fILOLI ..." Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life"

After the 1906 earthquake, many wealthy San Francisco families relocated to the Peninusla and built large estates. A number of these families made their fortunes in the railroad, mining, banking and mercantile boom of America's Gilded Age. Filoli is the last of these estates remaining on all of its original 654 acres. Built by Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn II from 1917 to 1919 and  sold to   Mr. and Mrs. William P. Roth in 1937. In 1975, Mrs. Roth donated the estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Filoli Entrance

Filoli represents an excellent example of architecture and garden design from the first part of the twentieth century. The long Transverse Hallway runs north to south, parallel to the valley in which the House is set. Both the rooms of the House and the formal Garden are organized along this axis. The residence, which connects to the garden wall, was sited to one side, preserving the valley floor and the grand vista to the north towards Crystal Springs Lake. The House contains 36,000 square feet of interior floor space on two floors and a mezzanine. There are forty-three rooms and seventeen fireplaces.

Curios Things
Have you ever seen the TV show "Dynasty" ? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mt6PaLM3Yg&feature=related), or the movie "Heaven can wait" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxE9MriSy4I&feature=related), well those were filmed in this property.

In the Library they have two interesting thins: An Isphahan carpet, and a "must be here" chair.

The carpet was used in Queen Victoria's House on the Isle Wight, and the chair's story is this: When

Mrs. Roth donated the estate to the National Trust she gave away many of the furnishings that she used in the House when it was her home, among them was the chair. Since Filoli opened in 1975, furnishing the House has been an ongoing  process with the goal to furnish it as it might have been when the House was occupied. In 1998 Melville Martin, a Southern California collector went to Filoli and took the tour, he was delighted with the house and decided to gave a major gift of eighteen-century English furnishings and guess who was included?.....The chair!!. When something is meant to be, it will be for sure.

Many of us give importance to the kitchen in our house, since it's a place of reunion and we spend a lot of time in there, but they took the concept beyond: The kitchen in Filoli is actually three kitchens and a safe, that's right a safe for the silverware!

Safe for Silverware

Then they have the " Serving kitchen", the kitchen for preparing the food and the last one just for pastries.

Serving Kitchen

Pastries Kitchen

And finally in the Kitchen they have an alerting system, that alerted the employees when a member of the family needed something in one of the rooms. One or many of this leds turned red indicating the room where the button was pressed.

What to have for dinner every night was also a quite different  experience, they selected among a various menus, and various dishes, wines, soups, salads and desserts.

The Garden

The sixteen-acre formal Garden was planned and planted as construction of the House neared completion. Inspired by European influences, the Garden is a succession of garden rooms containing parterres, terraces, lawns, and pools, arranged between the two parallel north-south walks.

 

My favorite part

Filoli is dedicated to the preservation, interpretation and stewardship of the cultural traditions and natural history, and as part of that they have plants and fruits that are preserved only here, and every year they have a Fruit Tasting event, what I found amazing and will definitely go!.

Moments of color and fresh air with my lovely Mom

" One year!! wow is going to be a long time to wait for my Mom to come to visit me..." those were my words when we booked my Mom's ticket to SF last June, but it finally  happened she was here last week visiting us.  I was so excited when her plane landed and all I wanted was to hug her.

I made a big list of things to do and places to visit, we planned her stay so we could celebrate her birthday here. For that day we had a beautiful dinner, with ice cream instead of cake and a Japanese song, since we were in a Japanese restaurant, it was  fun, and the food very good. We spend a great time together, we went to the city to most of the touristic places, Golden Gate, Fisherman's Wharf, Boudin, Twin Picks, Golden Gate Park, China Town, Union Square, Ghirardelli,  Lombard Street, Civic Center, Market Place, Embarcadero, Cliff House, Botanical Garden, Japanese Garden and some other places around the Bay... I know it was a lot of walking and every day we ended up very tired, but with a big smile and a bigger hart full with happiness.

Spending time with my Mom was a big inhalation of fresh air , it gave the opportunity to connect with things that matter, with memories and feelings that define who I am. I'm  grateful for having her in my life and for  all the blessing I have had.  I really think we should seek for this "stop" once in a while to reconnect with our family, because in the end we are a mirror of them for better or worst and is safer to make peace with us knowing where we came from and to start to grow up from the root.

Gracias Mamichi!

Muir Woods

Muir Woods National Monument is a remnant of ancient coast redwood forests that blanketed many northern California coastal valleys before the 1800's. Local businessman William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought land in this valley in 1905 to protect one of the last stands of uncut redwoods. To ensure permanent protection, they donated 295 acres of redwoods to the federal government. In  1908 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the area a national monument. 

                                           

Muir Woods National Monument is a remnant of ancient coast redwood forests that blanketed many northern California coastal valleys before the 1800's. Local businessman William Kent and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent bought land in this valley in 1905 to protect one of the last stands of uncut redwoods. To ensure permanent protection, they donated 295 acres of redwoods to the federal government. In  1908 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the area a national monument.

The place is amazing!, they say "This is the best tree-lover's monument that could possibly be found in all the forest of the world" and I agree. My husband and I went yesterday and found ourselves  in a colorful, fresh, beautiful forest, with a river and this redwood trees that stand there like it was nothing to have survived 1,000 years!. We walked for 2 hours and being there made feel live, happy, free and healthy. You can walk on the pavement paths and/or  hiking on the rods, both are great experiences, and you can enjoy the fresh air, the nature,the trees, the water, the  sun, the views and of course take fabulous pictures.
 
                                              

I'm realizing while being there I did not think of anything else but being there, which is a very good thing since one of my daily goals is to be "Here and now" (Eckhart Tolle). I smelt, I saw, I felt the air, I listened and by the end of the walk I said thank you!. It was such a good experience that we decided do there at least every month.

Water, some nuts or fruit, sunglasses and a tennis is all you need. Parking is difficult but there is public transportation options and they have restrooms, benches and a place for snacks and drinks. We saw a lot of people running on the small roads, looks like it is also a good place for a hard training. 

Time to say good bye, stay well, have a good week and enjoy every moment!

My City

Fresh Air?... well,  that unique day there was a lot of it. Mexico City is  a beautiful, historical, awesome city and is also my hometown, the place I know the best and  where family and friends are. You can eat everything you want anytime time you want,  the city never sleeps. To feed your healthy side you can go on a ride by bike at UNAM, or in Cuemanco, or maybe running in Chapultepec, or in the Autodromo or  Los Viveros de Coyoacan, and don't forget to have one of those delicious juices they sell at the entrance, the green one is the best!.

In the other hand, if you want to eat something and forget about the calories, go to Coyoacan and take the Historical Tour, buy a coffee at "El Jarocho" and try a Churro. The Hippie-Artistic-Rocker ambiance of this place make you fell comfortable, relax, and happy....I love the place!.