Sausalito: My Not-So-Skiing Ski Week

As I talked about in my last post, I went on vacation in Sausalito for Ski Week. (Although, it probably isn't so much a ski week this year for everyone in Park City who stayed home; I was out in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt on Friday!) I just got back from Sausalito yesterday, and, I have to say, I really needed that break! Teachers have really been pilin' on the homework for the past few weeks, so a vacation was the perfect way to un-stress.

Sausalito on a map of the Bay Area.
Image Courtesy of: Google Maps

Part of the great un-stressing feeling this vacation had comes from the place we stayed. We did a house swap with my mom's friend from business school, and we got to stay in her adorable little house boat for the week. It's literally floating on the water, so you can just walk out back and go paddle boarding or swimming or whatever. It also had a hot tub that I spent pretty much the whole time in and a turtle named Gus that didn't really like me, but that I thought was cute anyways. 

A sunset behind some of the neighboring houseboats.

Another thing my family and I did on our vacation was go to San Francisco. Since Sausalito is literally right across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, it is pretty easy to get down there (although traffic can make things a little bit complicated). I love San Francisco. I have been to San Francisco a bunch of times, since I visit Palo Alto so frequently, but still, the city never gets old. 

One of the days we went to San Francisco this trip, we visited the Castro, which I really enjoyed. I had driven through the Castro before, but I had never really stopped to get a good look around or truly understood its significance until now. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the US, formed during the 60s and 70s when being gay was much less accepted by the rest of the nation than it is even now. This is a HUGE source of pride for the Castro; they have rainbow flags on all of the street lamps, their crosswalks are rainbow-striped, their sidewalks are lined with memorials to famous LGBT Americans, and they have like eight different buildings and parks named after Harvey Milk. 

Of course, no vacation is complete without some really good food. Since San Francisco is such an ethnically diverse city, you can find a ton of really good ethnic restaurants. While we were in Sausalito/San Francisco, my family and I had some amazing food, my favorite of which was probably Afghan food, which I had never tried before. We ate at a tiny restaurant in the Tenderloin called De Afghanan Kabob House, and I had this pumpkin dish called kado borani, which was very good. I have to say, I was kind of picturing Afghan food to be a lot less appetizing than it was, but it was delicious!

The Afghan pumpkin dish that I ate (but was too busy stuffing
my face with to remember to take a picture).
Image Courtesy of: De Afghanan Cuisine

Sausalito and San Francisco are two very unique and fascinating places full of amazing things to do. My trip this week to these two cities was very much needed, and I highly recommend a similar excursion to anyone who may be feeling the stress of school!

Vietnam: Absolutely Pho-bulous

Hey readers! How are all you guys? Is anyone going anywhere cool for President's Day break? I'm heading to Sausalito, and I'm super excited (and will probably do a post on this later)! Right now, however, I'm sitting in school, dreaming about pho, and I just had the brilliant idea to write this next post about the motherland of pho: Vietnam.

As you can probably tell from my pho fantasies, I LOVE pho. Way too much. So it is without question that I would eat pho like crazy in Vietnam. For those of you who don't know what pho is, shame on you; you need to eat at more sketchy-looking Asian restaurants. Pho is basically these really skinny rice noodles in broth with pretty much whatever you want in it to add flavor. This could be tofu, chicken, bean sprouts, jalapeños, vegetables, whatever!

Just looking at this picture makes me drool!
Image Courtesy of: Food Genius

In addition to eating myself into a pho coma, I also want to ride a motorcycle in Vietnam. Kind of random, but for some reason, every time I think of Vietnam, I think of myself riding a motorcycle in a really bad-ass leather jacket! I'm not sure where this idea came from (I think I maybe saw it in a movie or had a dream about it or something), but I think it would be amazing. You could do a cross-country motorcycle trip, going from town to town and pho place to pho place. The only problem is that the closest I've ever gotten to riding a motorcycle is riding my friend's dirt bike in her backyard... and I ended up crashing into her fence, so I might need to work on my motorcycling skills before I take my motorcycle trip in Vietnam.

This'll be me, only minus all the dead pigs, of course.
Image Courtesy of: Fun Is 2 Cool

Another thing I'd want to do in Vietnam is visit the Cu Chi tunnels in Ho Chi Minh. The Cu Chi tunnels are an über-elaborate system of underground tunnels that were used by the Vietnamese Communist soldiers during the Vietnamese war. Soldiers would use these tunnels to avoid air attacks, transport supplies, and house troops. Looking at pictures of these tunnels, it's amazing they were able to do as much with these tunnels as they did; they're super narrow. Without a doubt, I would want to visit these tunnels and learn more about their important role in Vietnamese history!

Some cute little lady in one of the Cu Chi tunnels.
Image Courtesy of: Viator

One final thing I would die to do in Vietnam is take a boat tour of the Mekong Delta, a bunch of rivers in the southern part of Vietnam. The Mekong Delta is home to a ton of lush green scenery and rare animals, mostly because the region is not super industrialized, so it would be neat to see all of the flora and fauna the rivers have to offer. Another thing I would want to do in the Mekong Delta is visit the floating markets, which are groups local vendors working out of little boats. They sell fruits, flowers, and vegetables, and some of them even serve as a sort of mobile cafe!

