May Lake: A Truly Enjoyable Hike

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy hiking, but it can be hard work.  The view from the top is almost always worth it, but the steep climbs, heat, sweat, and sore legs can sometimes take away from the fun (and that’s just on the way up – the way down brings knee and ankle problems that people twice our age experience). 

I was so happy when my Yosemite-obsessed friend suggested May Lake for our hike this past weekend.  It’s one I have never done and I’ve seen pictures – it’s gorgeous.  The other great part?  The hike was nice, short, and very easy compared to our usual hikes (Yosemite Falls and anything from Happy Isles up – Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, or all the way up to the top of Half Dome). 

The worst part about this hike is the almost 1.5 hour drive from the valley floor (we stayed in the Upper Pines campground).  Luckily, there are closer campgrounds that we passed along the way, including the Yosemite Creek, Porcupine Flat, and White Wolf campgrounds.  One thing to note is that Tioga Pass Road is open seasonally, so your best bets for hiking up there (or camping in one of the campgrounds) is from about June to September.

The hike itself is just over a mile and while it has a steady incline throughout, it is not a steep incline.  No fancy gear is required – just make sure you wear comfortable clothes and some sort of tennis shoes.  No swimming is allowed in the lake, so no need for a swim suit.  Bring water and food for a picnic at the lake, but if you are only going to the lake, your caloric needs will be no where near those of Half Dome or Yosemite Falls.  There is also a restroom at the top, which is a recent addition.

And finally, after an hour and a half drive and a 30 minute hike, you are rewarded with a breathtaking view of peaceful May Lake: 

May Lake, Yosemite National Park, California

The short hike is perfect for an easy backpacking trip.  There are campgrounds at May Lake (May Lake High Sierra Camp).  A wilderness permit is required, which is a separate reservation system from the Yosemte campgrounds (such as Upper Pines).

Add an extra 4.5 miles (roundtrip) to your hike by ascending Mt. Hoffman.  This is a great choice if you are backpacking and staying at the High Sierra Camp, but even if May Lake is a day trip, it is doable!  We were just there to enjoy the scenery, so we opted out of the additional trek up Mt. Hoffman. 

May Lake is the perfect hike for a low-key Saturday in Yosemite.  Next time, I’ll stay in the area and save on the driving time to and from the valley.  Enjoy!

One Week in Peru: itinerary overview

As of last week, our flights to Peru are officially booked!  We’ve been thinking about and discussing potential plans for Peru, so it didn’t take us long to lock down a high-level itinerary for our week in this South American country.

Machu Picchu (picture from the Machu Picchu wikipedia article)

Getting there: After our international flight into Lima (with a short layover in Panama), we will be boarding another plane for an hour and 20 minute flight into Cusco (or Cuzco).  From there we will take a taxi (that we booked via https://www.miramarspeedcircuit.com/find-car-rental-accepts-cash/ site) to and from the Sacred Valley.  Luckily the taxi transfers aren’t too expensive (we are paying $45-$50 for the hour and a half drive).

Deciding where to stay: Ryan quickly decided on Ollantaytambo as our base for the time spent in the Sacred Valley (including a day trip to Machu Picchu).  Our only real options were Ollantaytambo, Urubamba, Cusco, or Aguas Calientes.  Ollantaytambo and Urubamba are in the Sacred Valley and the train to Machu Picchu stops in both towns.  For us, Ollantaytambo seemed like a better option because there are actually ruins in the town, whereas Urubamba doesn’t have much in the town itself.  We decided that Cusco and Aguas Calientes were too far away for the exploring we plan to do within the Sacred Valley.  Also, Cusco sits at a much higher elevation, so it is recommended to spend a few nights in the Sacred Valley before spending time in Cusco.  Other than the first stop, we will spend 2 nights in Cusco and end up at in Lima for a few nights before heading home.

Sacred Valley, Peru, South America

The Sacred Valley, Peru (picture taken from wikipedia)

The breakdown by city:  We will be staying in Peru for a total of 9 nights and have decided to split our time between the three cities mentioned above: Ollantaytambo, Cusco, and Lima.

