we made it to cali pretty much without incident. kevin managed not to lose his cool with any of our fellow travelers even after 17 hours of (hungover) traveling. kris greeted us and we managed to stay up too late and drink them out of red wine. the 2004 picchetti cab was our absolute favorite, and although we didn't make it to the winery this trip, we definitely will next time.
saturday morning took jen and riley to san fran for a synchronized swimming meet (i'm not making this up). i had no idea this was a competitive sport outside of the olympics, and i certainly never expected my 11 year old niece to be part of the action. hilariously, jen had to shellac her hair with knox gelatin to keep it in place for the festivities. i promised riley i would not post the picture of the aftermath, but suffice it to say it was highly amusing.
griffin had a basketball tournament for the competitive league he's in, and they just kept winning. interesting tidbit--these games of his are 5 periods instead of the more conventional 4 quarters. who knew...he's a fabulous defensive player--which from what i know about the rest of the nagels, he comes by honestly. although they didn't win (in his words), the "san jose state championship," it was exciting to watch. griffin is #5 - this is right before he scored...
btw, los gatos (aka city of cats) is pretty much full of dogs. more specifically, people in their workout gear walking their dogs around town. we stopped in the apple store on santa cruz blvd, and i think there were at least as many dogs as people in there. kevin is convinced none of these people actually work out, they just dress the part and traipse about town with their dogs. we haven't seen any mountain lions as yet (presumably how the city got its name), but we also haven't been too far up the hills. maybe we'll make that a priority on our next visit.
kids love the sharper image - i spent the morning with griffin there, and then riley and i made a trip in the afternoon. i have the most hilarious picture of her making a funny face on the massage chair.
kris, jen, kevin & i had dinner at dio deka, a fabulous place in los gatos that specializes in "hellenic" cuisine (their descriptor, not mine). after we were finally seated, the waiter informed us that our appetizers would be on the house since we had been so patiently waiting long after our reservation time. they brought us several delicious dishes, but i have to admit that my favorite dish was the saganaki. the menu says, "pan-fried kefalograviera cheese finished with metaxa brandy and lemon emulsion," i say "fried feta." amazing.
normally, i hate it when the waiter hovers as you take your first bite of food, but it worked out in this case since our lamb was way overcooked. he disappeared with our plates and when he came back, he brought the manager to comp all of our food. unfortunately, we took the opportunity to order another (not cheap) bottle of wine to celebrate our good fortune and promptly squandered any comps we had....oh well.
we took today to rest our livers before heading off tomorrow for the wine valleys. we are due at schramsberg in the afternoon for cave tours and a tasting. dinner will be at john ash, and we are staying at the vintner's inn.
saturday morning took jen and riley to san fran for a synchronized swimming meet (i'm not making this up). i had no idea this was a competitive sport outside of the olympics, and i certainly never expected my 11 year old niece to be part of the action. hilariously, jen had to shellac her hair with knox gelatin to keep it in place for the festivities. i promised riley i would not post the picture of the aftermath, but suffice it to say it was highly amusing.
griffin had a basketball tournament for the competitive league he's in, and they just kept winning. interesting tidbit--these games of his are 5 periods instead of the more conventional 4 quarters. who knew...he's a fabulous defensive player--which from what i know about the rest of the nagels, he comes by honestly. although they didn't win (in his words), the "san jose state championship," it was exciting to watch. griffin is #5 - this is right before he scored...btw, los gatos (aka city of cats) is pretty much full of dogs. more specifically, people in their workout gear walking their dogs around town. we stopped in the apple store on santa cruz blvd, and i think there were at least as many dogs as people in there. kevin is convinced none of these people actually work out, they just dress the part and traipse about town with their dogs. we haven't seen any mountain lions as yet (presumably how the city got its name), but we also haven't been too far up the hills. maybe we'll make that a priority on our next visit.
kids love the sharper image - i spent the morning with griffin there, and then riley and i made a trip in the afternoon. i have the most hilarious picture of her making a funny face on the massage chair.
kris, jen, kevin & i had dinner at dio deka, a fabulous place in los gatos that specializes in "hellenic" cuisine (their descriptor, not mine). after we were finally seated, the waiter informed us that our appetizers would be on the house since we had been so patiently waiting long after our reservation time. they brought us several delicious dishes, but i have to admit that my favorite dish was the saganaki. the menu says, "pan-fried kefalograviera cheese finished with metaxa brandy and lemon emulsion," i say "fried feta." amazing.
normally, i hate it when the waiter hovers as you take your first bite of food, but it worked out in this case since our lamb was way overcooked. he disappeared with our plates and when he came back, he brought the manager to comp all of our food. unfortunately, we took the opportunity to order another (not cheap) bottle of wine to celebrate our good fortune and promptly squandered any comps we had....oh well.
we took today to rest our livers before heading off tomorrow for the wine valleys. we are due at schramsberg in the afternoon for cave tours and a tasting. dinner will be at john ash, and we are staying at the vintner's inn.
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