Cai Be floating market in the Mekong Delta.
Image Courtesy of: Vietnam Tours Blog

Las Islas Galápagos

For the past two weeks in two of my classes I have been learning about the Galapagos; in biology, we have been learning about Darwin's finches, and in Spanish, we've been learning about, well, Spanish... but specifically, Spanish and culture in the Galapagos. It's kind of weird how these two classes just happened to be teaching similar things at the same time (it's probably one of those "co-learning" B.S. things), but the more I learn about the Galapagos Islands, the more interesting it seems and the more I want to go visit.

The Galapagos on a map of the Americas.
They are kind of loners out there by themselves.
Image Courtesy of: World Atlas

The thing about the Galapagos we have been focusing the most on, in both Spanish and biology, is the animal life. Because it is so isolated from the "mainland" of South America, a lot of really weird animals have evolved here that can't be found anywhere else in the world. Of all these animals, I have to say I think marine iguanas are the weirdest. They're technically reptiles, and they live on land, but they get their food from the sea and can stay underwater for a really long time. They basically cliff-dive into the water and swim around using their tail (and they kind of look like Dwayne Johnson trying to do the worm). Then, when they get out of the water, they sneeze out all the water in their system. Marine iguanas are some weird dudes, and I'd definitely want to check them out if I ever go to the Galapagos.

I don't know why, but I think this video is hilarious.

I laughed so hard during the first two minutes, and nobody

in my class really understood why.

Video Courtesy of: YouTube

The Galapagos Islands aren't just home to marine iguanas; they are home to many other interesting animals, too, like dolphins, seals, fish, and turtles. Ever since I watched Nemo (best movie ever!), I have wanted to see ocean life in real life, and since the Galapagos have such diverse and unique marine life, this would be a great place to do this! As I talked about in my Costa Rica post, my experiences with scuba diving have been not-so-great, but I have snorkeled before without drowning, so I'd be willing to try that again. Think about how cool that would be to snorkel in the Galapagos: you'd be swimming in crystal-clear water, next to sea turtles, stingrays, rainbow fish, and sharks (although that shark part might freak a few people out).

Snorkeling with a sea turtle in the Galapagos.
Image Courtesy of: World Tag

Another thing I'd want to do in the Galapagos is hike. I'm usually not a big hiking person (probably because I always get left behind and lost in the woods), but if I visited the Galapagos, I'd want to take advantage of the opportunity to see one of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world. My #1 "Dream Hike in the Galapagos" is a hike up a volcano. Because the Galapagos were formed by volcanoes, they have a ton of volcanoes, many of which are still active. I've never seen a volcano in real life, but the ones I've seen in movies have been really cool-looking, so if I ever go to the Galapagos, I'll be sure to check out a volcano!

Sierra Negra, a volcano on the Isabela Island of the Galapagos
Image Courtesy of: Summit Post

The Galapagos Islands are home to amazing natural features and fascinating wildlife. If I never need a nature fix, I know exactly where to go!

Guadalajara: El Viaje de Mis Sueños

Last week, my uncle came out to visit my family and I for Sundance. For most of the year, my uncle lives in D.C., but his husband lives in Guadalajara, Mexico during the winter and they own an apartment there, so he inevitably visits frequently. As he was telling me about the city and his apartment and the people there, I thought it sounded really neat, so I decided to focus this next post on Guadalajara!

Everyone knows that soccer is a huge thing in Mexico, kind of like American football is here. Even though I'm not big into watching sports (except for when it comes to volleyball), I'd definitely want to go to a soccer game to get a feel for the game and the culture surrounding it in Mexico. Jalisco Stadium (or Estadio Jalisco in Spanish) is a huge soccer stadium in Guadalajara; it holds more than 55,000 people and has hosted two FIFA world cups. Just watching videos of the energetic crowd at games at the Jalisco Stadium makes me want to go, even though everyone in the crowd looks really sweaty!

An excited crowd at a soccer game in Mexico.
Image courtesy of: World Soccer Traditions

As I mentioned earlier in one of my blog posts, I LOVE to visit churches. I don't know what it is, but no matter what the type of church, they all just seem gorgeous to me. I especially love Catholic churches; they're so elaborate and have those high, decorated ceilings that make you feel tiny when you look up at them. About 80 percent of Mexico is Catholic, and as Mexico's third largest city, Guadalajara is home to a lot of very famous, very old Catholic churches. Probably the most well-known of these is the Expiatory Temple. From the looks of TripAdvisor pictures, it's a beaut.

The Expiatory Temple in Guadalajara.
Image Courtesy of: Tuchman Travel Guide

Another really fun-sounding thing in Guadalajara is shopping at the street markets. Guadalajara is home to some huge street markets selling a lot of really neat handicrafts and delicious food. Some of these markets are so big that they have to shut down entire neighborhoods to traffic! I probably wouldn't buy any of the pottery or arts there, even though are probably amazing, because 1. how would you fit that in your suitcase? and 2. I'm broke. Really broke. However, I would definitely want to go to check out some of the products and get some good people watching in.

Cool-looking pottery for sale at the Tonalá street market.
Image courtesy of: Destination360

Finally, I would want to visit one of these fancy movie theaters they have in Guadalajara that my uncle was telling me about. Guadalajara has these theaters that are pretty much the first class version of a movie theater. You sit in these huge plush chairs, and people serve you meals and drinks while you are watching a film. My kind of movie theater! In Mexican currency, tickets to these theaters are pretty expensive, but since the U.S. dollar is worth about fifteen times more than the Mexican peso, it actually wouldn't break the bank.