Day 5: Hearst Castle & Arriving in Monterey

We left our cute, little hotel at around 10:00 a.m. as we had made a booking to visit Hearst Castle at around 10:30/11:00. I took a few quick shots of the hotel before we left. I have Dad to thank for this photo of our room!


On our way there, we hopped out of the car to see some elephant seals. The fog was gorgeous along the road.


If you look closely, you'll see the elephant seals on the rocks.


This lil' guy met me along the path on the way back to the car.


We then made our way to the place where we would catch the bus up to Hearst Castle. We had about twenty minutes to spare, so we explored and read a brief history of the place. I also experimented with some free lensing! 


The bus was full and there was an audio guide playing through the speakers. They explained a brief history of the guy who had built this incredible place. It was extremely interesting and I would definitely recommend looking up "Hearst Castle" and "William Randolph Hearst". For a building that was described as a 'little thing' it definitely transformed into something spectacular. I was in awe of the views we were seeing on the bus. I mean, it literally looked like my idea of Paradise. 


Hopping off the bus, we made our way to the front of the "ranch", as they described it. Our tour guide proceeded to explain significant facts of different things and mentioned various architectural techniques that were used. 


Inside was just as spectacular than the exterior. I loved the way our tour guide painted a picture of what it would have been like back in the day when Hearst would have visitors over for the weekend. He explained how the visitors would mingle in this room, before Hearst himself arrived and addressed them all. He had original artworks displayed in this room and throughout the ranch itself. To think of all of the significant figures who would have visited was just insane. It was such a privilege to be standing in the same room as those who had visited all of those years ago.


The tour then concluded and we were left to wander around the grounds up until 5 p.m. I was so excited to take advantage of such a beautiful location and use it for some photos! 



Charlie Chaplin played on this tennis court. Ahhhsgjdkfgh, can I just live here please?


The indoor pool had gold leaf tiles. We were walking on gold leaf tiles.


Unfortunately, we had to leave at some point haha. We began our drive to Monterey and stopped once again to see some more elephant seals. Ahh, they were so cute! 


What a life, huh?


The drive was absolutely beautiful!


Once we arrived, we went to get some dinner in this beautiful restaurant. The owner was so lovely and had spoken to Mum and Dad a few hours before about our trip and about the town. We had all felt the cool change in weather and planned on visiting Pebble Beach the next day! Until then :)



3 comments:

  1. Seems like a wonderful time :)

    What lens do you use?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brilliant Alex - you capture the eccentricity and awesomeness of the Hearst Castle brilliantly! And I adore the photos of you and Christian with your Mum and Dad - precious xxxx

    ReplyDelete

 

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