heading north in california

dear diary,

our last few days have been fairly insane. first of all, eszter has found out that she has received the scholarship with gsu's women's studies program. it looks like i (laszlo) will move to pennsylvania and she (eszter) will stay in atlanta to start the masters program. we had to process that in the last few days, which was not very easy. but in the long run, it sounds like the best idea after all: lewisburg is still closer to
atlanta, than budapest is. we've already survived worse.

but back to the latest news concerning our trip. san diego really has a lot to offer to everyone: la jolla for the boogie tourists, ocean beach for hippies and stoners, pacific beach for party surfers. we covered much of it, and concluded that if we're gonna both pursue academic careers, we'll have to set up a new university called ocean beach state u. would be ideal. there's a huge contrast between the different parts of the town. that might be related to the fact that we stayed in la jolla in a large mansion.




we left san diego today and headed north along the coast. we decided a long time ago that we're not going to deal with los angeles, but we had to stop at the getty center. the building sitting on top of a mid-size hill close to century city in la is absolutely amazing. built in 1983, it's a spectacular piece of modern architecture. the interesting thing about the entire complex is that it's all based on a grid system. all the buildings look like as if a crazy geometrician had designed it. we tried to listen to an architectural tour at the center, but the guy leading the tour was sooo amazingly boring (once he gestured as if he had arrived to the uncontested highlight to the show, and declared with a slight german accent: "now i'm going to show you a very special stone at the getty center"). at this point, we had to leave, and give ourselves a self-guided tour across the center, which is really amazing. we quickly glanced at their exhibit "women of art and science" that showcased 17th century scientific illustrations drawn and painted by (very surprisingly) women.


later we drove through several central coast canyons and valleys towards paso robles, which is famous for its wineries. we losers arrived too late to the area (around 6.30pm), and all the tasting rooms were already closed. at this point, something had to save the day. and it turned out to be the bridge street inn in cambria. this place is a boutique hostel in a picturesque little town in the coast. we arrived here on time to drop our stuff, and hurry to the beach to catch the sunset, have a beautiful dinner on a beach bench (out of our cooler) listening to the waives, consume a bottle of local wine (yes, from paso robles, but we bought it at a liquor store, not a winery.)







after talking to bob from santa cruz, we might revise our plans, and add one more day to our itinerary on the pacific coast. however, tomorrow we'll hit one of the highlights of the trip: the big sur section of highway one. ok diary, this is it for today. i'll keep you posted.

days 3-4

dear diary,

we arrived in san diego yesterday. driving across arizona was probably the most spectacular thing we've ever seen. the scenery changed from dusty desert to rocky desert, from no plants to incredible cactuses, from huge planes to wild mountains, all within a few hours. amazing. i gotta say that the temperature was a little too high for me.

now we're in san diego, staying at my uncle's house in la jolla, cooling off for a few days. our activities include not getting in the car whenever possible, walking on the beach, eating seafood, and watching the surfers. hang loose.

we'll stay here for a few more days so we can overlap with my uncle who is not in town yet. we're in this huuuuge house right on the beach, which is probably the most luxurious accomodation we'll experience on our trip. but we will readily admit: it's nice.

ok diary, no photos today. but i'll do my best next time. later.

June 8, 2008

dear diary,

another day on the us interstates has passed, but this time we had a much more spectacular day in the car. we drove from weatherford, TX, to deming, NM (678 miles), which is famous for its duck races in october, but we can't stay until then, so instead we went to a local bar to mingle with the townspeople and dance with them to texmex tunes. fun stuff.

but before that, obviously, this morning after hitting the road in texas, i got another warning from a way too bored cop. i guess they had nothing better to do saturday at 9am... for details, again, check the attached photo (click on pix for larger view). now i feel a little under pressure, that i have to produce a warning a day. hopefully, the new mexico policemen have better things to do than issuing warning to georgia drivers. i kinda feel that the plate does the job: no matter what i do, they wanna pull me over after having seen the GA plate. but as you can imagine, this time i was much more relaxed than yesterday. another warning? bring it on, occifer!!!

after this not entirely humorless incident, we were heading towards west texas, and the ride was spectacuuular. the desert stretch of highway 10 is amazing. we did get out of the car a few times, and climbed some desert dunes. i gotta tell you tho, the heat was almost unbearable, but we had to wander around, almost like in an antonioni film, walk & wonder about the existential questions of life in the desert.

later we drove towards el paso, TX, where we walked around a little bit in the downtown area, just to discover that this unpretentious city has amazing views with a lot of mountain-background-scenery and friendly people, who speak little english but actually walk and hang out on the streets.

later we hit the desert again to drive to deming. that's where we're at right now, and tomorrow we will attempt to arrive to san diego. ok, maybe i will write to you again tomorrow, diary, but now i gotta hit the bed. later.

Friday June 6, 2008

dear diary,

day 1 of our trip went down pretty good (if 13 hrs of interstate driving can be referred to as good). we got past fort worth. we were almost finished with driving for the day, when i saw flashing lights in my mirror. check out the attached file, which explains what happened to us in weatherford, tx. no comment.

anyways, the car is driving great, and today, we're on our way to new mexico.

talk to you soon. (click on picture for larger view)