After more than 3 weeks of traveling, we have to admit that we began to feel a bit tired and washed out. So on Thanksgiving Day, we took a day off from our vacation and did as the Americans: relaxing, hanging out on the sofa and in the bed, cooking (OK, we skipped the Turkey and Pie but had delicious home-made Spaghetti Bolognese paired with a bottle of Sangiovese from the recently visited Castello di Amorosa). Oh, and we caught up on blogging and making the last preparations for our upcoming Central America trip.

On Friday, we went to explore the city. We walked Fisherman’s Wharf and the steep hills of San Francisco, through Chinatown and the (not-so-exciting) Financial District.

Public transportation in the Bay Area is generally pretty good, but very fragmented: Separate tickets are required for buses, BART, cable cars (the long wait time made us not take it) and, of course, Amtrak (Google Maps suggested taking the Amtrak bus from Oakland to San Francisco—not worth it).

Saturday marked the final day of the U.S. part of our trip. We took pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge at Battery Spencer (hard to get a parking spot even at this time of the year!), visited Alamo Square with its famous “Painted ladies” and spent the rest of the day in coffee shops in the up-and-coming Mission District.

So after quite exactly three years, it’s time to say Good Bye, USA!

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Before going to Napa Valley, we had done some prior research about doing a full-day or half-day guided bike tour that takes you to 4-5 wineries, or booking a shuttle service that would drive us conveniently to the different wine tastings, usually with a small group of other people. All of these options are pretty pricey—and the tasting fees (ranging between $15 and $30 each) at the wineries are not even included. We weren’t quite sure what the best option would be to explore Napa Valley, and whether we needed to be escorted and guided at all.

In the end, we were very happy that we decided to explore Napa Valley on our own, on bikes. And it’s definitely easy enough to do it individually and self-guided.

We stayed at a beautiful AirBnB in Calistoga, reputedly the most authentic village in Napa Valley. We were lucky that we could use the owners’ bikes, so we could pedal around with lots of flexibility and could save some money to spend on the tastings.

Biking around Napa Valley is definitely a thing to do when you visit this region. It’s easy, mostly flat, with designated bike lanes and routes of varying duration. Actually, the 4-5 wineries that are usually included in the guided tours would have been too much for us. During our afternoon bike trip of barely six miles, we only stopped at two Estates: Clos Pegase and Sterling Vineyards.

Sterling made Simone’s battle-tested tour guide heart beat faster, since it featured a gondola across the vineyards that took us up to the actual winery, where the wine is produced and visitors can participate in a self-guided tour with short info videos and info panels. So we could casually chat with the staff and sip wine at our own pace.

The famous Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (or simply “Cab”) was indeed good—even though many Austrian and European wine regions and wines are in no way lagging behind when it comes to white wines.

Austria might be a small country, but the world is even smaller. In fact, we knew of fellow Austrian Georg Salzner (a native of Simone’s hometown St.Florian/Linz and brother of Simone’s parent’s friends) who is the President of a winery in Calistoga. And it’s not just any winery, it’s one of the most visited and unique ones in the whole Napa Valley: Castello di Amorosa, an authentically-built, 13th-century-inspired Tuscan castle residing on a hill overlooking the vineyards of the valley.

Georg gave us a very warm welcome and showed us around the Castello. We were absolutely impressed with the high level of attention to detail, by the castle’s wonderful location and by its backstory. The castle was built using authentic bricks (we even spotted a few bricks bearing the Habsburg Dynasty’s label with the Doppeladler), original furniture, arms and instruments of torture (because no authentic Medieval castle would be complete without a torture chamber, right?), all imported from Europe. Two painters from Italy were flown in to paint the frescoes in the stunning Great Hall, which took them almost two years. We also visited the wine cellar, the production area and got to ask many, many questions about wine making, the Napa Valley and how to get a job like this (serious career reconsiderations!). A wine tasting concluded our visit at the Castello di Amorosa. Our favourites: the Sangiovese and, of course, the Cab.

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Since we passed through the Bay Area again, we had to make a visit to the beautiful Stanford University campus, where Jan had spent the summer of 2011 working on some geeky project.

The best thing was that we met Csongor, Tania, Klara and even Pablo, who happened to be visiting from his new hometown Graz. The pizza was also fantastic.

