Temecula Valley, .....Wine Country in southern California?....Yes!!!

So here I was in Orange county last weekend right?...I  had gone to Laguna Beach last Saturday and started wondering what I would do on Sunday.  I found this brochure advertising wineries in southern California in the Temecula Valley and thought hmmmm free wine tasting??? Yup I'm there like a cat on a scratching pole, like a dog on rib bone , like a mosquito on a hot summer day on your arm, like a....well you get the drift...lol...

Anyway off I go heading west on this beautiful sunny day in Cali....It's about 45mins-1 hour drive west of Orange county and the drive out there is nice.  As opposed to when I was driving into Laguna Beach, there is no traffic on the highway, how great is that!...

As I start getting near I check out the thermostat on the car and it is 104 degrees outside...What!!! OMG.....Now, I'm a Miami girl, used to very hot weather but 104 in the dessert??? yikes...it will be like an oven when I get out of the car and the AC.......

I enter the city line of Temecula and head into "Old Town" and I feel I've stepped back into time, the old west!  The main street is called...Main Street!,...how about that! and the buildings and storefronts look like I imagine the old west looked like. Very pretty with the view of the mountains in the back. I park and start my exploration.  and yes it feels like an oven when i get out of the car...Whoa!

I first go to this little cute antique shop full of wonderful old "western" things, and I think,wow... if Kristen were here she would love it!!! So I of course take a picture of the store and send it to her...(Don't you just love modern technology!!)...I don't buy anything but I head out and explore the little side streets full of wonderful shops and restaurants and saloons (i was just about to say cafes but we don't call them that here in the west, they are called Saloon, Ma'am)....ahhh but they do have a Starbucks...of course!

I'm walking along and find this store called the Olive Oil and it's basically the same concept of wine tasting but with different mixtures and flavorings of olive oil.  So I go in.....Ahhh wonders of wonders....the shelves are lined with a large assortment of olive oils and vinegars and spreads and spices, etc. etc.  I am reminded of my trip to Egypt when I was in the Baudoin camp trying out the essences/perfume oils and the walls were filled with perfume oils !!...

I'm instantly asked to try the samples of olive oil and the attendant begins to explain what each of the olie oils have inside.  I start of with one that has a vanilla flavoring, wow!....really good, then  I try one with a citrus base and then one with a special blend of herbs for bread dipping.  They are really really good and the attendant explains what each one is good for..some for frying, some for salads, some for bread dipping.  She also asks me to try some of the balsamic vinegars they have and after awhile I decide which ones I want and other goodies from the store and make my purchases.  I'm wondering how the heck I'm going to pack these into my luggage but she says to me, we can ship these to you and voila life becomes so much easier in an instant....!


Some of my purchases!

 

Tesoro Wine Shop

Off I go in search of my wines now...so i stop at a winery called Tesoro.  It's a very cute shop and as I sit down, Nancy the lovely lady at the counter explains to me the different wines they produce and I begin to sample them.  They have whites, reds and sparkling wine and I decide to begin with a Hibiscus sparkling wine...Ohhhhh my, what a surprise....!  I love it.....

I then go to a white chardonnay, then the reds and by the time I finish, I think I've polished of quite a number of glasses, oh dear! My favorite turns out to be the Hibiscus sparkling wine and a red called Sangiovese. I decide on a few bottles of those and now head of to the vineyards. 

The scenery is beautiful.  Not as a green as you might find in Napa or Sonoma valley but certainly still beautiful and I explore a few of the vineyards. 

There are a good 30+ vineyards and wineries here and some are fairly large and others on a smaller scale. 

I don't take a tour this time as it is a bit late in the day and I'm content with just visiting the wineries and seeing what they have.  No more wine tasting as I do have to drive back but I spend the afternoon walking and exploring the place.  I certainly think its a place I'll come back to even if the weather is very hot....All in all,  a wonderful weekend!



Heading back home!



I'm Backkkkkk........

Well, that was a long absence after the Egypt trip but it took a beautiful weekend in sunny southern California for the Traveling Redheaded Lady (that's me!) to come back online and post.....

Work brings me to the west coast, specifically to Orange County (and no I haven't bumped into the Real Housewives of Orange County yet..!) for the week which included the weekend.  So being that I love to explore new places I've never been to, I decided on Saturday to see the famed Laguna Beach and see what all the fuss was about.  Plus I hear there is an arts festival so that piece of news seals my plans for spending my Saturday.

