Monday, October 27, 2008

exploring SFO....

In the past one year I have had the good fortune to visit many places; be it in pretext of a vacation or a business travel. Many were planned in detail with me visualizing myself through whole trip to form a list of all the items that i will need during the trip while in many others there was barely an hour gap between the trip and the decision to make it.

But when it comes to my personal preferences, I don't believe in a vacation with people rushing around to keep deadlines to tourist spots. Nor do all tourist spots hold any charm for me. I remember enjoying a tap (i meant tap only not lap....:-)) dance performance on the SFO streets while having lunch much more than my crash into the much hyped vine tasting centers in Napa valley. Partly because sitting there and watching the street artist perform in the busy street with the sun on my back was so refreshing, a feeling that the Napa vineyards could not offer.... esp in harvest season.



Looking back at the trips that i had in the US, i consider my vacation in SFO the one i enjoyed most. Except for a few attractions of the city like the Alcatraz and the Sunset cruise that i pre-planned, the rest of the time in the 3 day schedule was left to pamper the whims of the last minute planner in me. We visited the city contrary to the advice i got from almost eveyone i had a word with; and to stay there overnight (stay when SFO is just about an hour from your place.....:-)) was unforgivable to say the least. Somehow it seemed to me that people kept avoiding a vacation in this city not because of any drawback of the city itself but paradoxically because it was so easy to get there and so much within reach. I remember telling my Client manager about my room rates in SFO. "Man you are mad... totally mad" was the response, not just because the rates were very high but as i could easily have come back to my own place to spend the night.


From what i have seen and experienced every place has its charms but the ones you will most cherish are not the ones that you will find listed in the tourist spots. They are the ones that you feel like enjoying at that time. Biriyani might be a great food (It is my pesonal favorite...:-))) but i dont think it would evoke a great zeal, wen i feel like having a tea. :-|| During our trip we spoiled ourselves in the one of the best luxury hotels in town, ate from a Punjabi dhabba, enjoyed a walk across the beautiful baker beach, explored all shopping deals in fisherman's wharf and made sure that we had the time for almost every crackpot activity we felt like going for at that time.

We spend 3 whole days in this beautiful city and yet we had so may attractions unseen when we left the place. "I really dont want to leave. I like it so much here" my wife held on to me in protest as we boarded the BART back home.

11 comments:

DaxLoading said...

i live travel too!!
maybe you can travel to China in your convenience!

Manumaan said...

good beginning..enjoying wildhurst sauvignon blanc wine.

Manumaan said...

ippola kande ninte favorite film..thanks aliya...

Ninku said...

From what i have seen and experienced every place has its charms but the ones you will most cherish are not the ones that you will find listed in the tourist spots...sathyam

Feby said...

I truely agree on the napa valley part and spending time to enjoy the trip.

Wish there was no project deadlines, enough holidays, the flight/hotel prices always cheap on holidays.. :-) Enthu rasamayirikkum..

But, I am a kinda person who want to visit places and want to enjoy the places. (May be photograpy is the driving factor).

Eda, ur photo in that night dress with vine glass would have added spice to the blog :)

Unknown said...

A very nice post and most of it is true. Some times you enjoy the most when yo expect it the least!

Sanjog said...

You write well man!
Yes, you said it right.. vacation means taking enough time out to enjoy a place or activity, not rushing from one place to another just to cover all the "hot" tourist spots.
During my NY trip, more than the liberty or empire state, I enjoyed walking the streets, traveling in the subway and just taking in the night life at Times Square.. it was amazing! :)

Girish said...

You write really well dude! Amazing!
And.. what you have said is absolutely true... Its not the rushing that u enjoy, its the amount of quality time you can spend at a place, even if it just means sitting at a place watching a street performer dance...

Anonymous said...

nirthi poda... ninakku vere pani onnum ille... blog ezhuthan erangayirikkunnu... ini melal blog ezhuthiyal ninte kal thalli odikkum...

Anonymous said...

dude i would call this painkili blog... oru mangalathile thara novel vaayikkunna pole ulla feeling...

Unknown said...

waiting for more posts from u joise....the first one was a very good read..plz dont stop!