Mexico - Malinalco

I just returned to New York from Mexico after attending the wedding of my friends Juliana and Luis. The wedding was in a small pueblo called Malinalco that is about two hours south west of Mexico City. We flew into Mexico City where we joined our friends Marta and Ivan from Barcelona, Spain and began our trek to Malinalco.

Malinalco is located in a valley at the base of the mountains that form Parque Nacional Lagunas de Zempoala. As you leave Mexico City, the road climbs upward and as you near Malinalco the road drops rather dramatically. We arrived at our hotel near sunset.

 This was taken outside the gate of our hotel. This pup was always lying down outside the gate to greet us in the morning when we would leave and in the evening upon our return.

 After  our long journey we headed to the center of Malinalco for dinner. We went to this tasty pizzeria that served traditional pizzas with a mexican twist... pesto and habanero salsa.

 We had a great evening telling stories, drinking micheladas and catching up.

Juliana and Marta enjoying their micheladas which I have devoted an entire blog entry to:)

Griffith Park by Horse

We decided to rent horses and ride through Griffith Park on our last day in California.

 LA smog.

 My Mr. Ed horse.

 Mr. Ed trying to back me off the edge of the trail.

Malibu Creek State Park

Whenever I am in Los Angeles during the winter, I have to hike. The weather is just right... not to hot not to cold. The light golden.  The sage was in full swing all along our hike and smelled amazing.

 Lauren and I along the Mulholland high trail.

Ani traversing the rock pool.

 Ani and Jesse channeling their inner Tarzan, which was filmed here.

Romping along the beach

Highway 1

We drove back along Highway 1 from Monterey to Los Angeles. If you find yourself in Californa, driving along Highway 1 is something you must do!

San Francisco

I have just returned from my holiday in sunny California. I was only home for one week, but I had a fabulous time. Getting out of New York was a nightmare, I learned my lesson to never fly on Christmas Eve again. Our flight out of Laguardia was cancelled, however we were able to get a flight out of Newark which meant spending 8 endless hours in the airport.

I took a road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco with Anibal and my dad Steve:)

San Francisco is definitely among my favorite places in the world. On a clear day(like the day we arrived), the scenery is simply breathtaking. The people are well educated. The food is delicious. What is there not to love? San Francisco is different enough from Los Angeles to be refreshing for me, but wonky enough to be familiar. It was Ani's first time in San Francisco, so the first thing we did upon our arrival was go straight to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Next it was cable cars and Dungeness crab.

Then to The Buena Vista for a fine Irish coffee.

Back at the hotel to catch some zzz's.

We had breakfast at this Greek diner called the Olympic Flame.

                                                     The fog lifting from the bridge.

Look who escaped from Alcatraz.

We only had a short time in San Francisco, so we kept it super touristy. The weather was spectacular. How could you not take a thousand photos in front of the Golden Gate Bridge?