Un pais de contrastes A country of contrast

Mis primeras impresiones de este pais; un pais de contrastes... o mucho o poco.. y todo junto a la vez!!!

Los centros de los pueblos estan organizados de una manera distinta.. normalmente es solo una o dos calles con no demasiado..

Este fin de semana visitamos varios pueblos costeros, unos nos gustaron mas que otros..

Aqui teneis unas fotos de Monterey..
Quiza en la foto no se aprecie mucho, pero nos lo habia recomendado un compañero de trabajo de Dani, y nos llevamos bastante sorpresa... porque no nos gusto mucho a pesar de que nos habian dicho que estaba muy bien.

Por cierto si pinchais en las fotos se hacen mas grandes..



Our first impressions of this country are that this is a country of contrast...all or nothing altogether as one!

Most of the town centres (downtown) of the villages that we have seen so far don't have much, nothing to do with what we are used to, specially in England..
There are either very basic.. or very posh and expensive..

Here you have three pictures of Monterey..
One of Dani's colleagues recommended us to visit the place and what a surprise when we found a village that reminded us of Blackpool!!! this is the second one already, Santa Cruz being first...

By the way, if you click on the picture, you can make it bigger.











Mas contrastes...

A pocos kilometros de Monterey esta un pueblo llamado Carmel. Clint Eastwood fue el alcalde de este pueblo durante un tiempo.

Un pueblo con mucho encanto, lleno de casas estupendas e incluso algunas de ellas al lado del mar..

No creo q muy accesible a mucha gente...

El centro del pueblo esta lleno de tiendas de arte y joyerias...



More contrasts...

A few kilometres from Monterey we found another village called Carmel. Clint Eastwood used to be the major of this village.

Fantastic place full of great houses and even some of them by the sea...

We didn't think that many people could afford to live here..

The town centre was full or art and jewellery shops























Estas fotos resumen en parte muchas de las impresiones que estamos teniendo sobre Estados Unidos

Avenidas muy amplias, con coches por supuesto y tiendas, restaurantes... a lo largo de la avenida.. pero todo muy separados...

Es el paraiso del coche, los parkings son incluse gratis en la mayoria de los pueblos




These pictures summarise many impressions that we have about the states..

Big avenues full of cars, shops, restaurants.. spread out along the roads..

This is paradise for the cars... there is parking everywhere and all the parkings in the villages are free..















A Daniel le gusta mucho este coche....

Se esta volviendo yankee... teniais que escucharle que acento tiene ya cuando habla....



Dani likes this car a lot...

He is becoming an american dude... you should hear him talking with a good american accent already...

San Diego otra vez...

Se nos habia quedado esta foto en el tintero...es la estacion Santa Fe en San Diego, una mezcla de estilos que se repite por toda la ciudad...ya vereis.

We had forgotten this picture...it is Santa Fe's station in San Diego, you can see the mixture of styles that is seen thtoughout the city...








Y llegamos a La Jolla (esta bien...es sin Y...alguien debio meter la pata hace unos cuantos siglos...), segun los libros es la Riviera Californiana...Pues la verdad es que no es para tanto y que en nuestra humilde España hay sitios mucho mejores...aunque nosotros no tenemos pelicanos! El sueño californiano por los suelos...hasta los surferos eran patateros...y solo habia focas...literalmente...la playa estaba llena de focas.

And then we went to La Jolla (the jewel...mis-spelled from La Joya)...The Californian Riviera...But the truth is that is wasn't so impressive and there are better beaches in Spain...although there are no Pelicans in Spain....the Californian dream ripped to pieces...even the surfers were pitiful...and the beach was full of seals...literally...tiger seals, I believe...







Y no, esto no es una foto de Sevilla, es Balboa Park en San Diego...creo que la influencia en San Diego es Germanica...a juzgar por el estilo de los edificios...

No, this is not Seville...it is Balboa Park in San Diego...you can see the strong Germanic influence judging by the style of the buildings (or not...)






