Our journey from San Jose to San Francisco progresses at a rate of approximately 10 miles per day. Since it follows a dead flat route with virtually no elevation change, it is a healthy, simple challenge for beginners. It’s not exactly the Santiago de Compostela, but certainly more easily accessible being in California!

After a 3-4 hour beeline with a couple of pit stops for clothing changes, nut breaks, and bathroom visits, we arrived at one of the hotels I prebooked a couple of days ago. We enjoyed a late lunch nearby, took a nap, and caught up with lively conversations that would not otherwise occur. It’s a great way to reconnect again, and to appreciate the precious time you have with your partner.

I haven’t documented prior trips so this time I’m devoting additional time to doing so. Yesterday we discovered a gem of a music shop in Palo Alto, that sells guitars, mandolins and other hand plucked string instruments (see photo above).

The old Mountain View neighborhood hosted a string of modest, pre-war bungalow-type houses that were as inviting as those in Sunnyvale the day before. They proudly displayed orange and grapefruit trees in their front yards. Interestingly, there were fewer decorations as we approached upper-crust Palo Alto.

The houses are close to the streets, with only a 5-15′ setback. A sad reminder of a time when the world was trusting and safer.

I looked out for Eichler homes that are scattered throughout the neighborhood. They were a new phenomenon at the time–a departure from the 3-BR 2-bath ranch house. Same size, but instead they boasted inner courtyards with plenty of light for each room. They didn’t appear to be as prominent on the streets we passed along.

Although we follow the general route of El Camino Real, a long strip highway/road originally linking the missions, we manage to take parallel off-streets whenever possible. The small residential streets are definitely more pleasant, but they sometimes end up inside subdivisions with curvy dead ends or no outlet. To avoid that I check the street end-to-end before using it, so we know where to turn. Google maps allows us to plan out our strategy and assures us that we have backup support whenever needed for navigation.

El Camino as a concept reminds me of both the Nakasendo Highway near Matsumoto in Japan and the Pilgrim Route (Santiago de Compostela) in Spain. There are many other similar long-distance foot trails (also the Pacific Trail) that provide a variety of challenges. My go-local determination allowed me to refrain from going to Spain or France for a destination walking trip. Since we were already in Japan last year, we took a side trip inland.

Despite the Christmas holiday frenzy, we grabbed the good weather forecast to make time for this trip. We discovered that the down time for business travel has slashed the price of hotel rooms–up to half off!!

There are plenty of delights and surprises, just around the corner from where you live! Take a look at two woody walking paths not far from El Camino along the way, and a sweet little surprise to literary friends.

Bike Path

Private House offering Free Books

Creek Crossing

Most of you know the way along 101 or 280. But most likely not the way we are coming. This week we are walking from San Jose to San Francisco–a mere 48 miles over a few days’ time.

For the past few years we have gone out the door (literally) and walked to Napa, California and two ways to San Jose–south along the east side of the Bay and along the Peninsula. This time we are going in reverse order from San Jose Downtown to San Francisco north along El Camino Real.

Many of you know us as urban walkers, and who enjoy the “slow” version of transportation. We see the small businesses stringing El Camino strip malls. Their parking lots serve nail salons, ethnic fast food take-outs, specialty music shops, and mid-range companies (vs. start-ups), that all pay their rent, bills, and struggle to stay in the economy.

The first time I started this wacky way of walking, I was on a weekend trip from Hong Kong to Honolulu about to take my first professional architectural licensing exam. Perched in Manoa Heights at a friend’s home, I had made plans to meet my friend Downtown for lunch. When I missed the bus, I discovered that the next one would not be for another hour! I glanced down the hill and determined that it wouldn’t be too difficult to walk instead. A three-mile walk is a breeze today, but in those days NO ONE walked outside their houses. Especially in Honolulu.

I was used to being without a car in Hong Kong for seven years, so it seemed rather natural. The look on my friend’s face must have been priceless when I told her that I would be a little late and why. She thought I was…well, wacko. So that’s how I coined myself the crazy lady ever since.

Nevertheless, we are keeping up the crazy lady walks. We came to San Jose for a performance, and despite the holidays being around the corner, we had the time to walk back to San Francisco, so why not?

For a few starters, we passed the Old Frank Lloyd Wright Building and the Rosecrucian Museum on the way towards Santa Clara University.

The weather is clear and crisp (above frost level today). The lovely neighborhoods we walked through included tidy pre-war bungalows and 60’s ranch subdivisions, all proudly displaying their Christmas decorations and embarrassingly beautiful citrus trees reminiscent of the region’s agricultural legacy.

San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale are in the heart of Silicon Valley and dead flat with paved sidewalks along the entire stretch to San Francisco. Walking 10 miles a day is a no brainer, with plenty of food and lodging establishments along the way.

Can you guess what we saw? Here’s the curtain call:

Here’s a gallery of unpreserved historical and old buildings in Irkutsk. Both the Trubetsky and the Irkutsk Historical Museums that we visited today did not allow photos inside, so these are exterior shots only.

You can really get a sense of how bleak and gruesome it was living through a winter in Siberia. Around 1830 in St. Petersburg,  nobles tried to revolt and lead a coup against the Russian empire. They failed, were put into hard labor camps, then exiled to Siberia. Their wives and children were left to follow and look after them, at their own expense.

Known as the Decembrists for the month of the revolt, the anti-imperialists are now finally given due respect for their travails. Trubetsky was one of the survivors who was allowed to live out his life in Irkutsk. His wife had died and was buried here,  so he chose to remain where her grave was. The museum is located in the home where he lived out the remainder of his life.

Irkutsk has a short history of only 355 years. I find it surprising that American history predates the one here. We are so easily surpassed by any country in Europe. It’s not surprising that few humans would contemplate ever living here.

The state of disrepair and condition of the city were depressing. At a site we passed, old Russian artillery and tanks were on display in a neglected area overrun with weeds. Once a building was built, it never seemed to be maintained or repaired to extend its life.

The harsh weather of Siberia shows how difficult and impractical it was to make sufficient repairs in the few good months of the year. It seems that everyone needed to spend the time recovering from the previous winter and enjoy the few days of sunshine, rather than toil to gain a simple pride of place.

Old Window Frames

HIstoric Building

Window Detail

Historic Building

History of Decembrist Movement

Trubetsky House

Corner Log Detail

Soviet Missile

Soviet Tanks

Relevant to this conversation, the construction of the Trans Siberian Railroad was another example of how difficult it was to build anything. Stretching nearly twice the length of the US, the railroad took 25 years to build. The area around Lake Baikal was particularly difficult. Here’s more information about the construction around Irkutsk:http://www.irkutsk.org/fed/transsib.html.

Sadly, Irkutsk didn’t have the vibrancy and can-do  energy of Mongolia. It seems to be bogged down by its climate, corruption and inertia. It may be harsh judgment, and I can not speak from an impression of the city. Gee Kin travels for understanding, while I travel for enjoyment. It’s hard to do either here.

Going off the grid for three days or more. Will try to report from Vladivostok next. Apologies in advance if you are having trouble accessing the website. It’s been erratic and unpredictable. Hopefully this will be fixed by time I reach Japan. Thanks for your patience!