Napa Valley & Sonoma

Next stop on my road trip up northern California was Napa Valley.  This area of Cali is famous for its world renowned wines.  

I stayed at the Fairmont Inn & Spa which was a lovely, cosy stay.  The spa was the best I've ever been to, so if you're looking for a weekend of wine and spa treatments, this is most definitely the place you'd want to stay.  The full body massage is highly recommended!

As for wine tasting, we started at Del Dotto Vineyards which was a great place to begin.  The wine tasting is done in the caves of the winery where the difference between different barrels and the woods of each barrel is explained. I really love wine and I've done many wine tastings but, to be perfectly honest, I don't know much about it.  This particular tasting was fantastic for me because everything that I loved but never understood was explained throughout.  The difference between French and American wine, the different aging processes, the different smells, the taste at the front/middle/back of the palette were all broken down for everyone to understand quite easily which made everything so much more interesting.

Next stop was Domaine Carneros.  This place I had seen pictures of on one of my favourite blogs and I made a mental note to look out for it on my trip.  Turned out this gem of a winery was on the way from our hotel towards all the other wineries so it made for the perfect stop on the way back.   The building is so impressive.  If I had to describe it, it would be like an American chateau.  If you're in Napa I would definitely add this to your list of places not to be missed by any means!  We didn't do a tasting here, we simply ordered sparkling wine and cheese plates and enjoyed the atmosphere of this beautiful place and a golden fall afternoon.  

That evening we had dinner in Sonoma right near the town hall which was is so quaint and lovely.  The Girl and the Fig restaurant is really popular but we ate at the hotel nextdoor which has a gorgeous outside area alongside the pool.  I had the most delicious butternut squash soup with marshmellows.  Interesting combination but, as I love both, I tried it and I was most definitely impressed!

Pumpkin Patch

I'm heading home today after a three week stay in California.  I've had the most incredible time here.  I've spent most my time in Los Angeles but a group of us did a road trip along the California coast.  I'll be sharing all that with you over the next couple posts because it's too good not to share.

I arrived in America just in time for Halloween.  Now obviously in South Africa we don't celebrate Halloween so it was quite exciting to experience it here.  To begin the festivities, I was taken to Universal Studios for their Halloween Horror Nights.  Actors run around with chainsaws behind you and there's blood and gore everywhere.  My poor little heart could not take it!!

My experience of Halloween did improve though.  We went to a pumpkin patch to find pumpkins to carve and it was the sweetest thing I've ever come across.  There are young families everywhere having fun picking out their pumpkins together.  There was a small petting zoo for the children to visit.  Hay stacks everywhere and a children's train running through the corn fields which also housed the cutest of scarecrows made by the community.  I think I found my happiness in a pumpkin patch.  I loved every moment!