Y aqui podeis ver a los San Dieguenses en plena actividad...increible la relativa velocidad a la que se desperezaban y se rascaban...apasionante. En fin, toda una experiencia...San Diego.

And please admire here some of the locals engaged in some of the daily activities...incredible yawning and scratching speed...in two words...fas cinating...A whole new experience...San Diego.






Para cerrar el cuadro...mas gente rara que nos encontramos por la calle...USA is different!

We found some rather unusual locals...I wonder what they would say if we went to their local pub...USA is different!







Y aqui podeis admirar el moreno californiano..(mas bien camaroniano)...:-)

And here is an example of Californian tan...a bit reddish for our taste..:-)

Hasta Luego...blog soon....Daniel y Gema

San Diego esta muy chulo!!
La bahia, las palmeras, las casas bajas al lado de los rascacielos,los restaurantes en el puerto, el parque Balboa, el aeropuerto en el centro de la ciudad....
Aqui teneis unas fotos...
Muchos besos!

San Diego is rather nice!
The Bay, the palm trees, the small houses dwarfed by the towering skyscrapers, the restaurants by the bay, Balboa park, the airport in the middle of the city...
Here you have a few pictures...
Muchos besos!

La costa!! The coast!!

Sabiamos que la costa de California era especial...pero no estabamos preparados para los dramaticos acantilados, las montañas sembradas de Redwoods...y la luz (aunque nos llovio :-) )...Aqui teneis una muestra, desde Half Moon Bay hasta Santa Cruz...

We knew the coast of California was special...but we weren't prepared for the dramatic cliffs, mountains full of Redwood...and the light (even though it rained :-) )...Here you go with a sample, from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz...









ggg

Ya ha pasado una semana -- a week has gone by

Vista de San Francisco desde el Pier 39

San Francisco

Ya hemos cumplido una semana completa!!! y de momento la NASA no se ha quejado por el incremento de trafico de internet entre USA y Madrid en forma de la voz de Gema sobre IP (Skype!!!)

Sea Lions in San Francisco

Hemos encontrado nuestro supermercado...WholeFoods Market, todo organico, hasta las bolsas de plastico :-)...nuestro sitio preferido sigue siendo Palo Alto, con carater y ambiente europeo..

Hemos comido hamburguesas, visitado San Francisco (mixed feelings, ya que lo comparamos con Londres :-( )

En fin, aqui os van unas fotillos de nuestras historias...besotes a todos...y muchas gracias por todos los comentarios!!

So we have now been here for a complete week!! so far NASA has not complained regarding the excess of internet traffic carrying Gema's voice over IP (Skype!!!)

We have found our supermarket...WholeFoods Market, all organic, even the plastic bags :-)...our preferred spot is still Palo Alto, character with european taste..

We have eaten burgers, visited San Francisco (mixed feelings, it's not London...:-( )

Anyway, here are some pics of our endeavours...kisses and hugs...and thanks for all the comments so far!

We have finally landed--Arribados, finalmente...

It seemed not possible, distant and full of obstacles (Visas, work, moving stuff back and forth...) but yesterday 31st of Jan we made it to 1063 Morse Avenue, Sunnyvale...

It has been hard to say goodbye to Reading and so many friends with whom we have shared our first steps together, but that's life...WE HAVE A 2 Bedroom FLAT, so come on over and share this with us as well!!!...

Flight was uneventful, the limo (not a limo like in the movies but an upmarket taxi...) picked us up right on cue...the AVIS atendant gave us the keys to a brand new Pontiac G6 and the apartment was more that we could hope for...2 Bedrooms and 2 Bathrooms...Gema has her own wardrobe and bathroom...so we're good :-)

Gema has already setup a comms center with Madrid and Skype share prices will soar soon...this is the time to buy...if not, check out Gema in action...

Today's plan...checkout the public transport to San Francisco...more to come later!