Ollantaytambo – 4 nights

  • Arriving: around 5:30pm at the Cusco Airport, and then taking a taxi (~an hour and a half) to Ollantaytambo
  • What to Do: get settled in the first night, explore the ruins in Ollantaytambo the second day, go on a private tour of the Sacred Valley, including the Pisac market, on the third day (we still have to schedule this), and finally explore Machu Picchu on our fourth and final day in the valley.
  • Leaving: fairly early in the morning, by taxi, to Cusco

Cusco – 2 nights

  • Arriving: fairly early (by lunchtime)
  • What to Do: touring the city, including Plaza de Armas (see picture below), and exploring nearby Inca ruins, potentially including Sacsayhuamán and Q’enko.  Cusco  becomes lively at night, so at the very least, drinks in the town center are a must!
  • Leaving: taking a mid-late morning flight to Lima (we haven’t booked this yet, but we will likely leave sometime between 9:30 and 11:00am)
Plaza de Armas, Cusco at Night
Plaza de Armas, Cusco at night (picture taken from wikipedia)

Lima – 3 nights

  • Arriving: at the Lima airport, between 11:00am and 12:30pm
  • What to Do: eat (I can’t wait for the food here, specifically the ceviche), visit the Museo Larco, and explore the neighborhoods
  • Leaving: 7am flight back to LAX, which gets us back a little after 4pm

Originally, a one week trip in Peru seemed like plenty of time, but now that we’ve done a bit more research, we wish we were staying longer (this always happens).  I know Ryan was a bit upset that we cut Lake Titicaca from the itinerary (and especially upset that we would no longer be taking the Andean Explorer from Cusco to Lake Titicaca), but our finalized itinerary will give us time to enjoy the cities we will be staying in, hopefully without feeling rushed.

We’ve spent the most time focusing on the first part of our trip (in and around Ollantaytambo), but we have about two more months to continue to research and make plans for activities so that we can make the most out of Peru!

Weekend Getaway: Wine Tasting in Paso Robles

Paso Robles, located just off of the central coast in California, is a lesser-known wine region specializing in Rhone blends.  It was perfect for a one night stop on our way up to the Bay Area for the long Fourth of July weekend.  We visited seven wineries in all, chosen based on a little research we did the night before we left.

It’s not far from Bakersfield, so it’s a shame we don’t go up and visit (and taste!) more often.  Below is a list of where we tasted and some quick information about each tasting room.  If you are passing by, it’s worth a stop for a new wine tasting experience!

Rotta
The tasting fee is $5 for 8 wines (we shared). We tried one white, one rose, three reds, and three dessert wines (one served with chocolate!).  The lady pouring loves her job and talked to us for an hour as we tasted.  Overall it was a fun experience with a nice variety of wines.

Turley
It was a $10 tasting for four Zinfandels, so we shared again. They had a mix of old and young Zinfandels, and it was fun to compare them all. They also had delicious rosemary crackers at the bar – we bought a package for our picnic later in the day.  Overall it was the quickest and least personal tasting of the trip, but it’s worth a stop if you are a Zinfandel lover.

Écluse
They have free tastings, so we both had our own. We finally saw the beautiful views we were waiting for (see below). The tasting room is in the barrel room, which was a fun atmosphere. We also were able to taste a 2011 and 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon from the barrel. We’ve done barrel tasting twice before and never have I tasted such drinkable barrel wine.  We decided to buy an older vintage of the same wine, hoping that the bottled version would taste even better!

Écluse Winery, Paso Robles

Calcareous
The tasting fee is normally $10, but if you check in on yelp, you get a complimentary tasting.  We weren’t a huge fan of their wines (some were just too sweet for us), but the patio area was beautiful (pictured below) and had a view of the valley below. We bought a bottle of white wine and picnicked for lunch. 

Calcareous Winery, Paso Robles

Jada
The cost is $10 for the reserve tasting and $15 for the signature tasting – both come with small cheese tastes for each wine. One tasting fee was waived with the purchase of three bottles, so we ended up getting the $15 tasting for free.  There is an indoor tasting area but you can also take you wine outside to a terrace with tables set up.  In my opinion, Jada has the best wines we tasted, but be prepared to spend a bit more (for the tasting and the bottles). 