Reunion with Klara, Csongor, Pablo and Tania.

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Some of the sequoia trees in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park are thousands of years old—the oldest ones we saw were up to 3,000 years old! Some of them are over 80 meters high, with a circumference of more than 30 meters, making them one of the tallest, widest, and longest-lived of all organisms on Earth. Barely able to see their top, we couldn’t help but feel really small and minor next to those giants.

We did a two-hour hike on Congress Trail, along which we saw giant sequoias such as the Sherman Tree, and others bearing such fitting names as the President, the Senate, etc.

A few miles north into the National Park, we also stopped at the General Grant Tree which was declared “the Nation’s Christmas Tree”. At almost one month to go until Christmas, we have to say, we liked the idea (although we’ll probably have a palm tree for Christmas).

Unfortunately, we were not able to do the scenic drive from Grant Grove to Cedar Grove since the roads are closed in winter. But we heard (well, Lonely Planet told us) that it must be one of California’s most spectular roads. Anyway, the drive up from Three Rivers was probably just as curvy and spectacular and offered great views as well.

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We drove through the desert, where there were almost no signs of civilization, except for a few gas stations, a single post office and a bank in the middle of nowhere. Jan got a little nervous before entering Death Valley National Park, so we stopped to get a full tank of gas, 24 bottles of water and a precautionary last-minute quesadilla, just to be prepared for any type of emergency. (Needless to say, throughout all national parks so far, we used to drive for miles without having phone service.)

At the first vista point in Death Valley, Zabriskie Point, it immediately felt incredibly quiet, especially after Las Vegas.

We took the scenic Artist’s Drive to Artist’s Palette, a stone formation that displays an array of colors, caused by the oxidation of different metals. (OK, science: you’re awesome.)

Death Valley also features the lowest point in North America at 85 m (279 ft) below sea level. The road was a constant uphill and downhill drive, from below sea level to 1000 m of elevation and back to almost sea level.

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First things first: No, we didn’t get married. We didn’t get rich either. And we didn’t wake up to find a tram stamp tattooed to our backs, nor a tiger in our bathroom. But Las Vegas was still a blast!

Inspired by rumors about the Twenty Dollar Trick, we decided to give it a try. We had booked a “basic” room at The Venetian. When checking in, Jan casually slipped the front desk clerk $30 with his credit card and ID. Her response (not too surprised): “I am looking for the best suite on the highest floor we have available, okay?” It worked! We ended up in The Venetian’s more modern sister complex The Palazzo, in a more expensive suite on the 39th floor. Upgrade achieved.

Not only is The Palazzo together with The Venetian the world’s second largest hotel, it’s also the largest building in the United States in terms of floor space, relegating the Pentagon to the second place. The Venetian is designed in the style of typical landmarks of Venice, featuring replicas of the Rialto Bridge and the Campanile and a partly indoor/partly outdoor Canale Grande with gondolas and singing gondolieri. Eros Ramazzotti, Andrea Bocelli and other Italo-Classics are constantly playing from the loudspeakers. Oh, and of course, it also houses a casino and a shopping mall.

Helicopter flight

Since we hadn’t been able to do a helicopter flight at the Grand Canyon South Rim as originally planned (due to snow), we decided to give it a shot out of Las Vegas. We took the 70-minute flight with Papillon, over the Hoover Dam, to the North Rim and back. We went in the afternoon to see the sunset; if you want to see light-flooded canyons, you need to go earlier.

It was our first time on a helicopter. The start and the first turns feel a bit like a roller coaster—great fun! Poor Simone likes neither flying nor roller coasters that much, but it was worth it. And Jan can’t wait to fly his own (full-size) helicopter one day.

Gorgeous sunset over the Grand Canyon North Rim.

After the flight, we cracked a bottle of sparkling wine in our suite before doing casino and hotel bar hopping on the Strip. Our favorite bar was the Parasol Up in the Wynn Hotel, which was decorated with spheres of flowers, upside-down umbrellas and other playful details.

Off the Strip

Thanks to a Freakonomics episode we had listened to while driving, we checked out the newly created Container Park in Downtown Las Vegas at daytime. It’s definitely worth a visit if you want to see a less mainstream part of Sin City. It’s part of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project (more about that in the Freakonomics podcast). Besides bars, restaurants and boutiques, the Container Park features one of the last things you’d expect in Vegas: a playground (for children, to point that out).

