We just got back from touring the most amazing Christmas lights.  We went to two houses in two cities and while both displays were overwhelming in their size and detail they were also completely different.  We started out in Novato and then checked out a house in Rohnert Park.  Both of these cities are along the 101 and would be on your way home if you spent the day wine tasting in Sonoma County and live in San Francisco, the South or East Bay Area.

The Robeiro family not only decorate the outside of their house – they decorate the inside, too!  While the front yard display is impressive, the inside is magical.   This is the 18th year the family has opened their door to strangers to the delight of young and old.   There is an angel themed room, one that portrays a religious procession from their home town in the Azores, Portugal and a miniature Christmas village that is more like a city!  Setup begins in September and you can certainly see why!

The second house we visited was in Rohnert Park.  The Weaver family currently has just about every cartoon and Disney character you can imagine decorating their home.  Scott Weaver draws and paints them on plywood himself and is so prolific they’ve spilled over to the other homes in their cul-de-sac.  An actual waterfall, sleigh for picture taking, bubble machine (for “snow”) and miniature Christmas village in the decked out garage complete the scene.

Want to check them out yourself?  The Weaver family’s lights are on through December 31st.  You have until January 6th to see the Robeiros’ amazing display.  Happy Holidays!

Martin Ray Winery is a small winery in the Russian River Valley.  When you see the water tower carrying their name  you know you’ve arrived.  A small garden and fountain lead into a cozy tasting room – the whole thing is delightfully unpretentious and comfortable.

We have consistently enjoyed their wines.  Even their Rose has been excellent – and we’re not usually rose fans.  Oddly enough their jug of red wine (yes, jug) with a screw top of all things, is a great easy to drink red blend that goes great with some cheese and crackers.

Outside there are several picnic tables right next to the grapes where you can enjoy a picnic lunch to go with that great bottle of wine you just bought.  Some of them are in the shade of oak trees while others offer umbrellas.  Cheers!

We had visitors this weekend and they wanted to see the (rightfully) famous Napa Valley.  So, rather than wine tasting at more local places like we usually do, we headed out to tour our neighboring county’s wine offerings. 

One of the biggest differences between Napa and Sonoma County is the number of people.  Sonoma wineries have been busy lately with the holiday season bringing lots more visitors than a typical week.  However, it’s still easy to find a place at the bar and you’ll most likely be served right away if you wander in wanting to taste some wines.  Many Napa wineries, on the other hand, normally recommend reservations.  With the holiday rush they become even more important to have.  Those that don’t do sit-down tastings don’t take reservations but are so crowded you may have to wait a fairly long time before you’re able to be served.  One of the wineries we visited was so crowded we simply left without tasting. 

On the other hand, Napa wineries are often bigger and more lucrative than Sonoma County wineries.  Many more of them are impressive buildings in and of themselves.  The winery we left without tasting, for example, offered a splendid courtyard where we had a lovely picnic under a massive oak with the sound of a fountain splashing calmingly in the background.  Cheese and crackers never tasted so good!

Sonoma County wineries, on the other hand, while usually (although definitely not always!) less impressive looking offer a more personal touch.  Many times the winemaker may be on-hand to tell you about their wines.  Often it’s a family-run operation with everyone taking part.  Sometimes the “tasting room” is really the wine cellar.  Sipping wine poured by the man whose family made it, you look out over the fields of grapes they tended.  Surrounded by the barrels of wine still ageing you turn the clock back to a time before bus and limo tours of wine country. 

While we enjoyed our foray into Napa Valley, and we’ll happily go back to sample some more of their world-famous wines, we’ll be headed out to taste Sonoma County wines again, soon!

This past weekend we headed out to explore some of the Napa Valley wineries.  We stopped in at Duckhorn Vineyards and were lucky they could squeeze us in even though we hadn’t reserved.  Tastings were $15 ($25 for the reserve) and we would definitely recommend calling ahead for a reservation.

The winery itself is beautiful.  It’s surrounded by grapes and gardens and a giant wrap-around porch.  This is the way you picture wine tasting in the Napa Valley!

The tasting room has a large square bar in the center surrounded by tables.  We were seated and served crackers and seasoned almonds to cleanse our palettes between wines.  There is also an outdoor area with a covered patio overlooking the vineyard itself – beautiful!

We choose to do the regular tasting and sampled the:

2008 Sauvignon Blanc – sweet, fruity, clean finish

2006 Napa Valley Merlot – we found it vinegary with a strong after-taste – not fans.

2007 Decoy Red – this is a blend of 43% merlot, 10% cabernet and 4% petit verdot .  We found it tasteless, others might call it light.  $52

2006 Estate Napa Valley Merlot – smooth, $85

2006 Cabernet – actually a blend with 20% merlot apparently to “soften” it.  We found it still had a strong aftertaste, and lacked the complexity we were looking for.

Overall, we were impressed with the lovely setting and the excellent, friendly service, but not by the wine.  They lacked the bold, juicy, jammy taste we were hoping for. 

