Honeymoon: California trail to Nevada and Arizona
As our wedding anniversary is at the door, I am finally decided to tell you about our amazing honeymoon which is the best moment, not only because it allowed us to discover (and more) incredible places but also because it represents the unfailing record of the first trip after the famous “Yes, I do”.
From Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Las Vegas, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Gran Canyon, Maui, Kauai, Honolulu to the ups and down of San Francisco’ streets, we spent 22 days between California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Hawaii!
We sojourned in 9 hotels, we ride for 3000 km with 5 different cars and flew for more than 40 hours… fulfilling our dream.
Starting our trip “Trail” from California, then reaching the states of Nevada and Arizona; be ready because I’ll take you with me to go over again every single place that, exactly one year ago, spoiled my heart with marvels; I’ll pull out of the drawer all the memories and I’ll share with you every moment of an adventure to the discovery of stunning landscapes.
Honeymoon: California Trail
If you never dreamed once in your life to see California with your own eyes, put your hands up…
No one? It’s not a surprise. In fact, this state is one of the main touristic sites of the USA. It’s proud of unique beauties (owns 10 national parks) and famous cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
As for the weather, it’s better to go during summer where the sun shines bright, the probability of raining is very low and the temperature is about 28°C except on San Francisco bay where the temperatures are always low and unfortunately, snowing is a constant value.
California Trail: Los Angeles, Beverly Hills
Gianluca and I started our trip landing on Los Angeles airport LAX; Los Angeles is the blazing touristic centre of the USA. We rent the craving Mustang and we started to go around.
Los Angeles is divided into different districts and areas.
Beverly Hills is not an area but a real city, usually associated to rich people and VIP, where fashion and extra luxurious shops follow chic restaurants.
I fell in love with Beverly Hills; it’s the jewel of Los Angeles! You can’t forget to walk through the notorious Rodeo Drive. It’s an ordered street crowded of luxurious boutique where tourists enjoy going through silently far away from the shops unaffordable by common people, hoping to meet a celebrity passing by.
Beverly Hills is part, together with the areas of Bel Air and Holmby Hills, of the well-said Platinum Triangle, the richest and most luxurious zone of the city.
California Trail: Hollywood
Hollywood is an area of the homonym district known worldwide as the mecca of the cinema. Sunset Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard are between the most famous streets. Sunset Strip quarter is known to be the best for the night life; in fact, you’ll find numerous chic clubs.
If you made it to arrive up till here, you can’t miss (and snap) the famous ‘Hollywood’ on the hills of Santa Monica, particularly visible from the Griffith Park Observatory.
This icon was created in the 20’ of the XX century with advertisement scopes but today, it’s one of the symbol of the famous city. DON’T MISS IT!
This zone holds many other treasures; one of them is found in between Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street: The Walk of Fame.
Introduced in 1960, it’s nothing but a very long pavement marked with stars where each has the name of one celebrity between the thousands that have (and still) influenced the story of cinema.
Hollywood is a dimension on herself where you’ll feel to be in the middle of a cinematographic scenario;
Everything around you will seem to recall the peace of a film…
There are a lot of attractions to enjoy in the City of the Angles! Go to The Grove, an open-air commercial centre. It’s a dreamed island for the shopping lovers, a small typical American city made of shops, restaurants, bars, even squares and a cinema!
California Trail: Universal Studios
Let’s go back in childhood and let’s turn back to curiosity… The Universal and Paramount Studios are two places you don’t have to miss for any reason; they are two giants of the screen.
It’s a way back in the history of cinema surrounded by cinematographic sets, directing towards the reproduction of Springfield (The Simpsons) and making alive the scenarios of Harry Potter… it’s not over! Some of the cinema’s secrets are uncovered and explained. You could live the emotion of 4D and understand why in movies, it rains… on demand. I’ll not tell you more, some experiences are better to be lived.
California Trail: Malibu, Venice Beach, Santa Monica
Now let’s talk about another city: Malibu, it’s the temple of surf lovers… and those who enjoy staring at them! The celebrities treading on the sun of Malibu are countless and it’ll be easy to meet them. The coast line is very diversified; green pieces of coast follow infinite stretch of sand and small isolated beaches hidden by high rock formations.
Now let’s be enthralled by the magic Venice Beach: Shops standing in front of the sea, very long beaches and several bicycle paths where skaters move with ability within people passing. Venice Beach was born in 1905 from the inspiration of the billionaire Kinney who, in love with Venice, tried to reproduce its atmosphere; as Italian, I confess that he succeeded. Venice Beach expels serenity and numerous street artists overcrowd the seafront and make you feel home.
Now, I’m about to tell you about the city of Santa Monica situated at 10 minutes from Venice Beach. For being built on stilts, there are a lot of visitors or maybe not. The Third Street Promenade is the main street where shops follow clubs, restaurants and the unmissable acrobats and street artists. There are a lot of skates and bicycles around, and even here the skaters fly by making you feel the American atmosphere.
The Ferris wheel of Luna Park on the pier rises against the horizon created by a thin line dividing the ocean and the sky.
California Trail: San Diego
From Santa Monica, we reach San Diego after three hours by car towards South. Here, you must visit the three parks which make San Diego proud: The Zoo, the Wild Animal Park and the Sea World… Join to your walk a good local beer, you’ll enjoy a peculiar breeze.
California Trail: Santa Barbara
While going towards Nord from Santa Monica, we’ll arrive to Santa Barbara after one hour and half approximately. This city is proud of the Stearns Wharf, the most ancient woody pier of California state (since 1872). The seafront is wonderful, rich of palms, shops, restaurants and a breath-taking view on the ocean. This city also offers story and culture; in fact, Santa Barbara is born for a mission which remnants are conserved at El Presidio.
Emotionally full, rich of new experiences and with baggage overflowing of memories, we then continued our trip moving to Las Vegas…
And later, we went to the magnificent Monument Valley, the Antelope and the awesome Gran Canyon.
We’ll deal with the second half of this journey in the next articles!
To Be Continued…
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