Castello di Amorosa, Napa Valley.

I have been missing from this space for over two months and the reason is my new passion: Pottery. 

It's been an interesting experience of moving out of my comfort zone, of trying something new, of rediscovering myself.

It's been loads of practice, struggle, frustration and patience. 

It has also been about a sense of achievement of seeing one's first not-so- perfect pot fired and glazed.

You can see my progress in this beautiful art here.

Now for a post about the trip to this delightful castle winery in Napa Valley in sunny California: Castello di Amorosa.

Napa Valley attracts visitors from all over the world due to it's picture perfect scenic views, the blue skies, rolling hills,vineyards and wineries on either sides of winding road.

As we drove through the wine country we realised they were filled with a wide variety of wineries. 

On researching, we found a castle for a winery and decided to follow the GPS leading us to the gates of Castello di Amorosa. 

...and what followed will be conveyed through my photographs.

The castle isn't particularly ancient, it is just 20 years old and was built by Dario Sattui of V. Sattui  Winery in a 13th-century Tuscan style. The architectural style with the picturesque vineyard backdrop is what makes it so breath-taking.

  

We were just in time for a wine tour...

The castle is built over 171 acres of land filled with forest, stream, lake and vineyards. It has 107 rooms on 8 levels above and below the ground.

The gorgeous courtyard where balmy evening parties are hosted...

The Tuscan style is evident in the details...

Our super interesting wine guide giving us information about the castle.

The afternoon shadows of furniture in the courtyard.

The castle has a Chapel as well!

We sure felt transported to Tuscany.

The masonry and ironwork were handcrafted using old crafting techniques.

The Great Hall has lovely frescos painted by two Italian artists who took over a year to finish.

The castle has authentically designed features of a moat, drawbridge, defensive towers, an interior courtyard,  a chapel, a knights' chamber and a a torture chamber! (will omit that;-)

The metalwork were all hand-crafted.

Now for the cellar and wine-tasting :-)

The huge wine cellar.

Following our wine connoisseur's instructions of smelling, twirling, sipping the wine...

Their list of wines.

Our wine tasting session.

One of their popular wines:-)

 ....and I came back with a bottle of their best dessert wine and one teeny-weeny bottle of grape-seed oil. Filled with great nutritive properties, going to replace the olive oil with this one for the salads!

Hope you enjoyed the visual tour of the castle winery.

(Images by Arch)

Balmy Alley, Mission District in San Francisco.

We thawed ourselves in sunny San Francisco during our Easter break. A city that lured us with it's weather, landmarks, historical places, food and it's happy colours! 

San Francisco city is best explored on foot especially the Mission District. As we emerged from the 24th St. Mission,  BART station we were welcomed into a lovely Latino neighbourhood with vibrance in the form of street art, cafes, bakeries and architecture.

Mission Pie Cafe.

The colourful murals take over large walls.

As we started our walk, there was so much to take in, the architecture with the deep blue sky above and  the multi- coloured art splashed on the walls.

The houses saturated with bright colours.

Art, patterns and colour play.

My friend's little daughter was completely taken in by the colours.

Each alley. Each lamp post seemed to be covered in art!

Patterns in the network of cables!

The buildings formed lovely angular patterns against the blue sky.

We finally reached Balmy Alley where Mission District artists have transformed the walls of their neighbourhood with huge murals.

The murals of Balmy Alley are examples of expressions of the history of displacement and marginalization  experienced by Mexicans and Chicanos of the United States.

These eyes reminded me so much of Aarohi Singh's work.

The walls are covered with Latino and South American murals portraying images of political struggles, artistic movements and their cultural heroes.

The famous mural  Naya Bihana by artist Martin Travers.

  

How about some Outer Body Experience? 

I was completely blown away by this world of colours and art. The murals keep changing and many are added over time.

 Art in every nook and corner.

I found this interesting link to San Francisco Mural Arts.  You can find your favourite mural artist here.

If you are traveling to San Francisco, do visit the Mission District and also the Precita Eyes Mural Arts and Visitors Center.  (We ran out of time but it does come highly recommended!)

I re-lived all those beautiful moments while I put this post together. Hope you all like it:-)

( Images by Arch. Reference: Wikipedia, Fodor's California 2012)