TravBlog: June 2012

Talk about a drastic change of climates! I went from -15 degree Russia to +25 degree Vegas in the span of 7 days. Vegas was followed by San Fran, San Fran was followed by Coachella, Coachella was followed by a painful drive to LA, and then we had Mexico! This was the itinerary for my epic trip of 2012 hehe.

It all started with booking the tickets to Coachella 12 months ago. Coachella was close enough to Vegas and since I’ve never been, Anna had the brilliant idea to sneak it into the trip planning. That left us with a whole bunch of days between one weekend to the next, so we filled it with a visit to San Fran. As a bonus, Elena planned her Puerto Vallarta wedding days after Coachella, and this is how the epic West Coast itinerary was born!

Stop number one-Vegas! I love it how the time difference between London and Vegas lets me fly there and only lose 4 hours. Before I even landed there, I knew that I would love it. Beautiful weather, all the attractions your heart desires, shopping and partying...and the fact that everybody who’s ever been loves Vegas had the time of their life might have been the reasons for me hehe. More importantly, Nita was celebrating her bachelorette that weekend, so I knew that I was meeting my fave peeps from Canada and reuniting with my fave peeps from Philly and London :D

Of course, I have to stick to the motto of whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I think that I’m at liberty to share some thing. Night number one was all about Tao, starting with a tame dinner of Asian fusion and soju, and finishing with a pillow fight in the VIP. The next day consisted of a very leisurely stroll on the strip sipping on 2 litre margaritas (I think that was the most sensible compromise between re-gaining our energy for the night to come and still doing some form of partying) and a 2 hour visit to the biggest Forever 21 I’ve ever seen. The night was all about playing bachelorette games and spending the night of at Marquee (where some of us had more adventures than others lol). Saturday, I must say, was my fave day as we got to go to 2 parties! A fantastical day time party at Wet Republik filled with meeting a ton of people, bachelorette games, and some market research (lol) was followed by a more fantastical party at XS filled with VIP hopping and fist pumping until the sunrise. All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better 1^st trip to Vegas which validated my hypothesis that it’s the greatest party place on earth (sorry Ibiza and South Beach), and I know I will be back hehe.

After doing much damage to our sleep cycles, livers and wallets, a 4 day break in San Fran before it was time to party again at Coachella was much welcomed. What I took away from that trip is that I <3 San Fran! I now understand why you never meet a person who has been to San Fran and who did not like it. The city has everything: it’s beautiful and dotted with many interesting neighbourhoods, it’s small enough that it keeps its charm but large enough to have all the entertainment you want, it’s green, it’s warm, the food is phenomenal, the people are friendly...what more can you ask for!

I arrived a few hours earlier than Anna, Jessie and Andy, so I did what I love doing best—got me a Starbucks and walked around the city until I found the tallest hill to hike up to for views – the Coit Tower hill. I loved it how San Fran is so hilly as everywhere you look there are fantastic views. The evening was even better as we got to reunitie with our fantastic local guide for the rest of the rip, Miz Lorna, while enjoying yummy sea food at Sotto Mare in the Italian ‘hood, followed for the best fudge I’ve ever had, followed by the strongest drinks I’ve ever had hehe.

Day 2 weather was not on our side, but it gave us an excuse to have a fantastic long brunch at Blue Bottle and to ride the infamous cable car (and for Anna to buy a pair of the cutest rain boots hehe). I loved exploring the Fisherman’s Wharf area and all its cheesy souvenir shops and saying hello to the seals that like to chill out on the pier. San Fran is a very healthy city, so we also made a point of checking out one of the oxygen bars where we got a water massage in a thing that looked like a pod from the movie Alien hehe. The highlight was definitely going back to the Forever 21 and then refuelling on more tasty seafood at La Mar.

Day 3 was our day trip to Napa! The weather gods were seriously on our side because the sky cleared and it was beautiful sunshine exactly from 9 am to 5 am – the hours of our Napa visit. Cruising in style in our bright yellow Chevy convertible, we did our touristy thing of driving across the Golden Gate bridge, and then onwards through beautiful rolling hills of the Napa valley. We stopped at Artesa for some stunning views and mediocre wine, sat down for a long and yummy lunch at Mustards, wine tasted and took some romantic pictures at the beautiful Joseph Phelps winery, and popped our mini champagne bottles at Domaine Chandon. After our drive back, we finished the day by exploring Chinatown and having dinner at a resto where the chef used to cook for a Chinese president (or so they say hehe).

