Just made it to the visitors centre for Hearst Castle with 4mins to park the bikes & run to catch our 12:10pm bus ride up the hill. Again, I have to say WOW! I know many of you have already been there, so you will know how incredible this place is. Land holdings for this ‘little ranch’as far as the eye could see & beautiful beaches. The castle itself was gorgeous, I loved how WR Hearst was the master of recycling – medieval carved ceilings & doors, tapestries, ancient Egyptian statues and fabulous marble statuary. The fabulous long Gothic dining room with colourful Italian racing banners was the inspiration for Hogwarts of Harry Potter fame. We were all dying to jump into the Roman-style outdoor pool until we spied the stunning blue & gold heated indoor pool with dive platform. Boy, they must’ve had some great parties here!
By now we were famished & enjoyed a bite outside in the shade, watched by too many large black crows… more visions of Hitchcock’s movie, The Birds. (Last night Howard had climbed onto the 2nd floor roof at the Otter Inn to rescue a seagull chick that had fallen out of it’s chimney nest. Immediately, its mother spat & shat at him & 500 reinforcements blackened the sky to join the attack – that was scary!) Four miles away, we stopped to watch a colony of sea elephants basking in the sun, one making lots of noise in the waves & several squirrels bouncing about. Back on the road heading to Solvang. Stopped at the Java Hut for a coffee for Howard, but it had just closed so across the road to an Italian deli that had me sorely tempted with all sorts of goodies but (being on the bike) had to settle for raspberry & orange gelato – mmmmmm bliss.
Solvang is a Danish/Scandinavian settlement that captured my mum’s fancy on a trip 26 yrs ago and we could easily see why. It’s the dearest wee Hansel & Gretel hamlet you ever did see. All the Danish names, windmills & storks on rooves, all the building & shop facades giving the delightful illusion of being in a fairy tale, although Roger thought that if he had to actually live here, it might be more like a nightmare. No witches, but we did pass an ostrich farm – what the?? By the way, we’ve also seen llamas on a trailer, a fox in the woods & a dead skunk on the road. Stayed at the Royal Copenhagen motel, our best & roomiest accommodation, built to look like a village with the green & swimming pool surrounded by hundreds of roses. Elise at reception recommended the Angel Cafe along the road so that’s where we went.
We all enjoyed a wonderful Italian dinner, great ambiance, tiramisu & putti (angels) galore and a few bottles of wine rounded off our last night on the road together – another perfect evening.