Tour of Wineries in Sonoma County (Day 2)

While it was still dark out, Jolly and I dragged ourselves out of bed to meet our tour group for a day of wine tasting in Sonoma County. Our tour guide picked up 11 of us altogether and narrated while he drove, giving us a history and background of San Francisco and landmarks that we were passing. Before arriving at the wineries, we made a stop at Muir Woods, which is known for its redwoods. The road to Muir Woods was full of turns and steep drops with no guardrails. There was not much room for error, especially for a 14-person van that we were in. We understood why this part of the trip took place ‘before’ the wine tasting. The views of the hills though, were absolutely breathtaking.

It was at Muir Woods that I first noticed how environmentally conscious San Francisco is. We had to pay $5 per person to enter the park, and the guy gave Jolly and me one map. I thought, we paid for two entries, why shouldn’t we get two maps?! So I asked him for one more map, which he gave me. As we walked away, Jolly said half jokingly, did you not notice the sign that said ‘save paper and share maps’? I really didn’t see the sign, and went back to the ticket booth to check for myself. Sure enough, there was the sign right in front of my eyes. I smiled sheepishly and gave my map back to the guy. Ever since then, I became more aware of the ‘clues’ that San Francisco is an environmentally-correct city. Most of the buses run on electric cables, so the air in the city stays clean. There are recycling bins everywhere you look. Signs to conserve water and paper are posted in public bathrooms.

We were able to hike through the woods for about an hour, it was so beautiful and felt like we were walking in the middle of a rain forest or something.






































































































Tree inside a tree, hahahaha, I'm such a dork


















After Muir Woods, we headed towards the wine country to visit three different wineries and eat lunch. I finally saw ‘rolling hills’ with my own eyes! It was such a perfect day to be in the country, with the blue sky and white clouds, the warm yet gentle rays from the winter sun, the light breeze, and the light green grass everywhere! First we stopped by Cline Cellars, which is a family owned winery, where we tasted 5 different kinds of wine. I bought a bottle of white for myself, haha. Next we went to the ‘town square’ of sorts and grabbed lunch. Jolly and I thought since we were wine tasting, it would be a good idea to eat Italian. Interestingly, this restaurant was called The Swiss Hotel, haha, but my pasta dish was so delicious that I forced myself to eat more than I should have. We stopped in a cheese store and tried more samples of cheese than I’ve ever had. Next we went to a winery called Viansa, where we tried 5 more kinds of wine. By the fifth one, I couldn’t even appreciate the wine anymore because I was too full. But I did taste the best red wine I’ve ever had at Viansa, of course, it was one of the most expensive ones that they carried, haha. So at Viansa, all the guides drank wine ‘with’ us! What a great job huh?! The third and final winery we visited was very small, it’s called Homewood, and we got to meet the owner of the winery. Because they are so small, they don’t distribute their wine to retail stores. This was our favorite wine tasting experience. We sat in an outdoor bar, and the guy brought out 8 different wines for us to taste, told us interesting and outrageous stories, gave us trivia questions to answer, basically we had entertainment with our wines. Between the two of us, Jolly and I left Sonoma with 9 bottles of wine, LOL.
















Barrels in which wine is stored; they 'toast' the inside of the barrels to help give the wine its flavor














































Viansa














Jolly and Mr. Homewood, he's a tall man, Jolly is 5'7"! Behind them is the bar where the wine tasting was
















On our way back into the city, the van was full of chatter, compared to the near silence earlier in the day. Not sure if we just felt more comfortable with each other, or if we just had too much wine. LOL. Our tour guide was nice enough to take a detour for anyone who wanted to spend some time in Sausalito, which is a wealthy town with restaurants and shops, across the bay from the city, right before you cross the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a ferry that takes you from Sausalito back to San Francisco. We decided to pass because of all the bottles we had, but I liked the town when we passed by and would go back there if I end up in San Francisco again. Our guide took another detour with an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge so we can take some pictures. It was SO beautiful!
















After such a long day, Jolly and I decided to stay in after dinner, and we stayed up for hours chatting and playing with her dog Kogi. Being around Kogi these past few days has made me want to get a dog. She is so well behaved and friendly. As soon as you give her a little bit of attention, she follows you around looking to play or just lies down on her side with her front paws up so you can scratch her tummy. She is SO cute. The best part is when she runs out to meet you as soon as you open the front door. Makes you feel special and missed :)

This was taken the night before I left, but I figured it's relevant to post here, haha. Isn't Kogi adorable?!