AME R I C A N SU M M ER A T RU E LOV E S TORY BY
My name is Radostina and I am photogra-
way I saw it and the way I captured it with
pher and stylist living in Prague, Czech Re-
my camera.
public. I admit that my impressions might not be On August 2013 I headed on an exciting
complete, because the time I had was lim-
trip. For less than 4 weeks I travelled more
ited and I left behind unexplored places and
than 30 000 km. and I visited 4 different
gorgeous cities like Chicago, Philadelphia,
states in USA, I walked the streets of 7 dif-
Washington etc. Even New York City where
ferent cities and I collected million beautiful
I was for just three days which is way too
memories.
less for the Big Apple.
I wanted to share somehow my adven-
If you have any questions, recommenda-
tures, but a single blog post wouldn’t be
tions or just want to say “Hi” – I’d be happy
enough therefore I decided to create this
if you write me at radostina@radostina.eu.
small magazine where I can show my impressions in detail and i can even recom-
You can also find me here:
mend some of the places which I think are
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worth visiting. Thanks and enjoy! On the next pages you’ll see my first impressions of that exciting country, just the
HELLO
HIGHWAY ONE CALIFORNIA
A FEW WORDS FROM THE AUTHOR
THE MOST ROMANTIC HIGHWAY
AUSTIN TEXAS
SANTA BARBARA CALIFORNIA
EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN TEXAS
OR WHY PACIFIC OCEAN IS NOT PACIFIC AT ALL
SAN ANTONIO TEXAS
SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA
AMERICA HAS HISTORY
IF YOU’RE GOING ... LA LA LA
NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA
UPSTATE NEW YORK NEW YORK
WHERE THE PARTY NEVER ENDS
IT LOOKS LIKE EUROPE BUT IT WASN”T
MONTEREY CALIFORNIA
NEW YORK CITY NEW YORK
LIKE A FAIRYTALE
I STILL DREAM OF YOU
AUSTIN TEXAS EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN TEXAS
Population: 850 000 Area: 272 sq. mi
lie Nelson boulevard and in the center you’ll see the clubs full of young people having fun.
Here they like to say “Everything is BIG in Texas”. And I understood why! From the cars (which I think for Texas is a matter of honor to have big car) to the buildings and spaces… and even the horns of the cows. Actually on one of the next pages there is a picture of a Texas Longhorn – special “Texas Edition” cow. They are rare nowadays and they are not used for milk or meat but more as something symbolic. You can see longhorn horns in many bars, restaurants and even on the bumpers of some cars.
I have to mention that in August the weather is incredibly hot, it is almost impossible to walk in the city during the day. The temperatures are quite high even for a southern girl like me. The winter though they say is very soft and pleasant.
Even the acorns here are huge. I wanted to take one with me, but a really brave squirell in the Capitol Building Park stole it and ate it right in front of me. If I have to say what impressed me the most here that wouldn’t be neither the nature, nor the cars but the people. I’ve been almost everywhere in Europe but I’ve never met more kind and benevolent people. Maybe I just had luck but nowhere else complete strangers said hi to me for no reason and asked how I am doing. The capital of Texas State is Austin. It is known as the world live music capital and it is quite normal that there is a Wil-
For all you foodies out there – the good meat here is very common. There is a Mexican influence and you can feel it in the meals too, which I personally liked a lot, although sometimes I missed fresh salads and in general there were not enough vegetables. Few of the places which I’d like to recommend are: The “Blue Dahlia” bistro where they serve the food on stone and the people are really kind. Opie’s BBQ special place for meet lovers. The “Spicewood Vineyard” which is green as in oasis and offers their own incredible wine. I think that’s the perfect place for an unique event – wedding or a cool party.
SAN ANTONIO TEXAS AMERICA HAS HISTORY
Population: 1 400 000 Area: 465 sq. mi
Heroes, important places… one of them is San Antonio in Texas.
One of the shortcomings that we, Europeans often say for USA is that they lack ancient history.
