wine tasting session at the candle lit dining table where each glass of wine is matched to a specific canapé from the charcuterie section.