Off I go towards the beach and everything looks smooth until I hit the exit to Laguna Beach and sit in traffic for 45 minutes to move 4 miles!! (Mohamed, Cairo is not the only place with terrible traffic!!)

I finally get to Laguna Beach and then spend another 20+ minutes looking for parking.  All the lots are full, I gather because of the Arts Festival, finally the Parking Gods take pity on me and as I turn into a street a car is pulling out from a metered spot and before you can say JLo left Marc Anthony and now has a new BF I'm parked!!! Wow!...
Off I go to the Arts Festival which luckily is only about 3 blocks away. 

I get to the ticket counter and just as I'm about to pay for my ticket, a man starts gesturing and whispering to me...No no no don't buy it! don't buy it , come here come here...!!I'm taken back but the man is insisting in giving me a free admission ticket and a woman next to him is nodding her head saying yes take it, take it.....Me being from cynical Miami think, yeah right, a free ticket??, "How much mister", he insist its free so I take it and lo and behold I show it to the ticket counter lady and she gives me a free ticket!!! I look at the man, I look at the woman and I look up at the heavens....YES!...Thank you thank you....things are looking good!

I spend time at the arts Festival where there are hundreds of artists with their paintings, crafts, jewelery, you name it and its there.  Very nice pieces.  There is a live band playing jazz music and of course we are in California sooooooo there is wine tasting!!!  I spend a couple of hours there then decide to explore more of Laguna Beach.  I head towards the ocean and the town is full of quaint little shops and restaurants all along the waterfront and surrounding area.

 I get closer to the water, I can see the water from where I am,  but temptation just keeps pulling me into these really really cute shops full of clothing, jewelry, lingerie, ceramics, everything!!....I can't resist and of course I do damage to my credit cards. I stop to rest at Casey's Cupcakes, yup the one and the same as seen on the Food Network channel...Her cupcakes are scrumptious and I indulge and have a milk chocolate ganache cupcake.  It's very good but I've tasted Kristen, and I like hers better!!

I finally make it to the water and it is incredible!...The surf is definitely much stronger than what I'm used to seeing in Miami but it is nonetheless marvelous. 

The beach is crowded with families, couples, friends, dogs enjoying the beautiful sunny day.  It is a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. I love the atmosphere, the location is just incredible. 


You've got the mountains, canyons and the ocean, truly fantastic. The mountain ridges have these huge homes overlooking the ocean that are magnificent.











I decide to have lunch at one of the many restaurants on the ocean side called "The Cliff".  The food is alright but the view is worth it. 















After lunch I walk some more and start heading back to my car which is way back inland.  I'm exhausted by the time I get in the car and start heading back to my hotel, but I spent a wonderful day exploring, meeting artists and shop owners, breathing in fresh ocean air and just enjoying it.  I'm a lucky woman.......

Tomorrow I'm heading to the Temecula Valley, wine country!!....stay tuned...

TRL....

Nooooo…..My trip has come to an end….!

I can’t believe 2 weeks have come and gone….where did the time go!....I feel there is so much more to see and do….2 weeks is definitely not enough.  I haven’t seen the oasis, Hurghada or the east coast of Egypt or Sham El Sheikh.  And Alexandria had much more to see and do than the day trip I took anddddd I didn’t get to see a true Egyptian belly dance!!! What….does this mean the Redheaded Lady is planning a return trip to Egypt…..hmmmmm perhaps perhaps….but next time yes Kenny, you’re coming with me….lol…!!

The Museum's distinctive red color can be spotted miles away

There is so much that I did or experience that I didn’t write down because I just didn’t have time!  Let’s see there was the trip to the Egyptian Museum that was awesome and I didn’t write about it. The museum houses extraordinary pieces and collections but it is kind of in disarray and disorganized.  Many pieces have no signs or information, so although you are looking at a wonderful intricately detailed statue, you have no idea from what period or where it was found.  I found that the only area that was very well laid out and arranged was the King Tutankhamen’s (King Tut) collection.  I had the opportunity to go see the King Tut exhibition when it came to South Florida and Kenny and I went to see it.  We both walked out disappointed because we expected to see much more.  Well, here there was no disappointment.  An enormous amount of the treasures found in King Tut’s tomb is displayed.  However, there is much more in storage that hopefully in the new museum currently being built will be shown.

