“If you’re going to San Francisco be sure to wear some flowers in your hair” advised Scott McKenzie few decades ago. His famous 1967 hit single inspired many people to visit San Francisco. Well, I didn’t have any flowers in my hair but I expect that very little has changed since this song was popular. California in general and SF in particular is still a very liberal. This is a very particular mix of hippie style, mild climate and relatively long history (as for an American city). Here are three things that I really liked in San Francisco. Chinatown This is the oldest and biggest of all american Chinatowns. Not only occupies few blocks in the city center but, over the years, it became a tourist attraction. It is dated back in mid nineteenth century and started with arrival physical workers called coolies. Hundreds of young single man came to participate in railway construction and golden rush in California. Just like other Chinatowns it gradually absorbed more woman and eventually became a family migration.  Currently this is like city within city. Stores, restaurants, library, churches it is all provided in Chinese. This community is successful in terms of sustaining ties with mainland China and their culture. Chinese in the US are often called a perfect minority. Entering through a gate guarded by two dragons is like a travel in space and time. The noise and smell brings you to China and although this is an American version of it, it still marvels people from all over the world. Cable car museum This was the best museum I visited in San Francisco. It is located in old power station and barn used from the very beginning of trams in SF. And it is a working one so you actually enter a real place. As authentic as you get. There is a background noise all the time produced by huge wheels and lines which make this whole tram business going. There are still three lines working and for many this is a landmark just like the Golden Gate bridge. We can’t think about SF without imagining one old wooden cable car, can we? I like the way this museum is organised. Entrance is for donation, you watch people working and you can know the history of this company and San Francisco at the same time. 1906 earthquake and fire left this city almost destroyed. Pictures taken back then are touching. There was one particular that made an impression at me: a tram and a totally ruined city in the background. Trams are such important part of this city history that when there was an idea to get rid of them there were some people who stand out and defended the trams. They collected the money and saved the trams. And although now it is very limited comparing to what was before, tourists from all over the world may have their ride up and down famous hills. Hills I think that hills are the most picturesque element of San Francisco cityscape. Some of them are really steep and this make the city so beautiful. The views on the bay from every street and boulevard on the hills are just fantastic. In a sunny day you see bright stylish houses with a deep blue background and it really is wonderful.  Crossing the city north – south or east – west will make you sweaty in a warm day. Up and down the streets go but every crossroad is levelled which make driving San Francisco possible. Some of the streets and sidewalks are so steep it is hard to believe that people are able to park their cars this way. There are typically American organised blocks but this is one of few cities constructed on hills. And for me this is like the one that stands out and challenges the utilitarian America. These are the things I liked in SF. I’m not saying this city has no problems or dirty and dangerous neighbourhoods but I think it is worthy to come and visit it at least once in your lifetime.   

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…Nova Scotia! If you are Canadian you might have totally different opinion about it. If you have visited Canada this might be your case as well. For me driving through couple of the Canadian provinces was like a fairytale. Even though Nova Scotia has so many to offer to all tourists that I had no doubt about this choice. Why Nova Scotia? I think this is mainly due to its particularity, interesting history, and absolutely stunning landscape! This is a small province and, although densely populated, it has a certain charm of familiarity. Comparing to the whole territory of Canada moving around Nove Scotia is a small scale activity: you have the impression that all attractions are at your fingertips. But what really matters while travelling to Nova Scotia is that you need a car. Don’t rely on the public transportation: the best spots are in places available to the drivers. Holiday spent in Canada was one of the best I have ever had. I drove through New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. I also visited Quebec but this is another story