San Francisco & Napa Valley: Day 3 (Part 1)

January 2, 2013

Before leaving our hearts in San Francisco for Napa Valley, our Trafalgar Tours group made a quick stop at a lookout point for the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge.

In 1933, one of the world’s most recognizable structures was created: The Golden Gate Bridge.  It is a suspension bridge crossing “the Golden Gate”, which is the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean.  It connects the city to California’s northern counties and attracts more than 10 million annual visitors.  The combination of its tremendous towers, sweeping cables, signature color, and Art Deco styling makes it quite a sight to behold!

San Francisco, California

In lieu of breakfast, I opted to begin my day with wine.  While I do not recommend this for normal living, my motto for this guided vacation was: when in Napa Valley, do like the winos do.  Our second stop was to a wine blending seminar at Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma, rated “Winery of the Year” by Wine & Sprits for the fifth consecutive year.

San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California
Inside of the winery’s barrel room we were privately instructed on how to create our own wine through a blending lab.  We each tried our best to bottle our own perfection of a Carignane, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel mix.  I have yet to taste my bottle, as I am saving it for a special occasion, although I am pretty certain that I will not be quitting my job to become an Oenologist in the future.

San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
Following a delicious lunch at El Dorado Kitchen (where I was able to sober up some before even more wine tasting), we then headed over to Napa for a stop at my favorite winery in the area: Domaine Carneros.  It is known for its superb sparkling wines and elegant chateau and grounds.  In my opinion, one of the best thing’s in life is sparkling wine.  I could probably drink it every single day and never get tired.

San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
Sampling the different sparkling wines was an unforgettable experience for me, however the highlight of our trip was just right around the corner. . .

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Andi Perullo de Ledesma

I am Andi Perullo de Ledesma, a Chinese Medicine Doctor and Travel Photojournalist in Charlotte, NC. I am also wife to Lucas and mother to Joaquín. Follow us as we explore life and the world one beautiful adventure at a time.

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49 thoughts on “San Francisco & Napa Valley: Day 3 (Part 1)

  1. Krista

    San Francisco is one of my very favorite cities in the entire world. 🙂 I love it so much and MISS it so much. Your photos have brought back such happy memories to me today. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      I can easily see why it’s one of my faves! I miss it so much too and I’ve only been gone for a month. Love that my photos help you to remember your happy memories!

      Reply
  2. Cata

    My favorite brigde!!! I don’t get tired of looking at it. Maybe this bc of my geeky side but I’m always amazed of how it can stand the high winds and earthquakes and still be ok!

    Reply
  3. Meghan Johnson

    You just reminded me why I adore San Francisco, Andi. Beautiful photos as usual. It’s such a spectacular city, with so much to see and do within an hour drive. I also love your “wine for breakfast” motto! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Emily in Chile

    LOVE your photo of the city skyline. You got some really great shots! And I can join you in the wine for breakfast club…sometimes it’s just necessary to fit enough wineries into one day.

    Reply
  5. Steph

    Wowee! Such smashing photos of the Golden Gate Bridge! I especially love the one where the ground is in focus and the bridge is blurred.

    Reply
  6. Roxanne

    Even though I’ve been to SF, I never saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Envious, and in love with your photos and the vivaciousness that emanates from them and your words every time. Cannot wait to hear about the best part of the trip! xo

    Reply
  7. Karla

    Wonderful images of SF bella!

    Love the Golden Gate Bridge & those lined up glasses of sparkling wine make me thirsty ha ha I bet you they were great 😉

    I agree with Kyle, you have a great eye for details!

    Can’t wait to read next adventure

    Love, K xo 🙂

    Reply
  8. Pingback: Golden Gate Bridge | The Jungle Princess

  9. Camels & Chocolate

    Beautiful pictures! You managed to do the impossible: make me miss San Francisco 😉

    Also, I went to Hog Island with Abby actually in 2011. And Domaine Carneros and Domaine Chandon are my faaaaaavorites. Love the photo of all the glasses of bubbly!

    (And FYI, I’ve been having a really hard time loading your site lately. Maybe it’s all the images. Just thought I’d tell you that–you could possibly make the res lower for faster load speed?)

    Reply
    1. Andi Perullo Post author

      Awww yay I’m so glad that I was able to make you miss it if even for a second!!! That’s so cool that you went to the same place with Abby as I did. I’m following in your footsteps.

      I have actually made my site 100X faster in the last month (all my images are VERY low res), so I don’t think it’s the images. Must be something else?

      Reply
  10. Jenna

    SF on a sunny day is so special. Lovely photos, Andi. I feel so fortunate to live so close to Napa and SF, but I need to get to SF more often! I wonder what the real highlight of your trip was as you mentioned at the end…? Looking forward to finding out!

    Reply

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