Quite honestly, when we first saw the restaurant we weren’t too hopeful.  Pho Vietnam is tucked into a corner in a strip mall.  It has a very unassuming exterior and the inside, with its vinyl booths and help-yourself chopsticks is equally low-key.  Luckily, once we tasted the food our hesitancy disappeared!  Their great food belies the simple digs!

Pho is a kind of Vietnamese noodle soup, and it not surprisingly makes up a good portion of the menu.  Ian ordered the #20 for lunch – beef Pho.  It had great meat and came with bean sprouts, hot peppers, crisp green onions and fresh basil that you’re free to add as you see fit.  He topped it off with a glass of coconut juice which he enjoyed and which came with shaved coconut in it, $7.

Wendy had the V2 which is lightly friend tofu with crisp vegetables.  There’s a choice of crispy or soft noodles.  It was delicious!

During the warmer months there is an outdoor eating area with some umbrella shaded tables surrounded by small flower planters.  The view is of the strip mall parking lot, but the food more than makes up for the location!  Enjoy their food?  It’s even easier to swallow their prices – both our lunch specials were under $10.

We recently enjoyed lunch at Thai Issan.  The restaurant is decorated with Thai items (including some mirrors which were for sale).  There is a large, relaxing fountain at one end and soothing spa-type music playing in the background.  Definitely a nice, calm setting for your meal.

Their lunch special comes with rice, soup or salad and a spring roll.  Both the soup and the spring rolls are vegetarian and there are veggie-friendly choices for lunch as well.  All of their food comes with a choice of mild, medium or spicy. 

The soup was flavorful and light.  The spring rolls with okay, but not great.  The dipping sauce they were served with was different than anything we’ve had before and had little flavor.  We both enjoyed a Thai iced tea, $2.

Wendy ordered the Tamarind tofu with cashews, $8 (also available with chicken).  Lightly breaded and fried it had a hint of sweetness and was crisp and delicious!  It was served on a bed of lettuce which we found a bit odd. 

Ian had the pumpkin curry and asked for it spicy.  He was happy with how hot it was.  He found the potatoes good but the pork tasteless and chewy.  $8 

The food is presented really nicely.  The service is prompt and friendly.  The restaurant was nearly empty when we were there, so that may have played a roll in how quickly we were served. 

There is some street parking right in front of the restaurant and an additional (small) lot behind the building.  The restaurant is centrally located and after lunch we enjoyed a stroll through downtown Petaluma. 

It’s only a few days before Christmas.  The malls are slammed, parking lots overflowing.  We kept being surprised at the line ups at all the stores.  We didn’t remember dealing with this in years past.  That’s when it hit us – we haven’t been home for Christmas in TEN YEARS!

Here’s a look back at where we’ve been over the holidays these last 10 years:

 

Christmas 1999 saw us headed to Club Med Playa Blanca for the Millennium!  (Seems like yesterday!  How was that TEN YEARS AGO???)  We had a great time and we’ve sorry they’ve closed that location.  Club Med is camp for adults – great for kicking back, relaxing, eating WAY too much French pastry and generally being pampered!  French pastries and Mexican winter sun – does life get any better?

 

Christmas 2000 we were living in France.  That put the Maldives within MUCH easier reach!  It was still a 12 hour flight from Zurich, but nothing like the 35 hours + it would have taken us from California!  From the plane, looking out at all the low-lying atolls that make up the Maldives you can truly appreciate their grave concern over global warming!  Once again Club Med Kani pampered us silly, and we returned well rested and happily relaxed after two weeks of fun in the sun.

 

Christmas 2001 we headed to The Big Easy for New Year’s Eve.  New Orleans was a blast, but first we stopped in Chiricahua National Monument which was open on the 25th!  The park was empty and it was a serenely beautiful place to spend the day hiking and photographing the odd rock formations that fill the park.  We also took in White Sands New Mexico – where it’s always a white Christmas!  They even rent sleds for when you’re done making "sand angels"!

Christmas 2002 we flew to Costa Rica for 2 weeks of sun, beaches, hiking, and more!  We hiked down deserted beaches while scarlet macaws fly nosily overhead.  We saw toucans, sloths and exotic orchids in the rainforest and listened to the howler monkeys scream at us from the trees while we drank tropical fruit juices.  We saw leatherback turtles lay their eggs and watched a volcano erupt – from the hot tub!  Life was good!

 

In 2003 we spent Christmas in Tunisia.  Ever seen Star Wars?  Well, we grew up on it and had a blast having a drink at the Mos Eisley Cantina and visiting the real Tataouine.  There were also spectacular Roman ruins to explore and the fabulous Bardo Museum with an amazing collection of Roman mosaics.  The highlight of the trip?  Just outside Tatooine is Ksar Ouled Sultane. The old ghorfa’s (granaries) rise four stories up.

 

2004 saw us exploring even older ruins in Egypt.  From the Sphinx to the Nile to the Temple at Karnak, Abu Simbel and of course, the Pyramids, the sights of Egypt are incomparable.  No where else have we felt such an amazing sense of history.