I spend just one day there, which happened to be terribly hot and with all the concrete in San Antonio you can imagine the walk in the center wasn’t very pleasant.
That’s not entirely true. It doesn’t matter so much how old a country is. As a master of history I can tell you that the history doesn’t help much. Yes, we have to remember it, to learn from the mistakes, but it should stay there – in the past, it shouldn’t evoke hatred or bad feelings. Actually all these words were necessary so I can tell you that actually USA has its own history.
Nevertheless we went on the river walk and then, of course to Alamo. Alamo is an ex-catholic mission and fortification, where was also a battle in 1836 which is quite important for the so called Texas Revolution after which Texas joined the United States of America.
NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA WHERE THE PARTY NEVER ENDS
Population: 369,250 Area: 350 sq. mi
New Orleans is one of those places where once you go there, you can’t remain indifferent. Just a special city, full of many interesting places and different people. Your first impression will be that everybody came here to party. Looks like people have no inhibitions (sometimes no clothes too) and the only thing they think about is having fun. Nothing wrong with that, just I think that with all the alcohol, festivals and partying the visitors sometime don’t notice the enchanting beauty of the Big Easy. New Orleans is influenced by many cultures – French, Spanish, American and African. That makes everything a lot more impressive and even a bit exotic. You can feel it in the architecture and in the cuisine. Talking about the cuisine, that’s another thing which New Oeleans is popular with. There are hundreds of books about that, many popular restaurants and I visited some of them. But to be honest I didn’t like the cuisine that much. It is just because
the ingredients that they use are not amongst my favorite. The other thing that was new to me was the Sno-Ball. That’s actually shaved ice infused with fresh-fruit or house-made flavors. That thing is quite refreshing during the crazy hot summer days. The city lays on the Mississippi river. A river for which I know from the geography classes that is one of the longest and largest in the world. Back then I never thought that I will see it but I admit it was great experience to see the sunrise above it. New Orleans also notably has a presence of its distinctive variety of Louisiana Voodoo, due in part to syncretism with African and Afro-Caribbean Roman Catholic beliefs. I think it is a bit exaggerated as I didn’t see many people practicing that, although they might have been away of the touristic places. New Orleans is a popular music center too, it is the home of the Jazz music. Only a city with great spirit and energy could be a center of so many different and interesting things.
MONTEREY & HIGHWAY ONE CALIFORNIA THE MOST ROMANTIC ROAD
California - From Monterey and Carmel to Santa Barbara on Highway 1. Monterey is a small town in California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Countless boat masts could be seen from the piers where I also saw for the first time in my life sea lion. He was mere 2 meters from me sun-tanning undisturbed while singing his own song. After Monterey on our way to Santa Barbara we took the most romantic
road in the world – Highway 1. It goes along the coast and has marvelous views to the ocean. Unfortunately we were late and it was dark already, but I strongly recommend to go there if you have a chance. Still before it was completely dark we reached Carmel – which is like from a fairytale. Huge beaches, incredible views and cute houses – that’s how I imagine Paradise.
SANTA BARBARA CALIFORNIA OR WHY PACIFIC OCEAN IS NOT PACIFIC AT ALL
Population: 90.893 Area: 41.968 sq. mi
Santa Barbara is the next highlight of my journey. It is situated in the south part of Claifornia where the climate is great and that’s one of the reasons why people call it the American Riviera. Here the plan was to have an interesting boat voyage to the Channel Islands. We bought plenty of food and beverages and at full sail we head towards the islands. I admit that as a sea girl I was not worried about anything at all… but I underestimated the ocean because compared to our calm little sea it is a lot rougher. So if you expect photos from that part of my journey – you won’t find any. I was too busy holding to the boat and fighting the sea-sickness. I will spare you further details but I will just say that after sailing for few hours,
right when we approached Santa Cruz Island and we were about to anchor there we realized we have no auxiliary power. Without propeller the safest thing to do was to turn around and get back to Santa Barbara Harbor. It was already night and the wind was not so strong anymore which had one advantage – I saw the most beautiful, clean sky and stars in my life. Thanks to our experienced Captain everything went really well and we return safely to port. Like we say in my home country “Every bad thing brings something good”. We spent some really fun time exploring the beaches of Santa Barbara and the surroundings, we ate delicious food, drank the best Californian wine and met interesting people.
SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA IF YOU’RE GOING ... LA LA LA
Population: 825,111 Area: 231.89 sq m
My next stop was the most exciting for me. I’ve never been there before but that city had always attracted me. It is in the world top 50 of the best tourist destinations and is one of the most visited cities. Hills, the interesting architecture, the red Golden Gate Bridge, the cute trams, Alcatraz – these were few of the things that I wanted to see and just to feel the spirit of The City. After the hot Texas we really enjoyed the cooler climate, but of course it was late August so it was pretty foggy. I am sure that all year long there are many tourists in San Fran but during that time there were even more due to the ongoing 2013 America’s Cup – the most famous series of boat races. It was held here for the first time after many years and it happened to be one of the most dramatic competitions when Team USA had to win the last eight races to come from behind to once again win the oldest trophy in international sport. Even though I didn’t know much about the event I could
feel the euphoria in everyone around the city. I mentioned the fog and I knew in advance that there must be a reason for one of the nicknames of San Francisco – The Fog City. What I didn’t knew was that the fog is so often there that it has a name – it is called Karl. Karl is quite popular also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. He is quite naughty and causes headaches to the tourists like me. Because of him I tried to take good picture of Golden Gate Bridge three different days with very little luck. During our ferry trip to Sausalito we couldn’t see Alcatraz Island even though we were few hundred meters away from it. But all in all we can’t be mad with Karl – he is an integral part of the Fog City. I think one of the best ways to sea San Francisco is to rent a bike and explore around the fisherman’s wharf and the piers. A must-stop is Pier 39 where you will meet the amazing sea lions, sun tanning and playing their own games. After a long walk or bike ride it is time for a well-deserved rest at one of the cute coffee shops around.
UPSTATE NEW YORK NEW YORK IT LOOKS LIKE EUROPE BUT IT WASN”T
Lovely nature and greenery everywhere – that’s my impression of Upstate New York. I spent there few days in the company of good friends in their home and I tried for the first time real American pancakes with maple syrup and bananas. All the pictures there are very special to me because they were made with my brand new film camera Nikon F100 – if
any of you reading this is a photographer I am sure you know what I mean. If you value the calm family life then this is the place for you. Houses with huge backyards, friendly neighbors, deer and does.. Even vultures which I saw for the first time and they looked like from the Karl May’s novels about Winnetou.
NEW YORK CITY NEW YORK I STILL DREAM OF YOU
Population: 8,336,697
Chelsea. It is a remarkable place for every
Area: 468.5 sq. mi
music lover. Many famous people stayed there, including writers like Charles Bukowski. But maybe it is mostly popular about
NYC is a very special place, one of the ten
the fact that Sid Vicious, member of influ-
cities in the world where the most interest-
ential punk group, the Sex Pistols and his
ing things happen. That was my expecta-
girlfriend Nancy spent their last night here.
tion when I arrived in that megalopolis. I
Sadly the hotel looks abandoned now, al-
think you cannot be indifferent to it – you
though it looked like they might be repair-
either love it or loathe it.
ing it.
Right after I arrived there, still on the JFK
I think you should have at least 2 weeks in
airport my first impression was that no-
order to explore NYC thoroughly including
body divides you based on EU member-
visiting Brooklyn, going to the Metropolitan
ship, Schengen, nationality, etc. Everyone is
Museum and shopping on Fifth Ave.
treated equally. I didn’t have enough time but I will be back, The City fascinated me with the incredible energy. The three days of aimless roaming passed so quickly and I didn’t want to leave. After visiting the usual touristic places I accidentally found a famous building – Hotel
I promise.