Cambria to Hearst Castle

We enjoyed a walk around the town of Cambria to look at the lovely quaint buildings.  The local History museum was beautiful on the outside, but unfortunately not open on a Sunday.

Sea Otters poster

Cambria Coastline

One of the attractions here are the Sea Otters.

Beautiful Flower Pots in Cambria

Delightful shop garden

Coming out of the water to laze on the sand

Amanda enjoying some of the local ice cream

Shame the museum was closed

Commemorative Pavers to fund the Museum

Good job this shop was closed.

A children's clothing shop in Cambria

This was an adult clothing shop, looked good!

Sage growing everywhere

Beautiful hydrangea

Historical clock at the front of the museum

I love seaside daisy, even grows out of cement in the car park.

We stopped for a couple of great shots along the coastline





























We then set off for Hearst Castle. You actually have to catch a bus to this place.  It is a 10 minute drive and you can just see the castle at the top of this hill.  It is quite expensive, $25 per head to see one set of the rooms.  If you wanted to see the entire castle it was $50.





They are very strict here, only allowing you to have water, no food as this is now owned by the State and they police food use.  We found the same applied when we went to Alcatraz.  The funniest thing I overheard was two of the security guards talking.  A small child was throwing a tantrum and the mother tried to give her a lolly to settle her down.  The female guard said to the male guard "The mother was about to give her Candy, but I soon put a stop to that".  The mother and child were invited to sit in a "special" room until the child calmed down.

The steps to the castle shown here.  A very impressive place I must say.  William Randolph Hearst was a magazine magnate and built this place in 1919.  It has 165 rooms and is an overwhelming testimony to his inherited wealth.  It is filled with art and collections from all around the world.

Very Ornate front doors.

The view to the ocean from the steps.  As youc an see it was a very hot day too.

Some of the many lounge areas set up for guests.  The paintings were gorgeous and the tapestries that hung on the walls amazing.

He had a great collection of antique furniture throughout.

The tour guide kept assuring us "he was not a pretentious man".  Umm, bullshit!  But as you can see the mustard and the sauce apparently were always served in their original bottles, not in fancy jars or bowls.

Beautiful tapestries

Thought of Brian as soon as I saw this.  I must ask him to "date" it for me.

Lots of great photo opportunities here.

I have to say this was my favourite bit.  Yes it is the swimming pool, as it gets very hot in California.  And this is about two thirds of it, too big to fit into one shot.

The view from the bus heading back down the hill. 

Phoebe had to be carried in a back pack as prams are not allowed.  That made life a bit awkward for Amanda, but it was a good "work out".