 

For Christmas 2005 we headed to India.  The crowds and hassle of India made it difficult for us to truly enjoy ourselves (although everyone tells us the south is different – some day we’ll have to find out for ourselves).  However, the Taj Mahal is truly the most beautiful building we’ve ever seen – in 51 countries!  It’s also hard to beat a day where you get to see tigers on elephant back!

 

What better way to spend Christmas than to head to the home of frankincense?  That’s what we did in 2006.  In Oman you’ll also find plenty of gold and myrrh for sale.  We didn’t meet the three wise men, but we did get to see the amazingly beautiful Wadi Shab, run up and down the dunes in the Wahiba Sands and check out castles in Nizwa and the fabulous Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat.  We also headed next door to the UAE to visit Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and the incomparable Dubai where we enjoyed a white Christmas at Ski Dubai!

 

In 2007 we decided to be truly decadent and went island hopping in the Caribbean!  St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Anguilla, St. Martin and Sint Maarten later we had soaked up lots of sun, taken plenty of walks on soft white sand beaches, gone swimming  in “Champagne” and watched beautiful sunsets over the ocean.

 

2008 we went all out.  We ignored the budget and splashed out in Hawaii  – on our last big trip with just the two of us!  We spent a week each in  Maui and Kauai.  We stayed at the Sheraton in Maui and had a fabulous time whale watching and swimming with turtles!  We drove the road to Hana and up Haleakala too!  Then we headed over to Kauai for some more fun in the sun at Poipu Beach.

 

We’ve always gone away when Wendy, as a teacher, could.  Now that she’s home with our daughter we have more flexibility when it comes to planning our trips.  So, much as it feels weird not to be packing our bags, we’re happy not to have to deal with airports bursting with holiday travelers!

We recently had an enjoyable dinner at Everest Restaurant.  The restaurant is nicely decorated with a decorative paint treatment.  It’s located in the Golden Eagle Shopping Center, which makes parking easy.   

We started with the free appetizer they offered us – papadum with a delicious green dipping sauce.  Ian had a mango lassi which was very thick with fresh fruit ( $3.50US).  We shared artichoke pakora which were excellent – deep fried with a light, crispy batter ($5US).  The potato naan was light, but plain and unspectacular. 

For the main course, Ian had the Tibetan Lamb Curry ($14) which he enjoyed, even though the portion was a little small.  It was served with noodles and potatoes.  The lamb was tender and moderately spicy.  Wendy had the saag paneer – which is is a spinach and mustard leaf based curry dish with a type of cheese.  It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly tasty either. 

The service was fabulous.  We had our infant daughter with us and the staff went out of their way to play with her.  They brought water for her in a take-out coffee cup with lid (make-shift “sippy cup”) without even being asked.  They were attentive and happy to explain the menu.

  There is nothing quite like the pairing of dark chocolate and a really good red wine.  To truly appreciate what a spectacular marriage these two can have, head over to Fritz Winery.  Built right into the side of a hill in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley this subterranean family-run winery makes some terrific wines.  

Our favorite?  Their Late Harvest Zinfandel is worth every penny of the $35 it retails for.  It’s juicy and jammy and basically just really, really

yummy.  (That’s some sophisticated wine talk, there!)  The only way to make it better?  Pair it with some dark chocolate brownies that the good folks at Fritz will happily provide you with.  They’re actually made with – red wine!  DELICIOUS!

Of course, their other wines are fabulous as well, and the lovely setting makes them all the more enjoyable. 

Their beautiful cozy patio has umbrellas for sunny days and provides great views.  It’s a perfect spot to unwind and enjoy the fabulous Sonoma County countryside!  

The Distillery District is Victorian Industrial meets modern chic.  Right in the heart of downtown Toronto, this pedestrian-only zone makes for a great afternoon of strolling and shopping.  Wander along car-free cobblestones streets and do your Christmas shopping or just some fun window shopping.  Galleries display works by Canadian artists and trendy boutiques sell the latest hip, modern thing. 

If you get hungry from all that shopping, there is a great chocolate store – Soma chocolate-maker, which features very high-end specialty chocolate and other cafes full of yummy treats.  Tucked inside the The Young Centre for the Performing Arts there is also a great cafe with scrumptious crepes (around $7CDN).

Some of the galleries sell works of art valued at many thousands of dollars, but there is also plenty of more reasonable Canadian artist made fare.  I found lots of little shops to hold my interest and plenty to choose from in a more reasonable price range. 

Many of the buildings have pieces of old distillery equipment preserved in them.  It lends a neat twist in the middle of a sleek gallery!  It was fun finding different machines, many of which were labeled to explain the role they once played. 

There is a metered parking lot available with very convenient (and easy) parking.  The area is large enough to be interesting but no so huge that it’s overwhelming.  Especially decked out for the holidays it made for a charming and quaint destination where it was hard to remember that you’re really in the middle of a very large city!  all in all a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon!