Zorro Land

I finally made it to Old Town today. It wasn't at all what I expected. I thought it would look like something out of a horror movie - you know - cool old American houses with carved windowsills and decorative balconies. What I saw was VERY different from this vision. Basically, it was like old Mexico!

I bet they didn't warn people that smoking kills

I should have known! When I was in LA, Rachel showed me the place where Zorro had been active. It looked exactly like the town from Zorro series and movies. Oh, I can't remember if it was a historic fact or maybe she said "character Zorro"... It would be extremely simple to check it up on Google. Right now I just prefer to think that OF COURSE Zorro was real! Of course he was really saving Mexicans from the evil American culture. I'm kinda glad he failed, otherwise there would just be one giant Tijuana where San Diego is (Tijuana is the Mexican city across the border just south of San Diego) and LA would also be part of Mexico. That would mean all of Hollywood would either not exist or ALL of our favourite blockbusters would be in Spanish!!!!! So YAY to Zorro, real or not, for failing!

Old Town - designed especially for souvenir shoppers

I'm so cold right now. Last few nights I haven't slept that well and today I spent as much time as possible being outside. Quite a bad timing really. Yesterday I felt a bit under the weather, so today I should have stayed in and rested a lot. But I can't just sleep in the apartment when there's still stuff I want to do. And it really is cold here - today it was 14 degrees. During noon I was walking around in short sleeves but later I wished there was any place that would sell me a warm glass of Glögg.

Will Miss vs. Not Gonna Miss

Will Miss: Sandwich bags. Simple small zip lock bags (15x17cm) that fit one sandwich or half of a huge onion or cut-up chicken good for one meal. It's just such a convenient small thing and here they have a big selection of them. I'm really debating if I should fit a couple of boxes in my luggage but it's just plastic bags, right?

Will Miss: Apple cider. Just simple non-alcoholic natural cider. It's not even expensive. As it turns out, drinking is cheap when it's all non-alcoholic. Well, except for fruit smoothies of course.

Will Miss: using the trip as an excuse to eat junk food. "But I'm in USA and we don't have IHOP (International House of Pancakes) in Estonia! And if I really visit IHOP only once in my life, I have to get something really good.

It tasted as good as it looks or maybe even better!

Not Gonna Miss: local pizza! They just don't know what a pizza is! It's a thin layer of dough and a lot of topping. They have it all wrong here - a REALLY thick crust and some topping on it. You get full from all the white bread and the cheese is for flavor. In Estonia, in any pizza-place worth visiting, pizza is thin crust with lots of toppings and a LOT of cheese. You get full from all that cheese and meat not from pointless white bread.

Will Miss: local burgers: healthier and a lot tastier than the ones in Estonia. More meat, less bread, and NO CABBAGE!!!

Not Gonna Miss: mixed selection supermarkets. I don't like seeing sweets sold everywhere throughout the supermarket. It's too easy to put something unhealthy in the shopping cart.