Courtyard in front of the Museum

Then there was the night I went to the Al Ahzar Park located in the Old Cairo section.  I compared it to Central Park in New York.  In the middle of this hustling and bustling crowded city full of traffic, noise, pollution, etc, you find this haven.  It’s huge and full of trails and wonderful nooks and corners.  It was on a Friday night the day I went which is the first day of the weekend for Egyptians (like Saturday for us!) so it was full of families out for a night of fun and quality time and couples sneaking away for a little romance.  The Park has a couple of restaurants and cafes.  But the best thing the park has is the magnificent views especially from the top of the Citadel View Café and the Telescope.  I walked all the way up to the top where there is a telescope and for a few coins you can see the view of the whole city including the beautiful Citadel.  It was spectacular!

Then of course there was the neighborhood I stayed in the 2^nd week in central downtown which was another haven in this bustling busy city.  The first week’s apartment in Giza was very nice; a large sized 2 bedroom apartment that I rented from a lady from Scotland, Catherine Farnsworth.  It was a far away from the Cairo downtown area but right smack in the Pyramid/sphinx locations.  The place was very nice and roomy and of course the best thing the apartment had was the roof terrace and its views, incredible!!

Giza/Pyramid Neighborhood

The 2^nd apartment I stayed in was in Central downtown Cairo located in a safe and lovely neighborhood off of Tallat Harb Street and owned by Mara Vaughn and her son Stephen, a wonderful lady from Ireland.  The apartment was about a 10-15 minute walk from the Egyptian Museum.  The 3 bedroom apartment is located on the 3^rd floor and on top of the Bank of Cairo building.  It had beautiful wooden floors and the living, dining, and full kitchen area is all in an open space layout.  The balcony opens from the living and wraps all the way around the bedroom so you have the view of the street below and it was great in the afternoon to just go out in the balcony and people watch.  When you venture outside the apartment, you’ll find restaurants, shops, markets, bakeries, everything you can imagine in an urban city.  I loved this apartment and certainly recommend it to anyone that wants to experience the city away from a hotel.

And I barely wrote about the famous or should I say infamous traffic in Cairo! What I found fascinating is their system of honking….yes there is a system behind the honking.  A little honk might mean watch out I’m next to you real close, or I’m coming up behind you or it might mean I’m cutting in front of you.  Then there is the total disregard for staying in your lane….LOL….Nobody stays in their lane !....a 4 lane road highway becomes sometimes 5 or 6 depending on the traffic and the honking will let the drivers know if they are coming into your lane or need to pass you or I’m in a hurry get out of my way!. The faster the honking the more urgency behind it…If I honk several times quickly it means “Hey you almost hit me! Or watch buster you’re too close!”….and then of course there are all these one way streets that really are not always one way.  Because if a Cairo driver needs to go in the opposite direction for a bit hey why not!  Mario Andretti, I mean Mohamed, did it several times like nothing and I also experienced it on the receiving end when a driver decided he needed to head our way….LOL…Amazing!

McDonald's delivery anyone.....?

Tahir Square....Revolution is over, people back to their daily life

 

Tahir Square....

My invitation  by the Chef to cook with him at the Luxor Hotel

Mohamed and me

Church at San Simon

Alexandria

Samar and me

As you can see there were plenty of things I experienced in Egypt the 2 weeks I was there. But the thing I really enjoyed and cherished the most where the people I came in contact with, Egyptian and non-Egyptian people.  Hossam, the apartment manager from the first apartment I stayed in in Giza who was my technology savior! My sweet friend Samar who had the most beautiful eyes and smile on an Egyptian woman I saw while there,  Hossam from Aswan working as a tour guide to provide for his family and with whom we talked about Egypt, politics, religion during the 3 hour trip to Abu Simbel and back to Aswan,  Joe, my next door neighbor in Cairo from the Netherlands who we shared an impromptu pasta dinner one night and talked about our love of teaching/training, my Jango friends who went out of their way to make me feel welcomed and showed me their city, Mara, who I spoke about before, the leader of the Mosque of Sultan Hassan with his moving and powerful voice and the Priest at the San Simon Monastery, who showed me what true faith is about, Rehab, the young mother/tour guide who impressed me with her knowledge of Egypt and its beautiful history and how her love for learning has her seeking her PHD and of course I never would have experienced Egypt without Mohamed Bahaa, who not only showed me the “real Egypt”  but showed me places I never would have seen on a tour, spoke and told me things that happened during the revolution I never would have heard on CNN and most importantly opened his home and family to me and became my friend. 

So folks, I hope that on my next trip, wherever that may take me, you’ll join me again, read my adventures and leave your comments…..So when things get crazy and people and stuff stress you out, just remember….Life is always Good my friends, Life is Good….

Love you all!

Redheaded Lady