TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

In Europe the theme is all about working to live and not the other way around. Translation: Paid Holiday Leaves in Europe -- Finland (44 days), Frankrijk is France (40), Oostenrijk is Austria (38), Zweden is of course Sweden (36), Duitsland is Germany (34), Belgie is Belgium (30) and Nederland is The Netherlands (28). Actually, by law, the Netherlands have 25 paid holiday leaves (5 weeks) per year for a full-time job. Perhaps with Dutch companies they give more days but most international companies tend to only give 25 days. Still, not that bad but the Finnish and the French are definitely the winners here. I must say that the quality of life is really good here in Europe. The focus is about living life and enjoying it. People here are encouraged to spend time with their families and for themselves by employers -- many employers does not allow cashing in the holidays, one must take the needed days off. Ah, the ultimate European mentality or European dream, balancing personal l...

From my readings on the net, I have learned that the San Francisco Chinatown is the oldest (circa 1840) and largest Chinese community in the USA, as well as outside of Asia. Now that makes this ethnic quarter one of our definite stops! We’ve actually passed by the area many times with the car but because the parking meters here are the old accepting-only-coins version, we had to seek parking elsewhere. For this California trip, we’ve mainly survived paying by credit card. The USA is a country that values credit worthiness and primarily spends on credit cards (don’t get me started with the Netherlands because our credit cards here are actually debit cards), so why not make the most of it? Very convenient—no worries on having leftover US Dollars, and in fact, we have used some of our leftover US Dollars from last year's trip, and yeah, no ATM foreign withdrawal fees as well. It couldn’t have been more perfect as we found a free parking spot up in Montgomery street which was just a ...

The city of San Francisco has over 40 hills (43 named hills to be precise) and you can find the steepest hills in the Telegraph Hill neighbourhood which can easily be a red or even a black ski slope. The first time we drove to the highest hill I experienced a little bit of vertigo, a sense of lightness and some fear, even if I am safe inside the car. Out of defense reflex, and perhaps from watching many adventure and thrill flicks, I found myself clutching the car’s arm handle for support, well, I thought---just to make sure in the event the car (might) tumbles down the hill I am ready, haha. I know, very silly! And how could they park the cars sideways at almost 40-degree angle? Well, after a day of driving—rising and falling on the hills of San Francisco, let’s just say I am quick to acclimatize =) One of the attractions in these steep hills of San Francisco is Lombard Street located in the Russian Hill neighbourhood just below Telegraph Hill. It holds the title as the most winding...

On our second day in San Francisco it rained. SIGH, we’ve barely seen the city and we’re trapped inside the car, we’ve even travelled as far as Oakland, driving in circles (literally), just because we refuse to touch ground and get rained upon. Luckily that night the rain stopped and although it drizzled just a wee bit every now and then, it was doable. Tired from driving around the whole day, we decided to walk, all the way down to Union Square to check out if there is something worth seeing in the area. And voila, just near the corner to Union Square, we found this bar: The Gold Dust Lounge With its cinema-style and burning bulb signage, the lounge bar reminds me of Las Vegas, however, going inside was a nice surprise as it brings you back in time. Like during the stuck-up Victorian days when the red colour, mahogany wood and gold accents are the prime combination of what is proper, noble and upmarket for interior design. There linger a certain staleness in the air as well, not...

This year 12 March 2011 is the 160th St. Patrick's Day celebration in San Francisco, California, USA. Wow, its been that long. Next year the event will be celebrated on the 17th of March (2012). Well, we are now back in the Netherlands; we flew back last weekend, Sunday, 12 March and our last day in San Francisco was spent enjoying the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival on the same day as well. It was probably the best weather day that week and we kind of felt sorry to be leaving town. So anyway, after having parked the car a few blocks away in downtown San Francisco we proceeded to the San Francisco Civic Center Plaza where the St. Patrick’s Day event is held and where the parade passes through and comes to an end. Street parking by the way, for American standards in San Francisco, is quite expensive at $2.50 per hour but obviously cheaper still compared to New York and here in the Netherlands. We managed to squeeze ourselves through the crowd and took a spot right on the...