to tell. Halifax- the capital of Nova Scotia- is one of the best places to live. But if I think about my trip to Nova Scotia each town in this province has something seductive. First reason: stunning landscape Obviously, talking about the beauty of nature is always tricky, especially when it comes to the stunning Canadian landscape. What really strikes about Nova Scotia is the connection of forests and little lakes. At first I was stopping car every time when I saw this lovely view, but after an hour and stopping like twenty times I classified it as a sort of never-ending-story thing and moved on. Although I was not stopping every little lake to take the picture each of them was unique: there were some with a cute little house nearby, white fence, little pony, Canadian flag, or simply lake surrounded with autumn trees. Nova Scotia is a dream destination for all romantic people to adore such marvels. The landscape of Nova Scotia, similar to the rest of Canada, is breathtaking in the autumn season, which was when I visited this province. Second reason: cute houses There is something cute about simple things and wooden houses are one of these things. While these little wooden houses are also constructed elsewhere, for example in Sweden, the houses in Nova Scotia has this particular flavor of strong individualism. While Swedish wooden houses are very similar throughout the whole country and mainly in one color (red), in Nova Scotia you meet a variety of colors and shapes. Crossing this province will show you creativity of the residents. You’ve got pretty much everything here: blue, green, white, red, grey, and even yellow. It makes this landscape even more intriguing: try to imagine the wall of colorful forest, the lake and the white wooden house on it. This is a paradise-like view, for sure.   Third reason: no crowds While large cities are always crowded and this is also true for Canada, Nova Scotia gives you an opportunity to take a brake. With the exception of few most popular places, like Peggy’s Cove of Halifax, crossing Nova Scotia by car will bring you relief of watching mainly trees and wild animals. It’s not to say this is a deserted area. Not at all! If you need anything you might while travelling you enter the nearest town and you’ve got pretty much everything there. Well developed facilities and the system of highways is a good balance for endless forest and numerous lakes. It gives you a comfort and a sense of security, especially important if you are not a camper-like tourist but you still wish to touch the nature. Plus: if you wish to have the beach only for you, you’ll get it! You might actually walk for couple of hours without meeting anybody. Forth and fifth reasons: coastline and mild climate Nova Scotia is a maritime province. Moreover, it had not only the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Its western part is wrapped with the Bay of Fundy. The Bay is famous of having the highest tidal range in the world (about 14m, vertically). This is truly spectacular view as the tides comes and goes on 24h basis. It means that you can see the water in the morning, then you mainly see the sand, and then water again. The Atlantic coastline is equally fascinating: the color of water, considerably high waves (at least in autumn), white sand and some impressive rocks. There is also this funny feeling: watching the Atlantic from the Canadian side towards Europe- it is exactly the opposite I have been used to. What? Mild climate in Canada? Are you joking?   http://yes-butno.tumblr.com/post/5244451398/fixed-for-cannilovesoreos Let’s face one of the most common prejudices towards Canada. While huge part of this country is constantly covered with snow Nova Scotia is not the case. Thanks to the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean it has considerably high temperatures and the quantity of snow is manageable. The fog during the winter season is the least pleasant thing rather than snow. The guidebook says the average temperature in January in Halifax is only -7 while in Montreal of Ottawa is droppes to about -13! Summer is warm, though: August brings you average temperatures above +20. Autumn spent in Nova Scotia was relatively warm: many days were sunny and nice. At the end of September, thanks to the first ground frost, the colors of forest were exceptional. Last but not least: nice people My favorite part of the Canadian story is people. I was so lucky to meet the right ones! While booking a B&B I contacted with couple of families who provide this sort of accommodation and after careful consideration I picked ‘Changing Tides‘, in Grand Desert, near Halifax. While their website might mislead you, this is an excellent place to spend your holiday. Pam and Brian- the owners- are the true natives: they come from Nova Scotia and they built their beautiful house there. What is truly delightful about...

