The Parker is one of the most famous hotels in Palm Springs and its got a beautiful restaurant for brunch and lunch – Norma’s. We sat outside on their patio, surrounded by their vast gardens, on white Bertoia chairs with colorful cushions in a 70s inspired interior with every accessory in another color. I think it’s the most beautifully designed restaurant I encountered during my Californian travels.
Palm Springs was the last stop on our road-trip, in principle planned to heat us up before returning to the dreadful cold in Berlin. Located in the desert of the Coachella valley, the city experienced its heyday in the 1960s, when it was known as the “recreation center to the stars”. And the city kept this feel until today with its many mid-century architectures.
I instantly fell in love with San Francisco. No doubt about it, this city is a lot more comparable to Berlin than LA is, and it might just also fulfill more of my expectations of an urban life, since there’s actually life on the streets. Sadly, we chose a more than bad timing for our visit, we stayed over Thanksgiving, when everything was closed.
One of the weirdest things you can do in LA is to walk. May it be with a goal or just strolling around. No one walks in LA, “Let’s just walk there” doesn’t exist in the local vocabulary. This city is so unimaginably vast, every point of interest is at least a mile apart (except those overrated strips on Sunset or Rodeo Dr, the fame of the latter is build on a mere half mile part of the street occupied by brand stores you’ll find in any other major city, the rest of the street is private homes).
I was so very excited to have an apartment just a block away from this bakery in San Francisco’s The Mission district and so happy to finally get to taste what I heard my bread loving, baking and exchanging friend Malin raving about for so long. This bakery seems to be a mecca for everyone who is interested in bread baking since they opened in 2002.