The last day was a day of adventures where Anna and I took the local bus to Prisidio from where we walked along the coast all the way to the Fisherman’s Wharf, kicked butt climbing a giant hill, found the world’s windiest street, and still made it home to our Union Square hotel by noon. We then set out on a food tasting adventure around San Fran, stopping by a farmer’s market and then trying the many unique goodies housed in the Ferry Building stalls. Our next stop was The Mission, where we met our lovely host and tour guide Lorna, who gave us the best neighbourhood tour possible. We stuffed our face at the best local bakery, had the best local organic ice-cream, went on the swings (!), climbed a hill for some city views, went to a ton of local boutiques, checked out a local market aaand only had to stop when the rain started pouring. Whew! Best tour guide ever!

Next stop—Coachella!!! We arrived quite early so Anna and Jessie were napping at McDonalds while Andy and I were looking for duty free alcohol that nobody would sell to us—definitely an appropriate start to the party weekend hehe. Coachella was actually my first music festival, and I think I picked a good one to start with: 3 days of hottest acts in the middle of the dessert, beautiful weather, fashion fashion fashion and the best mojitos $10 could buy hehe! Our little party crew has expanded as well, having been joined by Mark, Steve, Millie and Min’s group. The whole weekend was just one rolling party with occasional breaks for sleep, but that’s how the musical festivals go! It goes like this: wake up late, lounge by the pool, pre-drink by the pool, get ready, pre-drink on the bus, get there, go straight to the beer tent, watch some acts, repeat! I’m not a huge music connoisseur, but I had a blast fist-pumping to Afrojack and David Guetta. Kings of Leon were pretty cool too, especially since Jessie got to meet them, get their autographs and pictures with them, and get them to wear our signature Hello Kitty glasses. Amazing! My least fave was definitely Radiohead and my most fave was definitely Snoop Dogg especially since he brought his friends Eminem and 50 Cent onstage :D

Sleep deprived and arms sore from fistpumping, Mark and I were then off to Mexico for lovely Elena’s and Jet’s wedding and for some much needed R & R on the beach in Puerto Vallarta. Man, there’s just too many great memories on this leg of the trip. $20 all you can drink clubbing in Puerto Vallarta, the breakfast buffets, parasailing over the bay, mojitoes and pina coladas, lunches by the waves, best vanilla ice cream, fiestas on the beach, exploring old town Puerto Vallarta and last minute wedding shopping, drowning my camera L, 8-person balloon hat, winning the title of the counting game champion (sorry Jet!), sucking at beach volleyball, picking up tennis, lots of fun in the sun are the few memories that come to mind... not to mention the most beautiful and memorable wedding!

It truly was the most special wedding I’ve ever been to (trying not to sound too mushy here J ). It took place on the beach of a deserted island surrounded by just friends and family which makes for a very special atmosphere. Elena and Jet (or as I like to call them, Barbie and Ken) both looked stunning (but especially Elena), and the ceremony was so sweet. The food was great, the tequila was plentiful, the DJ was amazing, and the dance floor on the beach was ours only. We even had a fire show, which was most enjoyed by a 3 y.o. Sonya and least enjoyed by Elena who was the centrepiece of it hehe, and a booze cruise to finish off the night! As a cherry on the top, us girls got to enjoy the whole day on the island, chilling in our own villa with a jacuzzi, getting massages, feasting on yummy food and champagne and doing a photoshoot after a photoshoot after a photoshoot! Let’s just say that I’m a big fan of destination weddings after this experience!

Whew, that was a very condensed overview of this long and amazing trip. Now for everyone’s fave part-the pictures! J

Tao Aftermath

Strolling on the strip with our margaritas :D

Marquee crew

Wet Republik crew

Bridesmaids!

...and a more classy photo :)

Exploring the Venetian

Crashing the pool party at Ceasar's

On to San Fran!

Meet and greet with our most awesomest San Fran hostess

Fisherman's Wharf day

My new friends!

The windiest street in the world

We <3 SF!

Lets go to Napa!

Artesa views

Our sweet ride for the day. It contrasts quite well with the vinyards!

Coachella, baby!!!

R&R-ing in Mexico

...ok and maybe doing some partying!

Parasailing adventures

Girls exploring the town

Wedding day

and wedding partying!

Russia...it was my first time visiting the country since I left exactly 14 years ago, so needless to say it was a bit of a sentimental trip as I went to visit my grandpa, meet my distant family, and see Moscow and St. Petersburg while I was at it. Not going to lie, I was quite nervous going there a) because I wasn’t sure that they will let me in (and most importantly out) of the country with my new Russian passport, and b) because I didn’t know what to expect. Luckily for me, both concerns were unjustified—I had only minimal trouble at the border, and I found that the country hasn’t changed at all – it’s still very cold, a little backwards, but has a lot more Western brands now!