Tablas Creek
$10 tasting for 6 wines – 5 were on the regular tasting menu and they had a bonus rose which was their “wine of the month.” The glass (which was my favorite of all the wineries we visited) was included with the tasting fee. As a bonus, the tasting fee was waived with the purchase of one bottle, so we purchased two bottles and both of our tastings were free.  

Tablas Creek Winery, Paso Robles

Caparone
A father and son team own the winery and they specialize in Italian varietals.  The six wines to taste were Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Aglianico, Sangiovese, and Zinfandel and they are all 100% (no blends). They only produce 2,500 cases per year and don’t really distribute, so we took advantage and bought four bottles for $16 each (two Nebbiolo and two Sangiovese) – the cheapest stop on our trip!

On our next trip to Paso Robles we will probably taste at different wineries (there are so many to choose from), but if we do repeat, I would prefer to taste at Écluse, Jada, and Caparone, as those were my favorite wines.  That being said, none of those were great for picnicking, so choose Turley, Tablas Creek, or Calcareous for a place to enjoy lunch.  And finally Rotta was by far the best experience, so if you have time, it’s worth a stop to appreciate a tasting room with history and character.  

My London To-Do List

Before the trip, we made a list of things do and it was extremely difficult to cut some of the activities from the itinerary.  Instead of cramming in every single item on my original list, I adopted the mentality that there is always going to be another trip (and there will be).  Therefore, I already have a list of going of activities to include on the next trip.

In the city of London, I would add more museum time.  This includes visiting those that didn’t make the cut and also adding time to museums we’ve already visited.  The former includes the following top (free) choices:

  • Tate Modern – we walked past the outside after our stroll on Millenium Bridge, but Tate Modern, New Design, London, UKwe never made it inside Tate Modern (see the modern planned addition in the picture to the right, from the museum website).  In addition to enticing temporary exhibits, the museum houses permanent collections of Monet, Matisse, and Picasso (and more!), which I thoroughly enjoy.  
  • Victoria and Albert Museum – a museum different from the others, featuring decorative arts of all types from all over the world.  It isn’t one of those museums that screams “London,” so it didn’t make the cut for my first trip, but it’s something different and I plan to visit it on the next trip!  Some of the items include jewelry, furniture, clothes, glass and much more.    
  • British Library – I will admit, I just really want to see the Magna Carta after learning about it year after year in history class.  We didn’t make time for it this trip, but it’s something I can look forward to for a future trip.  Luckily, it’s free so I won’t feel obligated to stay too long.

As for museums we’ve already visited, I would love to spend more time at the British Museum and the National Gallery.  They are both so different: the British Museum with the history of mankind and the National Gallery with an extensive collection of paintings.  We actually visited both on the same rainy day, so I’m sure they were a bit busier than normal.  That being said, the crowds were manageable and we just waited our turn for some of the important artifacts at the British Museum (like the Rosetta Stone) and the more popular paintings at the National Gallery (my favorites were the variations of the lily pad painting by Monet).  And now, a little bit about what we were able to see at each, and what I’d like to do next time:  

  • National Gallery – We each paid £4 for the “Manet to Picasso” audioguide, with about 20 or so paintings selected in a brochure (spread out among 5 rooms).  There were about 6 options for audioguides.  The device itself was the same for each one; what differentiated the guides was the brochure that came with it – it helps the user focus on specific paintings (and lets you know which room they’re in!) and provides the audioguide code for some of the popular paintings (the codes were not available for all paintings).  That being said, the majority of the audio files were accessible to anyone that paid for an audioguide.  Next time we will plan to do two different “tours” (the other one that tempted me was a “best of”-type guide) so that we can take advantage of two sets of the carefully selected paintings.Nereid Monument, British Museum, London, England, UK, Europe
  • British Museum – we did the Rick Steves audio tour (they are entertaining and include a lot of information – download them on your phone before you travel), which brought us through the Egyptian exhibit (including animal statues, slabs with hieroglyphics, and mummies), the Assyrian exhibit (the Nimrud Gallery stole the show), and finally ending up in the Greece exhibit, which houses the Nereid Monument (pictured above) and the Elgin Marbles (originally on the exterior of the Parthenon).  The room (separated into three parts) with the Parthenon remains was very spacious and the crowds were no issue. We covered the highlights, but there is so much more to the museum that I hope to explore on the next trip. 

