In Love with San Fran: Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco has been named as the most romantic city in the world, by Miss Travel (see article here). It really isn't too difficult to see why. As we drove into the city, I was mesmerized by its hilly landscape and elegant architecture.

One of the biggest attractions of this city, is the Golden Gate Bridge. According to a ranger in Alcatraz Island, the bridge has gotten its name in the mid 1800s, when gold nuggets were discovered in Sancramento. Bridging San Francisco to Sancramento, this bridge slowly became known as the "Golden Gate" bridge. However, according to an official site (i.e.: goldengatebridge.org), its name was derived in another manner....

"The Golden Gate Strait is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean.  The strait is approximately three-miles long by one-mile wide with currents ranging from 4.5 to 7.5 knots.  It is generally accepted that the strait was named "Chrysopylae", or Golden Gate, by John C. Fremont, Captain, topographical Engineers of the U.S. Army circa 1846.  It reminded him of a harbor in Istanbul named Chrysoceras or Golden Horn."

Despite contentions over the origins of its name, it is indisputable that the Golden Gate Bridge is a lovely sight to behold in the city of San Francisco. 

We wanted to do some bike riding along the bridge. However, since we set off rather late, we decided to take a bus over to view the bridge. Biking is highly recommended should you decide to visit the Golden Gate Bridge. Many bike companies offer special biking packages to cater for tourists, so do check them out!

Chasing Fall in Vermont

Hi Vermont, I miss enveloping myself in the heart of your Fall.

Chasing Fall in Vermont: Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Not too sure about you, but one of my favourite ice cream is definitely Ben & Jerry's! It was my comfort food at one of the lowest point in my life. Until now, its still my go-to dessert after a dreadful day. I think I love it so much, I am almost a brand evangelist. HA-HA.

Thus, one of the "must go" places in Vermont for me was definitely the B&J factory, which comes with a 30 minute tour. The B&J factory is situated in Waterbury, Vermont, pretty hard to get to without any form of public transport. In fact, anywhere outside of Burlington is hard to get to without a car.

Here's how the outside of the factory looks like.

 

As it was rainy and cold (the winds were sooo strong), we quickly entered the compound and here's the welcome counter!

A ticket to the factory tour costs US$4. It includes a video which introduces the history of the company, a quick tour of the ice-cream making process and a complementary scoop of B&J ice-cream in the FlavoRoom!

And this marks the start of the tour! LETS GO!

Room showing video of B&J's history

FlavoRoom (where you get your ice cream YAY!)

This is the flavour of the day. Vanilla bean ice cream with salty caramel swirl and fudge covered in POTATO CHIPS! yeah you've got that right, and it really tastes quite awesome

After exiting the FlavoRoom, you'll walk down the B&J's Walk of Fame. Here are the top 10 flavours. Mine's New York Super Fudge Chunk at #6. What's yours?

Other than the tour, the B&J factory also boasts a flavour graveyard, where they commemorate all their "dead" flavours, a playground and a picnic area. Do check those out as well!

Chasing Fall in Vermont: Burlington Bike Trail

A good part of the previous year was spent exploring Northern America, especially the USA. One of my favourite parts was definitely watching the trees turn into a shade of gold as fall peaked.

We chose to go Vermont to chase the foliage, and I'm glad we did. Vermont is no doubt, one of the prettiest places I've been to in the States. At its peak, the state was covered in shades of yellow, red, orange and gold, while made it look too much like a painting.

One of my favourite activities within Vermont was to go on the Burlington Bike Trail. It leads you along Lake Champlain (which is gorgeous!) and into parts of the forest. You can also choose to follow the trail all around Vermont. I've known of people who have done a 6 hour ride, travelling up and down parts of the state.

You can rent bikes from Local Motion, highly advisable since it's located right next to the bike trail. However, since it was closed that day, we had no choice but to rent from somewhere else.

Lake Champlain

Park along Lake Champlain

Moving away from Lake Champlain, nearer to a little forest (:

Forest area along the bike trail, where fall was still at its peak

Same as above

As you can see, the bike trail is very nicely paved. The ride was smooth and the view was simply breathtaking. Personally, I think the photos don't quite do the place justice.

If you are intending to chase foliage in Vermont, here are just some tools I used to help me plan when to go.

• Vermont Fall Foliage Report
• Personally, I liked the foliage map they have, which is updated weekly during the fall season (I think). It helps you to target the town/city to go to to catch the peak.
• Vermont Fall Foliage Facebook Page
• The Facebook page offers a real time update on the foliage scenes within the state. During the peak, pictures were uploaded almost hourly. This can help you to target the exact landmark to visit, highways to drive along etc.