At that point, however, we had already played enough in Vegas. But the café on the second floor of the container complex provided just the right recovery treatment for us: caffeine and a Bloody Mary.

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Our exploration of America’s canyons continued. This time, we visited Zion National Park in Utah. None of the canyons we visited so far had been like the other. From Grand Canyon‘s giant steep cliffs cut by the force of water over thousands of years, over a colorful feast for the eyes at the bottom of Antelope Canyon, to the countless pin-like stone formations of Bryce Canyon—every national park was a highlight by itself. Zion Canyon was probably less impressive by the curious shapes of its geological formation than by the sheer majesty of its rocks.

Undisputedly, Zion Canyon’s most famous hike is Angel’s Landing, advertised by that very website as “Not for the faint hearted. More for the die harded.” It’s an occasionally very steep path with sheer drop-offs on both sides, taking hikers along the rock’s narrow ridge. Angel’s Landing was definitely very tempting… However, due to lack of time (and Simone being concerned that we weren’t “mentally prepared” enough for the thrill), we did the Emerald Pools trail instead, which was mentally rather comforting with its waterfalls and small pools of green and blue water.

While Simone continued to hike a bit, the mental challenge for Jan was finding a spot with cell phone reception to join his scheduled phone meeting in the middle of the national park.

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Bryce Canyon is one of the highlights in terms of landscapes. It’s not so much a canyon as a gallery of large needle-like rock formations, so-called “hoodoos”. Add some snow to it and you’ve got an almost surreal scenery.

You can walk around the rim and hike down into the canyon. We did the Navajo Loop and the Queens Garden trails, and we also drove to the Inspiration Point overlook.

Everything was already closed down for the season at Bryce Canyon Village, so it was a challenge to find the hot chocolate we were craving after our hike in the snowy canyon. Thanks Subway for staying open all year round!

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Antelope Canyon situated on Navajo land near Page, Arizona is a slot canyon formed by erosion of sandstone. It consists of Upper Antelope Canyon (at ground level) and Lower Antelope Canyon (below ground).

Various private companies offer tours of either of the two canyons. We went with Ken’s Guided Tour into the Lower, since it’s supposedly less crowded due to its more difficult access. (Well, it’s just a ladder.) Also, the light beams which the Upper is famous for are gone by mid October anyway.

Photography in Antelope Canyon is difficult due to the wide-ranging light conditions (and overambitious fellow photographers). But we still got some nice shots.

Close to Page is also Horseshoe Bend, a gorgeous meander of the Colorado River, surrounded by 300-meter high rock walls.

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Leaving San Diego and our small bungalow in Pacific Beach, we headed East, towards Arizona and the Grand Canyon.

Next exit, Mexico.

We got pretty close to the Mexican border, without never actually seeing it. But by the nothingness around us and the thousands of stones in a very sparse and inhospitable landscape, you could tell that this was, if not no man’s land, then border land. For dozens of miles, we saw no sign of civilization. It also seemed to us as if Arizona was home to more RVs than humans.

If we were sure about one thing concerning our trip, it was that we would not have to deal with winter and cold temperature this year. Well… we were wrong. When we woke up in Tusayan, the gateway to the South Rim of Grand Canyon, and looked out of the window, we believed for a brief instant that we were dislocated to Chicago again. Snow? Gray sky? Strong wind? Classic Chicago winter weather. Still, we were able to get a few good views of the Grand Canyon. And we already knew that it wouldn’t be the last time to see the Grand Canyon…

Snowy Grand Canyon.

We decided to get the $80 Interagency Annual Pass that gives you access to all national parks for a year (not the calendar year but twelve consecutive months). Since we planned on visiting Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, Zion and Sequoia National Park besides the Grand Canyon, the pass really paid off. The entrance fee for a passenger car to the national parks typically ranges between $20 and $30. You can also get an individual park pass first and upgrade to the annual pass within one week, only paying the difference (at any park entrance).

Dinner was a Navajo Taco, which is hot beef, cheese and vegetables on a “frybread” (similar to Hungary’s lángos).

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