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It is justified to visit Washington DC for its museums. One of them- National Postal Museum- became one of my favorite. This museum was recommended by one of my American friends and, as always, this is an excellent way to know fascinating places. I don’t think I would go there if it hadn’t been recommended. Whenever it’s possible ask the locals. The museum is rather small which is a great advantage.  In couple of hours you can enter to all rooms and see the majority of exhibits. Each museum tells you a story. There are good museums and lousy museums, to make the long story short. After a visit in a lousy one you have a chaos in your had, you can’t say any sensible conclusion on what you have just seen or you feel overwhelmed with the exhibits. I will write about one really lousy museum in Berlin I visited some other time but let me tell you this: National Postal Museum in Washington DC is excellent! There is a charming story told about the origins of American post, about the challenges of developing country, about the heroes and even about a dog who assisted in mail delivery (Owney the Railway Mail Service Mascot). The main hall hosts a variety of post vehicles and above your head small airplanes are placed to your delight. ‘Moving the mail’ – a permanent exhibition on mail vehicles is especially attractive. A railway postal car is placed and available to see from the inside which I found really cool. There is also a romantic part of the story: the letters written in the old days by the immigrants and sent from the US to their loved ones. The letters are well displayed and some of them are recorded so you could actually hear it. It shows the importance of post services and the emotional aspect of writing letters and sustaining the family and friendship ties. Another romantic part of the exhibition is devoted to the Pony Express and tells an interesting story of a private venture to transport letters from California to Missouri across dangerous lands. To tell you the truth: each part of the permanent exhibition I saw was great. No, I’m not going to spoil your visit and describe here all details. So if you’re in Washington DC the National Postal Museum is a MUST! Here is one of my most precious pictures taken in the museum: stamps from Bhutan!  

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When I went to Washington for the first time I didn’t know what to expect. For many reasons the city was puzzling. Being a home for the government, embassies and all this official business it was so diverse than New York city and other American metropolis. Washington is really special: without skyscrapers and overwhelming noise it tries to convince you that the most important things in this country take place in appropriate context of beautiful buildings and vast avenues where memory of the past events is well preserved. I remember that the beginning of this trip was pretty turbulent before I even took off! In the morning the first stressful event woke me up: there were no places available on the parking place despite my reservation. I wanted to left my car in Bologna in Italy to take the plane to Frankfurt in Germany to continue my trip further west, to Washington DC. After almost half an hour the employees of the parking came to work after their breakfast and found my reservation, took my car and gave me a lift  to the terminal, where a wild crowd occupied the desk, the main hall and, to be exact, the whole airport. I was already late. And a bit nervous. It caused a wired reaction of retreat and for a split second I thought I should get back home instead of going somewhere. But just after this thought came to me I smiled and simply decided that despite these inconveniences this trip will be FUN! After a while, the ladies at the desk called all ‘late passengers’ to report at the desk IMMEDIATELY and so I started a difficult activity: pushing through a crowd with a suitcase. Although I haven’t become a world champion in this competition I was able to get to the desk on time to be further delayed by the bus that wasn’t there. All in all, everything was LATE. Fortunately,  my plane in Frankfurt was also late and so after this turbulent morning I finally got aboard of my plane heading to Washington. As you may imagine the plane in Frankfurt broke down and all passengers had to wait for a different plane to be prepared, including the luggage re-dropping. Right, it didn’t seam to be a perfect holiday but this nasty beginning drained the limit of bad luck for the whole trip. After all, this is not a bad combination. Unless you are fearful and the difficulties at the first stage discourage you to continue. In my case it was a favorable circumstance. Therefore, after less than 24h I landed in Washington. My visit in Washington started with an excellent breakfast next morning. I found this place by chance but I can recommend you to eat there a full breakfast, brunch or lunch. It’s Annie’s Paramount Steak House on 17thNW street (full address: 1609 17th Street Northwest). Everything I ate there was simply delicious, but it’s not only the quality of food that made me to go there more than once. It was the atmosphere of a neighborhood pub where people know each other. I enjoyed a noise of such place: I believe that you can actually hear the difference between an ordinary noise in, let’s say, subway where all people are strangers and the noise of a place like Annie’s Steak House. So, I was sitting in this pub and listening to the voices and laughs of the locals and enjoying my pancakes. Lovely start of a perfect day! With full stomach life is good! I started my official visit in Washington from a short stop in a National Museum of American History, just to refresh my memory. With its vast collection of interesting objects this museum is really pleasant to visit. You get an impression of what the American life is. I really like the idea of showing every-day-objects in a museum, especially when a huge truck or a train make a real noise! The objects displayed are not old or at least in Europe they would not be exhibited in a museum. But in order to understand the United States and the way the things are organized you need to get familiar these modern objects considering their novelty when they were first produced. I found this picture below with a funny note: It’s OK if you need to cry! Love it! As I wrote in first paragraph I was very lucky to find myself in Washington when all cherry trees were blossoming. It made every outdoor activity so spectacular! Walking around Tidal Basin or National Gallery of Art brings you to the endless flower shop. This elegant pastel pink color of cherry blossom with blue sky as a background is simply beautiful. I knew I was lucky to see it because I bought the plane ticket in advance and had no idea if I make it. But I did. And it was so bloody special! To write about Washington one post is not enough. As I spent there more than a week and saw many fascinating sites I think I will publish another post.  

