Merry Xmas

And Christmas is a time of gifing. So here is a .gif of our Christmas tree :)

Christmas in San Francisco

December arrives and the city fills with the holiday spirit: christmas ornaments, christmas trees, christmas songs, and lets not forget the ice skating rinks.

Embarcadero's ice rink, momentarily without screaming children 

Fisherman's Wharf

A lovely decorated cable car

Union Square

And another christmas tree. Because there's no such thing as excessive reminders that you need to get into the holiday spirit and buy some more unnecessary presents at the mall across the street. Yes, you know you haven't finished all your christmas shopping...

The Vine...

And its fabulous Bacon Bloody Mary
(because in the US adding bacon to random edible things isn't weird at all)

And with so many computer nerds in their twenties and thirties at the table you would expect that someone would know the answer to this Totally 80's Trivial Pursuit WC question...

In Niles, just in case you're wondering

Winter Time

You know winter is coming when suddenly you have two cats in your bed

 and one of them is actually sitting on your laptop...

San Simeon

Piedras Blancas

The lazy elephant seals sunbathing on the beach.

*sigh* life is sooo hard (scratch, scratch...)

Hearst Castle

William Hearst, eccentric multi-millionaire and newspaper magnate, built a ranch on top of a mountain. So big that you need a bus to take you from the parking lot to the so called castle: the Big House, three "small" mediterranean revival style guest houses, an extensive art collection, tennis courts, swimming pools, gardens, a private zoo, terraces...

it even has its very own Spanish cathedral...

...and a private movie theatre.

Neptune pool

Pinnacles

A hike along the High Peaks trail through spires of volcanic rock and talus caves. We had actually planned for an easy 3.5 mile hike but we may have made a slight miscalculation so here is what we got instead:

       Condor Gulch to High Peaks Loop
       5.3 miles round trip, 3 to 5 hours
       Elevation: 1,300 feet
       Strenuous

      Walk through the heart of the Pinnacles rock formations, 
      particularly along the Steep and Narrow section of the High Peaks trail. 
      Add the Rim and Moses Spring trails to extend the loop to 6.1 miles.

The beginning of our ascent

The High Peaks

And there's a diference between hardcore and amateur climbers.
While the former hang to ropes the latters hang to railings...

Bear Gulch Cave

Moses Spring Trail

Wasn't that bad... Guess next time I'll have to try this one.