Not going to gush about how lovely my newly met distant fam were (especially my aunt who took a week off work to take me everywhere and ensure that I ate really well...crepes with caviar, who can refuse!), but not having many relatives, it was nice to know that the few that I have are good ones. The number one thing that I had to get used to right away was the cold. I went at the end of March, but it was still -10 and snowing every single day...at least this made for great tobogganing weather! My Canadian wardrobe, and especially footwear definitely weren’t made for such climate hehe. But it’s all good because I was shown how you can stay warm by taking a shot of vodka mixed with honey and horseradish (by my aunt out of all people). The number two thing I had to get used to was the transportation system. My family lives an equivalent of a 40 min drive from Moscow, but it takes 3 hours to get into the city by car, and 90 minutes by train. Non-stop traffic jams and sporadic train schedules are to blame (supposedly in Moscow they have a tendency to block roads when Putin needs to leave Kremlin to go somewhere, bringing anything to a standstill. Hehe, I wish I had that kind of authority!) The third thing I had to get used to was that you can get a fake anything in Russia...for example, a fake iPhone or a fake Mercedes. These goodies are made across the border in China and then promptly imported into the country.

I was only moderately impressed by Moscow. I’m sure I would’ve been more impressed if I went in the summer, but c’est la vie. The Kremlin, the Red Square, and the churches around it are stunning, but other than a few other pockets within the city, I didn’t find it particularly appealing. It was very busy, people were very rude, it was hard to find decent food...but the Moscow girls were quite a sight lol. I would recommend any single (or not?) guy to go – even in the middle of winter, I was amazed by how many stiletto heels and fur coats I’ve spotted trotting through the snow and ice. I did a tour of the Kremlin and what’s inside, the Red Square, the churches, and took a very touristy but educational bus tour around Moscow. I’ve also done a very solid tour of the Tretyakovskaya gallery, reuniting with the Russian art. I was blown away by my aunt, a scientist by profession, but who acted better than a museum guide telling me about the art and the history behind it. No wonder they say Russia has a great education system. Of course, no experience in Moscow would be complete without going to the theatre or the ballet, so I opted to see Master and Margarita by Bulgakov – a great production in my native language. My experience is Moscow wasn’t all cultural, and my 2ndcousin took the time to show me what the young people do for fun. This included a proper Russian dinner/vodka get-together, a visit to banya (that lasted 5 hours and included a lot of beer, naturally), and a re-introduction to the Russian pop scene.

I’ve also managed to do a day trip to St. Petersburg, taking an overnight train from Moscow, and the same deal back. It’s actually a pretty convenient way to travel as you sleep on beds in little 4-person cabins...and sleeping on the train is the best thing because you literally get rocked to sleep. St Petersburg is nothing like Moscow both in terms the look and the feel. Peter the Great did a great job ripping off the best European architecture to build the city, and it looks like a proper Western European city, well equating in beauty to Paris...in fact, much nicer than Paris and also cleaner, but minus the Eiffel Tower. In terms of the feel, it was less hectic, the people were nicer, and the food much better than in Moscow. We did a lot of sightseeing on foot, taking in the buildings, the monuments, the churches and the museums, and finished off by spending 2 hours at the Hermitage. The Hermitage was the imperial winter palace and is now a museum housing both the royal apartments and a vast collection of art. In fact, not being a big fan of palaces/museums, this was the only one that ever blew me away. Even after seeing the museums of Florence, Versailles and Le Louvre, hands down the Hermitage kicks all of their butts in grandeur, beauty, collections and accessibility to it all. I couldn’t believe that Da Vinci’s rare art was at eye level simply behind glass for everyone to see without any ropes, when you had to fight tooth and nail to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa at Le Louvre. I hear the city is absolutely stunning in the spring and summer when the many parks around the city are green, especially around the ‘white nights’ where it’s pretty much daytime 24/7, a phenomenon observed because of the city’s close proximity to the North Pole, and these are the things that I missed out on in the cold month of March, but it gives me a reason to come back!

I left for London early Sunday morning after exactly 1 week stay with a jar of caviar, several boxes of chocolates and Russian sweets, and my childhood bear that my aunt saved for me in tow. Here’s a recap of my reunion with the Motherland in pix:

The mighty Kremlin