The Beauty of Southern California

After arriving to Los Angeles and stopping by In and Out, it was time for me to lay on a bed. I met up with a friend from the area. He offered to drive me to my hotel. Man, this guy smoked! I appreciate the ride but wow. The air in his car was thick from cigarettes. Great guy, if you can get over the smell of something burning. He left me at my hotel, after learning more about the changes of this city. These changes were interesting.

After talking to an old friend, I went to my hotel room. The room left me speechless. The layout of the room was fit for a king, not a traveler. I had this room all to myself. Truely, a five stars experience.

The view from my window was amazing. At night, it reminded me of my time in Las Vegas with my parents as a child. The sound of the Californian freeway in the background was smoothing. I finally felt at home.

One of the many great things about Southern California, the Spanish history is still visible. Coming from Northern California, our big cities are San Jose, Sacramento and of course San Francisco. Even though the cities still have Spanish roots, it’s not as visible as in Southern California. Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, makes you feel like you are in Spain.

After taking in the view, I reunited with my travel friends. We went to a Peruvian restaurant. The food was out of this world. The rice had a strong taste of garlic. I even tried a Peruvian ice cream. When it came to meat, I only ate what I knew. I had guinea pig once, as a pet.

Thank you for taking your time to read this post. Next week, we will be exploring more of Los Angeles. Have a great week and stay healthy!

June 24, 2016 11

The flight to Cali ends with a burger

This was March of 2016. I have not been to my home state in over 6 years. We were so excited to finally be in the state of the golden bears. At that time, we had no idea what would be in our near future.

It started of as a raining day, a typical occurrence in New York City. If it’s not rain, it’s snow in the empire city. We were so ready to finally have warm sunlight touch our skin. Unfortunately, we could not have been farther from reality.

The flight to Los Angeles was not the best. We used Virgin America and that was somewhat of a pain. Virgin America had charged me 200 dollars for a bag! The fee should had been only 20 dollars!! Being a freelancer, you all know I fought for my money. They returned my money but, it gets worse. Before the plane took off, they gave us this horrendous safety tip music video. The facial expressions everybody gave was not positive.

The only good that came out of the flight was having the window seat. The views were amazing. Seeing the snow covered mountains was breathetaking. Flying over Arizona, the desert’s reddish color was out this world. At times, it felt like you were flying over Mars.

Los Angeles was under the plane’s wing. We were close to our destination. After what felt like an eternity, I could feel the California vibes.

Being from California, the one thing I missed the most was In and Out burger. The best fast food chain in world. Sadly, it’s only in California and some southwestern states. The only goal on our mind after arriving to the golden state, was a burger from In and Out. Being unhealthy, never felt this good!

Thank you for taking your time to read this post. Next week, we will go to our hotels and take in the amazing views of Southern California. Much love! Stay healthy and have a great week

June 17, 2016 17

Rainbow bagel and Remembering Williamsburg

The nieghborhood of Williamsburg has become one of Brooklyn’s most famous. The change has been almost overnight. The once crime infested Williamsburg, has turn into a center of the hipster culture.

When coming into Williamsburg, I recommend taking the J train. On this train, you are able to see Manhattan’s skyline. The J train is above ground and goes along the Williamsburg bridge. It is truely breathtaking.

The Williamsburg bridge, Brooklyn’s second most famous bridge. After the Brooklyn bridge, the Williamsburg bridge has been the star in many movies. Movies that include superheroes, such as the hero with the spider senses. I recommend walking this bridge with a significant other. The view is very romantic. Also, there is a side that is only used for bikes. It is a perfect date set up.

I was informed by a reader and a friend, to check out a place where they make rainbow bagels. This excited me to go on the very so handy google. It’s funny, how many times I looked over this store. Not giving it a second thought.

I was completely sold, when I walked into this store. All of types of cream cheeses and in every color.

I was taken back at how many colors, cream cheese can come in.

When in Williamsburg, stop by the bagel store. I had the rainbow cream cheese with the rainbow bagel. It tasted sweet, almost like cheesecake. This was definitely worth googling (my new word).

Williamsburg brings back a lot memories. My family has been in this nieghborhood for over 60 years. We have seen this area at it’s worse and best. A lot of the area has changed. Many of the activities we used to do as kids, are gone due to technology and demographics of the area.

For example, videology was once our corner blockbuster (some of you might not remember or know that chain store). I remember those summers, my dad and I used to visit New York from California. This place was the center of our entertainment. Those were good and simple times. In recent times, the store has become a dive bar. This is an indicator that area has somewhat lost it’s soul.

Thank you for taking your time to read this. You guys are the best! Next week, we will take a break from NYC and start my Los Angeles adventures. Much love!!! Stay heathly and happy!

June 10, 2016 22

The many sides to The Bronx

The Bronx, the borough and county known for the founding of hip-hop. This part of New York City has so much culture and is rich of diversity. So many subcultures are found here, it is truely ashame that this borough is usually over looked.

The art scene in the Bronx is truly amazing. So much graffiti is here, most tell a story and/or are a reference to a hero of that neighborhood.

The person in the picture above is Roberto Clemente. Clemente was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player. He was the first Latino to be in the Hall of Fame and opening the door to many other latinos. Now, the sport has at least one latino in every team and many other latinos have made a place for themselves in the Hall of Fame.

Going to the Bronx, I had to go to where hip-hop started. So, I went to the South Bronx on my own risk. Unfortunately, this historical area is filled with crime. I will not advise to go here without caution.

Even with all the crimes, I witness an act of kindness. I saw a Puerto Rican couple help clean a random man’s shirt. After the man spilled something on his white shirt and was unable to clean it himself.

The Bronx is filled with people from all over the world but the majority of Bronx’s population comes from Latin America. Puerto Ricans used to dominate the Bronx; however, Dominicans have taken over in recent years. The cycle continues as more and more latinos move into the suburbs. The next group of Latinos to dominate will be mexicans.

One place a reader recommended me to go was the Bronx’s little Italy. Finding out there was a little Italy in this borough surprised me. This area’s influnces from Italy is astounding. They have Italian pop music playing in the background.

When coming here, I recommend going to Full Moon Pizzeria. The food was great and the atmosphere felt like I was in Italy. Had a conversation with one of the owners and he told me all the place I should visit, for my upcoming trip to Italy.

Thank you for reading this post! As promised, I made the post about the Bronx. Made it a little longer than usual because of not keeping my promise last week. Next week, we will be going to the nieghborhood of Williamsburg. Have a safe week!! Much love!