California aka: CA, Cali, Golden State

I’m going on a flight with my family to California to go to Disneyland, California right at the end of May of 2010.

I’ve been staying in the East Bay since the beginning of the month, and it is wonderful here. I like being in cities in general, but the weather is so perfect all the time, and the kinds of people that tend to live here are great. I’m considering coming to UC Berkeley for grad school.
I feel bad marking off a state after only being in one city, although I’ll get to see a bit more of it on the train when I head up north next week. Hopefully I’ll get to come back and explore some more another time.

I spent 14 years in the Bay Area and have been in the LA Metro area for the past 7 years and I have to say the Bay Area is the place to be. The variety – big cities, nature, sophisticate society and hippie society all merged into an area you can travel in a 2 hour span. In SoCal – it’s all about trendy stuff – no history, all cookie cutter what’s “hot” copy cats. Don’t get me wrong, So Cal has some beautiful area’s and offers culture of a different sort, but for me the Bay Area will always be my idea of the Perfect California Dream.

I went to San Francisco and the Bay Area. The first thing that someone (who has spent the majority of their life on flatland) notices are the HILLS!!! And yes, they are definitely alive! Houses and buildings and streets and people and cable cars and skateboarders all make their lives on these hills. And what glorious hills they are!

Long time ago..

I went to L.A. a little over a year ago. While I absolutely hated breathing while I was there, I at least appreciated the lack of humidity (my hair has never looked better longer). It was nice to see all the famous landmarks, and I’d say they’re worth visiting, but if I ever go back to California I’ll definitely try a greener area, like San Francisco. I heard it’s much cleaner.

OVERRATED

Born and raised in the Bay Area :)

If anyone happens to be visiting San Francisco, take BART to the East Bay.

Places to hit up in the East Bay:
Berkeley
Oakland Chinatown (much less touristy than SF’s)
Frodo Joe’s in San Lorenzo

The last one is a personal favorite. It’s a cafe/creperie. Order a crepe; it’s totally worth the trip.

As for So Cal, I love San Diego. Go kayaking :)

Beautiful beaches, sunshine…etc. In fact dreamt so much about this place that I think that I would be visiting there next year as a part of my project…. yippee…...

• Alcatraz
• Anaheim Disneyland
• Cable Car Tour
• Fisherman’s Wharf
• Grand Canyon
• Hollywood
• Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Lake Tahoe
• Las Vegas
• Monterey
• Redwood National Park
• San Diego
• San Diego Zoo
• San Francisco
• Santa Cruz
• Yosemite National Park