California vacation with cheeseburgers and cable cars
Anyone who goes on vacation to California always has certain images in their head. And they are not disappointed. Because the most populous state in the USA fulfills almost all the clichés from films and songs - and is still completely unique and wonderful. Of course, San Francisco has the most delicious cheeseburgers, for example at the US burger chain "Wendy's" - fancy a taste? Then click on www.wendys.ca. Of course, California's sights also include the famous cable cars, which take you up and down the hills. Or Alcatraz, the most famous prison in the world. For 24 dollars, you can get the creeps here in the legendary old cell wings. Yes, there are plenty of interesting places in California!
But the crispest beach guards à la David Hasselhoff are said to be found on the beaches of L.A.. And that's exactly where we want to go now. The approximately 730 kilometers between California's cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles are best covered in a rental car and plan two overnight stays. We set off across the famous Golden Gate Bridge: what a view, at least for the passenger. The first stop on our California vacation is the small town of Monterey, around 200 kilometers south of San Francisco. It has become famous for the largest seawater aquarium in the USA - with 35,000 animals and 550 different species, it is simply gigantic and a highlight for lovers of nudibranchs, starfish, jellyfish, large sharks and penguins.
The most expensive pavement in America
In the nearby romantic artists' town of Carmel, we admire the most beautiful sunset of our California vacation over a glass of Californian white wine in the evening before heading to Santa Barbara the next day (two hours from L.A.). This small coastal town has the most expensive real estate in America: Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg and TV star Oprah Winfrey all live here.
Of course, we try to see a few of the stars' properties - but most of them are too well hidden behind high hedges and gravel driveways. And no, we're no good as paparazzos ... After we've snooped around the district of the rich and famous enough, we drive into Los Angeles on highway number 1. It's rush hour - doesn't matter. The whole area is too exciting. Once we reach the city center, we drop off our rental car and walk to the Walk of Fame with its 2,500 stars embedded in the ground. After all, it's almost Oscar time. The world's most famous film award is presented in February. The city is correspondingly crowded. Film fans and autograph hunters everywhere. We don't spot any stars or actors, but a red carpet is already being rolled out in front of the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. And on Rodeo Drive (where "Pretty Woman" was filmed, by the way), important-looking people are getting out of fat, darkened limousines. Exciting!
California: Vacation among surfers and redwood trees
If you need a little peace and quiet on your California vacation, you can retreat to one of the beaches on the deep blue ocean in a rental car. In Malibu, you can marvel at the world's best surfers . The white beach of Santa Monica is rather quiet. But: here we finally see a young lifeguard in those typical red shorts. Venice Beach , on the other hand, is a bit crazy. Break dancers perform tricks and are happy to take a few coins for it. A day later, we set off for Yosemite National Park, passing small towns such as Lancaster and Bakersfield. It is located around 500 kilometers away in the high Sierra Nevada mountains at an altitude of 600 to 4,000 meters. The park attracts three million visitors a year, who are spread over a wide area. 3,081 square kilometers - the area is huge. We marvel in awe at the redwood trees, many of which are up to 3,000 years old. The Yosemite waterfall plunges 800 meters into the depths - another image from our California vacation that we will never forget.