Outside of the heart of London, these are several places I would love to visit on a return trip:

  • Kew Gardens – a 300-acre botanical garden, just outside of the city of London.  It’s right off of the River Thames, so you can actually take a boat there from London.  I can’t imagine a better way to escape the city than admiring a beautiful garden!  There are even free tours of the gardens offered daily.  Also, with some extra time, I would visit the nearby Hampton Court Palace.  
  • Windsor Castle – it’s Queen Elizabeth II’s primary residence and it’s open for tours!Windsor Castle, London, UK  The ticket price includes an audioguide and admission into the State Apartments, Queen Mary’s Dollhouse (a miniature version of the palace), the Drawings Gallery, and St. George’s Chapel.  You can also take a free tour of the grounds (that lasts 30 minutes) that depart twice an hour.  It’s also very easy to get to Windsor Castle – either a 30 minute ride from the Paddington tube station (with one easy change) or a 50 minute ride from the Waterloo tube station (direct).  The picture to the left is one of Windsor Castle that Ryan took on a trip he took 10 years ago.
  • Stonehenge – if we visit London in a month other than November, we already have a plan for our visit to Stonehenge.  Instead of visiting Stonehenge during normal operating hours, we would book ahead for the Stonehenge Stone Circle Access tour (the tour was not offered in November – I am assuming this is an annual closure). This allows a limited number of visitors access to the inner circle of the stones, either before or after the site is open to the public.  There is not a tour guide or audioguide, so bringing a book with information is a must.  We would also book a taxi service instead of taking a train plus a bus to Stonehenge, which would save some time and also allow us to possibly add another site to the itinerary for the day!

After writing all of that out, it seems like our next trip is practically planned.  There is just so much to see, do, eat, and enjoy in London.  It’s one of the cities that we plan to return to many times, maybe even as soon as two years from now!  

7 London Experiences for a Return Visit

I’ve now been to London 3 times: first with a middle school group, next with my mother, and just recently with my wife.  Each trip offered something new and enjoyable, and London, more than anywhere I’ve visited, is a place to return again and again.  In reflecting on this last trip, I thought of a list of seven highlights for a return visit (in no particular order):

1. The Strand

Fleet Street London

The walk along The Strand and Fleet Street from Trafalgar Square up Ludgate Hill to St. Paul’s Cathedral goes through my favorite part of London. It follows a historic route used in the Middle Ages to connect the City of London with Westminster.  Along the way, it’s a thrill to peek into Temple Inns of Court (all lawyers must live here during their internship), admire the wedding cake steeple at St. Bride’s Church, and peek into the historic taverns that still line the road. To really appreciate this part of London, it’s also rewarding to wander the narrow lanes and alleys.  On this last visit, we used Rick Steves’ guided walk through this area (link to map and audioguide).  On previous trips, I’d seen this part of London, but reading about the historic roots of the neighborhood and venturing off the main drag really made this walk a memorable experience and ultimately a trip highlight.

2. Tower of London

The Tower of London is on nearly everyone’s itinerary on a short trip to London, and it should stay on itineraries for return trips.  There is a lot to see at the Tower, and even after three visits, I still haven’t seen it all.  This last visit was probably the most rewarding, because of the planning we did ahead of time to avoid crowds.  We benefited from visiting London in the off-season (late November), but even then, we went out of our way to arrive at the Tower exactly at opening time on its first early day of the week (9am on Tuesday).  We literally had the crown jewels to ourselves and circled the conveyor belts at least five times.  It was also refreshing to find that our Yeoman’s tour was completely different than the one I went on during my last visit.  Not only did we visit different sites, but the Yeoman had completely different stories to share and his own unique personality. 

