Wineries and Weddings | Napa Valley
Hall Winery 401 ST HELENA HWY S On this day, my friend had invited me to a wine tasting at one of her favorite wineries. As a member of their wine club, she is allowed to treat us to a free tasting once a year. …
Tag: California
Columbia State Historic Park | Columbia, CA
Around Halloween last year, I went to the city of Columbia for the first time. For those of you who don’t know the geography of California, it’s located about an hour outside of Yosemite. Most of the area is populated with different campgrounds and hiking …
Normandy Village | Berkeley, CA
A Fairytale Village in Northern California
Location: Spruce Street and Hearst Ave
Normandy Village, also known as Thornburg Village, is a neighborhood in Berkeley that resembles a French Village. As someone who adores European Architecture, it’s definitely my favorite continent, I HAD to see this place in person. Lucky for me, it’s not too far from where I live in California.
Getting to Normandy Village wasn’t difficult. We took BART to the Downtown Berkeley station and from there walked towards UC Berkeley. We stopped at a boba shop on the way too. Because who goes to Berkeley and doesn’t indulge in some boba? After the pit stop, we kept walking towards campus. Once reaching Oxford St., we headed left towards Hearst Ave. After that, we turned right onto Hearst and within a few minutes we were at the Village.
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The village can be a little easy to miss if you don’t know what you’re looking for; so make sure to pull up Maps if you don’t see it. The “village” is actually a few houses and condominiums next to each other, but the rest of the neighborhood looks like normal apartments and homes in Berkeley. Please remember to be respectful and quiet too since people do live in the village.
If you’re wondering if there is a reason to visit this small neighborhood in Berkeley, it’s basically just a good place to take picture. Whether it’s graduation pictures, outfit photos for Instagram, updating a photography portfolio, or a piece for your Bay Area blog.
We were fortunate that no one else was at the Village taking pictures on this day. There can be a crowd of people on weekends according to someone who lives in the area. We only saw a few students and residents coming home while we took our pictures. I should note that we had gone during Covid and businesses in the campus area had much shorter hours. However, we were not as fortunate in other ways.
Normally Berkeley has overcast and slightly cold weather, but we got unfortunately lucky. By that I mean, it was a very sunny and warm day which is NOT ideal for photography. Especially if you are trusting someone who isn’t a professional to take the photos of you. There was awkward shadows cast on my face and on the buildings in MANY of the pictures, as well as harsh sunlight. If you’re with someone who’s a professional, they’ll notice this and tell you where you should move/face. The BEST and most PERFECT day and time to go to Normandy Village for a photoshoot is on a weekday, and when the weather is more cloudy than sunny. We went on a Tuesday around 2 PM. After 5 PM would be better to avoid the bright sunlight.
If you do end up going on a bright day, a little modeling hack I have for you is wear a big hat. This will prevent a lot of eye squinting and the shadows on your face won’t look as awkward if you are directly facing the sun.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this post! As most of you know, I haven’t been leaving the country much since the start of Covid. Exploring little places nearby has been the only way I could get my travel fix. Visiting the real Normandy in France would be a much more exciting experience if you’re able to travel there. But if you’re someone like me who is in the area, it’s worth stopping by for a little photo session.
-Ayla♥
Affiliate links may have been used in this post.
A Day in Mission District | San Francisco
I wanted to share with you pictures from my day in an area of San Francisco many of you may not know of. Mission District is a part of San Francisco that even I rarely find myself in. I am a major foodie, so the …
Wente Vineyards & Mitchell Katz Winery | Livermore, CA
I said in a previous post that I was going to start writing more travel posts about places that are near me in California. This is me finally delivering on that promise. As you probably guessed, I am avoiding any long distance travel due to …
San Francisco Travel Guide
As many others, I haven’t traveled much at all in 2020 due to the on going pandemic. Many of my fellow travelers can agree that it’s really unfortunate to be stuck in the confines of our own town. Our Home Sweet Home that is now bitter. Although, I’ve recently had a change of heart. Instead of feeling bitter, I can take this opportunity to explore my own neck of the woods and share with you the places I call home, which for you may be an actual vacation. So I’ve decided no moping around and feeling bad that I have no place to travel to, therefore, no places to share with you. I could actually spend sometime writing about my local area! As you can already tell, I am starting off with a Travel Guide of San Francisco.
The Piers
Ferry Building
You can choose to either start at Pier 1 or go straight to Fisherman’s Wharf if you are limited on time/don’t want to walk. The Ferry Building is a nice stop if you want to see the Bay Bridge (especially at night), or if you are coming from Union Square and heading to Fisherman’s Wharf by foot. You can take some photos of the Bay Bridge or look around the market that is held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. From there, you can make your way up the pier, stopping inside a few of the open pier buildings until you reach Pier 39 where all the real action is.
Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39
Fisherman’s Wharf is a must, especially if you are in San Francisco with children. The Piers are full of activities, such as, Sea Lion Center, ferry rides to Alcatraz Island, live entertainment, Madame Tussauds, shopping, antique arcade games and a carousel . Make sure to try some delicious seafood and get dessert at Ghirardelli Square.
Palace of Fine Arts
I included the Place of Fine Arts simply for its beauty. It’s probably the most romantic spot in the city due to the design and the lagoon populated with swans and ducks.
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is to California what the Eiffel Tower is to France. So there’s no way you can miss it. You can choose to either walk, bike, or drive across the 1.2 mile Golden Gate Bridge. I recommend walking to immerse yourself in the view and get the typical, “I went to San Francisco,” photo of yourself next to the bridge. It takes about an hour round trip to walk. Baker Beach is also a good photo spot for the bridge.
Lombard Street
Located in the Russian Hill district, this street is famous for being the “Crookedest Street in the world.” I remember driving down this street as a child and actually feeling car sick. But don’t worry, driving isn’t necessary. Many people walk up/down the 40-degree street instead to snap some photos (Leavenworth Street seems to be the best place to stand for a photo). You can hop on the Powell/Hyde Cable Car line to get to Lombard Street if you really want the full tourist experience. Warning: This can be a very popular line! Make sure to plan ahead and be prepared that you may have to wait a while before a cable car will take more passengers.
North Beach
North Beach is one of the districts in San Francisco and it isn’t too far from the Crookedest Street. If Italian food, or SF’s version of Little Italy, is something you are interested in, stop by the North Beach district. There you can climb up Coit Tower, go to Grace Cathedral, Church of Saints Peter & Paul, and try some delicious Italian food and desserts. Gelato and awarding winning margherita pizza from Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, anyone?
Chinatown
San Francisco has one of the best Chinatowns in the whole country. It really does feel like it’s own town within a city. As soon as you arrive at the Pagoda Gates, you’re greeted by bright colors, unique cuisine aromas, and foreign languages. Going inside all the stores is a real treat because many of the things you’ll find are very traditional to Chinese culture. Herbs, fruit, clothing, decorations, nicknacks and toys you’ve probably never seen before. It will be hard to leave empty handed.
Union Square
If shopping and dining out isn’t something that interests you, you should skip Union Square. However, if you’re a foreigner who loves shopping in American and designer stores, you could spend an entire day here. Almost every store you could think of is located within a six block radius of Union Square. I’ve gone to Union Square many times as a teenager to go shopping and eat at Cheesecake Factory, but also to go ice skating and see holiday lights in winter.
Japantown
I love visiting Japantown for the unique food and shopping inside Diaso (a Japanese dollar store). It’s a small neighborhood located around the Peace Pagoda in Peace Plaza. There are supermarkets, restaurants and stores inside the plaza. It’s a great place to get Japanese food as well as buy Japanese anime, toys, and gifts.
Golden Gate Park
It’s hard to believe but this park is actually larger than New York’s Central Park. It’s pretty incredible how much there is to do in this one park and explaining all of the attractions would take up a large chunk of this post. Perhaps in the future I will write a separate post solely on this park. For now, I will simply share with you which attractions you should visit if you are going:
You shouldn’t miss the de Young Museum, California Academy of Sciences, Japanese Tea Garden, Botanical Gardens, Stow Lake, Conservatory of Flowers (check out my photo diary HERE), Garden of Shakespeare’s Flowers, rose garden, historic Dutch & Murphy Windmills, and Bison Paddock/Enclosure. After a long day going around the park, you may want to end it by going to Ocean Beach to watch the sunset.
San Francisco has a special place in my heart as I’m a Bay Area girl. It was a bit difficult figuring out what to include and how much to say as many of these places (and more) I’ve visited a handful of times. If you’re traveling to San Francisco, it would take about a week to see most of the city. Even then you will really have to pick and choose what you are most interested in seeing as some activities will take up a large chunk of a day (i.e. San Francisco Zoo). If you will only be stopping by for a few days, the most popular spots to visit are The Golden Gate Bridge/Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street and Chinatown.
If you think I should share a more detailed travel guide for any of these spots, let me know. I may do a San Fransisco food guide and museum guide in the near future.
-Ayla ♥
Affiliate links may have been used in this post.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens | Photo Diary
The Huntington Strolling around gardens is one of my favorite things to do. You’ve probably noticed this if you followed my blog a while ago. It’s a wonderful way to spend a few hours of your day relaxing and taking photographs. And that’s exactly what …