Tagged with California …

When is a View Not a View?

Cliff top dwellings I was very excited to wake up yesterday morning at Shell Beach and see a view of the Pacific out of the bedroom window. A beautiful view, framed by the ubiquitous cochineal-red oleanders, grey-blue succulents and ochre gravel. To the right, a cliff top path. To the left, another cliff top path. … Continue reading →

Jogs, Runs and Managing Expectations

The path to nowhere This last week, I’ve been spoilt with my early morning runs. The San Francisco Bay Area, the Carmel Valley upland trails… Delightful exhilarating scenery. Then comes a night at the Hampton Suites and Inn, Paso Robles: the hotel trapped within a major Highway 101 interchange with a few local main roads. … Continue reading →

The Big Sur

Despite the mist, no one could fail to be impressed by the Big Sur. Except four adolescents in the back muttering about how Highway 101 would have been faster.

The Carmel Zone

The Thomas Kinkade Experience If Carmel (CA) didn’t exist you couldn’t invent it. The hyperreality of a Disneyland experience is hard-pushed to match a walk down Carmel’s main thoroughfare. Gingerbread cottages and cutesy boutiques selling everything you don’t know you need or want, but still you fall for it all. I’m ashamed to own up … Continue reading →

Carmel Pine Cones and other Surprises

I’m very pleased to have already had a number of pleasant surprises on this trip, and I’m particularly delighted to be able to report the following back to my friend Rowena (but I’m not assuming it will last…) In no particular order: -The hotel room coffee-making facilities have been the best I’ve ever experienced anywhere. … Continue reading →