California
So, last year I went to California on two occasions. The first was a quick weekend trip to San Diego, mostly for family reasons, but I do remember liking the weather (it was in May).The second trip I visited a friend in the Bay Area in late July. He lived in Oakland, and I got a chance to hang around in Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco. I had a life-changing burrito experience (a good one) at La Taqueria on Mission Street, and had a chance to poke around Paxton Gate (http://www.paxtongate.com/), a cool shop with animal bones, exotic flowers and all kinds of curious gifts. In Berkeley I ate at a vegetarian Japanese restaurant called Cha-Ya, which was lovely.For photographers, the street art scene is alive and well in the Bay Area. I walked down Clarion Alley and saw loads of wheatpastings, murals and other bits:http://www.flickr.com/photos/quitepeculiar/3769783265/in/photostream/Has anyone else been anywhere in California? What was your experience like?
ewebber
I’ve went to San Francisco for a couple of weeks a couple of years ago and also took in Santa Cruz and Capitola, we also popped into San Fran on the way back from Hawaii. I love San Fran, it has a really nice vibe, I haven’t been to La Taqueria, but will do at some point. I did have amazing brioche bread pudding at Tartine and fantastic coffee at Ritual Roasters on Valencia. There is also a pretty cool pirate shop and literacy place that is worth a visit a couple of doors from Paxton Gatehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/emilywebber/5064294752/
alexpink
I’ve been to California a few times, and loved each and every visit. I’ve been to LA and San Fran mainly but I also did the drive along route 1 from north to south. Its a beautiful coast line with lots to see along the way. I hired a car in SF and drove down to just north of Santa Barbara before skipping out of California to Vegas – but I came back and dropped the car off in LA. My advice, don’t drive in LA on Friday night rush hour, especially on the freeways – its mental. Best bit was driving through death valley in the Mojave Desert. Here are some pics from the trip – http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_foz/sets/72157607121734020/