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As a kid I was watching a TV series titled Jack and the Fatman. This series was a wired combination of paradise-like Honolulu and crime. While watching this series I tried to imagine what it’s like to be a cop in a Hawaiian shirt. Isn’t it tempting to stay on the beach all day instead to walking in the dark underground parking? Or maybe living in a place like Hawaii you get use to the beauty surrounding and it does not impress you anymore? I went to Hawaii once. I didn’t expect to go there again. That is why I tried so hard to remember every detail of this trip. I flew from Frankfurt to Los Angeles, changed a plane (from ‘International’ to ‘Domestic’) and landed in Honolulu after 24h since I left home. When asked at immigration office about the purpose of my visit I had to reply it was rather business than pleasure but I was excited with this trip anyway. I never sleep in a plane so travel across the ocean, or in this case across two oceans, was devastating. When I finally arrived to Honolulu I had some difficulties to remember my own name! But the view from the landing plane was fabulous: couple of little green islands illuminated by the sunset. For me it was the middle of the night or rather early morning of the next day but for the locals it was only afternoon (it gets dark very early comparing with Italy or France, not to mention Sweden). I remember the first impression of Oahu island that came to me as a smell of the air. It is very difficult to describe but there were some fragrances of unknown flowers, salt of the ocean and a smell of a moist soil. It reminded me a smell of a greenhouse with exotic plants but with the freshness  you will never get in a greenhouse. I took a taxi and went straight to the hotel but instead to go to sleep immediately I went to see the ocean. I couldn’t resist. It was dark already, the moon was shining and it was a fabulous scenery. Just like in a movie, I would say. The next day was spectacular: with blue sky, sun and emerald ocean it was just as I expected. The blue of the ocean was stunning and I had an opportunity to see it from the 16th floor in a hotel just around the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Kuhio Beach Park. As it was June the heat was unbearable. Either you could stay indoors in air conditioned room or go to the beach to feel the breeze from the ocean. Hanging around in the city was out of the question before the evening. Fortunately, the center of Honolulu is provided with a variety of ethnic restaurants and so I could enjoy my favorite Chinese food late in the night. Any disappointments? Well, to be honest: Waikiki Beach. I have never thought it is so narrow! And so close to the main boulevard  Sitting on the beach is similar to the sitting on the bus stop and waiting for the bus. But it’s quite easy to deal with it. No need to get angry. If you leave the main and very crowded part of Waikiki beach and walk a bit down to the south you will be awarded with wider and less crowded beach. There are sill people there but it is much less frequented than the main part of Waikiki located near shops, cafes and the Royal Hawaiian. One of the most painful memories I have were my back burned by the sun. I went to the beach just for an hour but got immediately burnt. It hurt me until the end of my stay in Hawaii, during the flight back and a week after return. Nasty memory. One of the biggest surprise that might seam to be funny for people who live by the ocean is that the current and waves are so strong. Even close to the shore you must be very careful when you enter the water. All in all, if you have always dreamed about Hawaii I think you will not be disappointed. Other smaller islands in archipelago are full of attractions and I am pretty sure you will find something for yourself. For me it would be great to visit Hawaii again but only for whale watching. Once a year these huge mammals come to Hawaii to sing their song. It would be thrilling to see it and listen to their song.  

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