Up at five thirty in the morning. From the detached guesthouse at Owen’s home, I can see the Golden Gate Bridge as dawn breaks.
I watch the sky gradually change from orange to light blue.
The outdoor temperature is 6 degrees. It is very cold for California.
Tilden Regional Park is right next to Berkelay. It is surprising that only 10 minutes from Berkelay, one can be in mountains like these. Green mountain ranges and valleys spread out suddenly before my eyes. Apparently, during 1 year, they are this green for only about 4 weeks. While walking along a mountain path, I encountered a Newfoundland parent and child. From a distance, they looked just like bears.
From Berkelay, I headed straight for Sonoma. After glimpsing a mission in the distance along the way, I arrived at the Sonoma information center. There, I got a free ticket and went to a winery.
Viansa is an Italian-style winery. Everything was good. However, perhaps because I had a free ticket, the staff were somewhat unfriendly.
Larson Familly Winery is a very small winery with llamas at the entrance. It is very friendly. There is an old Labrador dog there.
Before long, I arrived at the hotel.
I heard there would be a wine tasting at half past 4, and happily went, only to find that there was just 1 variety each of Chardonnay and Merlot. It was hardly enough to call a tasting, but it was good, so I suppose that is fine.
For dinner, for some reason, Taco Bell. It is not that the hotel was over budget or anything, but when I come to America, I still want to eat there, you know. Along with that huge Pepsi. Soft Taco Supreme and Nachos Grande are the standards. So I ordered them, but they could not understand my English. This despite the fact that I was using the numbers. Perhaps I should have said cinco, tres, ocho in Spanish. A different order was entered, but I did not have the energy to correct it.
After returning to the hotel, I took a bath. I was surprised by the quality of the water. It was extremely good. Given the price, I had wondered about this hotel, but if it has water this good, I must reconsider.
After that, I replied to a few emails from XDIORG, then idly surfed the web. I am drinking the complementary Kenwood white (2004) that came with the room, but it is a little sweet. Perhaps it would be better chilled a bit more…
Now then, what shall I do tomorrow…?
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