 3. Pub Grub

Pub Grub

For those who are returning to London after a long hiatus (my hiatus was 9 years, 2003-2012), the food scene in London has changedand for the better (although my opinion may be influenced by the fact that I am now of drinking age).  Many pubs now strive to serve innovative and quality cuisine along with great English beer.  Meanwhile, I’ve also became more adventurous.  In addition to fish & chips (a standard go-to for Americans at London pubs), I sampled roasts, meat pies, and burgers.  One pub we visited even offered a quality pâté for an appetizer.  After returning from previous trips, I always had to qualify my adoration for London with a disclaimer that the cuisine is lacking.  Now, I will actually look forward to eating in London, and am actually already missing pub grub!

 4.  London Docklands

On previous trips to London, I’ve always confined my sightseeing within Zone 1 of the London Underground.  However, to see the real modern-day London, visitors need to travel further east, to the London Docklands.  The best time to visit during the work week, when the 5 square blocks surrounding the Canary Wharf Underground Station are a hubbub of activity.  We had a fun time wandering through the underground shopping mall and watching London’s workforce (which is much better dressed than America’s, save DC and New York) rushing from work to lunch.  The futuristic self-driven Docklands Light Rail (DLR) connects the Canary Wharf area with Greenwich to the south and the new olympic facilities to the north.  Visiting the Docklands is probably not a priority for first time visitors with limited time in London, but for a return visit, it is interesting to see this new part of the city.

 5. Holiday Season

Covent Garden during the holidays

My past two trips to London occurred during summer, with plenty of large crowds and hot weather.  This trip, we visited in Late November, at the beginning of the holiday season in London.  In planning our trip, we were excited to see that decorations would be up and several Christmas markets running.  Our expectations on London’s holiday cheer were more than surpassed.  The decorations at Covent Garden (above) and beautiful Christmas lights on Regent Street were spectacular.  A favorite was the Southbank Christmas Market, a Bavarian-style Christmas market with fun handicrafts, German food, and hot chocolate! More details can be found in Kristin’s post on Christmas in London.  We were lucky with the weather (cold, but little precipitation), but I found myself enjoying winter in London much more than the summer.  We are already planning on returning to London at the same time on our next trip!  For those who have only experienced London in the summer, I certainly recommend trying a visit during the holidays.

6. Churchill War Rooms

I first visited the Churchill War Rooms on my second trip to London.  As a World War II buff, getting a glimpse of the UK headquarters during the war is fascinating and I didn’t mind sharing the experience again with my wife on our recent trip.  I was excited to find that since my second visit, there is also now a Churchill Museum co-located with the War Rooms (since 2005).  The museum provides a very comprehensive overview of the life of Winston Churchill.  We found the material so fascinating that we spent over an hour exploring the audiovisual experiences.  If it weren’t for our tired feet, we could have stayed much longer!  If your last visit to the War Rooms occurred prior to 2005, or if you just ran out of time exploring the museum, it’s certainly worth a visit on a return trip to London.

7. Parliament

Westminster Hall

Government and politics have always been an interest of mine, and unfortunately my trips to London and my only trip to Washington D.C. occurred during legislative recesses.  I was thrilled when I realized it was a possibility to see the UK Parliament in action on this last trip.  Given that it was off-season and a weekday, the lines to gain admission were very reasonable, although it isn’t hard to imagine that they could quickly become unmanageable with larger crowds.  After clearing security and getting a close-up view of Big Ben, we saw historic Westminster Hall (picture above).  We then climbed a maze of stairs to the House of Commons viewing gallery, and listened to a committee debate (more details in my specific post on this subject).  In future trips, I want to try and see the House of Lords and attend when it is in full session.  Even in committee, however, I found it fascinating.

It’s remarkable how much London has to offer visitors.  Not only is there so much to see that there are new places to visit each trip, but the places visited in past trips are so interesting that they warrant a revisit.  I’ve found each sequential trip to London more rewarding and can’t wait to visit again (in fact, we both wish we could find a way to live there)!