After a week in Northern California, during which I downed no less than 20 glasses of wine and traipsed around sunny Sacramento, hilly San Francisco, and the gorgeous Lodi wine country, I have found new appreciation for The Golden State. What can I say? The sun does indeed make a difference – a huge one. In fact, how could you not be happy when this is what you see every time you’re on the road?
This amazing blue sky is what greeted us on the drive to Sacramento. The city, with its beautiful river walk and old-world narrow streets, seemed an embodiment of the Californian lifestyle. We arrived on a Wednesday morning to ridiculously sunny skies and nearly empty streets. Downtown, the vintage road signs and street car tracks recalled a bygone era despite the modernity that envelopes it. After wandering along the river front for a good hour, we caught a glimpse of the state capitol and spent the afternoon in Old Sacramento. I gawked at how happy the locals seemed to be, and this feeling will become increasingly repetitive as the week goes on.
The next two days were spent in a drunken daze as I started my journey to becoming a true wine connoisseur. Two things I learnt – Moscato and Reisling, along with all other sweet wines, apparently are for beginners only. Who knew? Also, the only way to cure a hangover is to drink more. We headed to the Lodi Valley, which had all of Napa’s quality but none of its arrogance, for a day of wine tasting. At the first two wineries, I was extremely self-conscious at being the only novice and so nervously chugged everything I was given. By the time we drunkenly arrived at the third vineyard, my head was in a delicious swirl.
Musings of a Leaf 