We reached the city around mid afternoon and that night we
relaxed in our hotel at San Mateo. I was up early the next morning, anxious to
go to the Fisherman’s wharf and take our Grayline tour to the Napa valley. When we reached downtown we had our first
glimpse of the heart of the city, my vivid imagination of the steep roads, the
vibrant colors and the different piers. The
Grayline tour was a full day tour starting at 9:15 am and ended around 6:30 pm.
The tour took us to three different Wineries – Jacuzzi, Cline and an Organic
winery. I never know there was an art to cherish the taste of a wine. A tip to
all Wine lovers – hold the wine glass by its stem not by the bowl. Your body
heat warms the wine when you hold the wine glass by the bowl and as you know wine
tastes best when it is chilled. Napa valley is very beautiful and has a very interesting
history about Wine production, how it first started there, how the wine plants
were imported from across Europe. I would definitely recommend the tour to
anyone who is interested in knowing the history about San Francisco and Napa Valley;
of course there is an added advantage that you do not have to drive after
tasting to much wine.
Frank Herbert said, “Without new experiences, something
inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken”. San Francisco has exactly this
to offer. Our next day was kicked off by taking another Grayline Trolley tour
of San Francisco. It is a 2 hour long tour which takes you through Chinatown,
close to the Crooked Lane, to the Victorian style house, stops at the Golden
gate. Golden Gate is majestic. It comes to life when you see it in front of
you. Our next activity was the Red and
White fleet cruise which took us to both the bridges and the Alcatraz Island. San Francisco has rich history and Alcatraz is
a part of it and a must see in your trip.
Day 4 of our trip we drove to Lake Tahoe from San Francisco.
This is another beautiful drive and Lake Tahoe is overwhelmingly beautiful.
Made me remember of Kashmir where between the hills we have a serene lake. Lake
Tahoe is picture perfect. It’s the best place to visit if you need to spend
time in nature away from the busy life of cities. This is what California
offers, in few miles you reach a beach in another few you reach the mountains,
in few miles you would have snow and the next sun blazing down. 
