Silicon Valley

So here I am again, as promised.

After a rich breakfast, well basically it was the same every morning. First a small muesli with fruit and then whole grain toasties topped with cream cheese and tomato slices. I can assure you it's amazing. Cheap and delicious at the same time. Well, maybe I should correct myself. A rich breakfast for me! That might be more accurate. After that, we headed to Silicon Valley.

I hope everyone is familiar with that. If not, there is a small city outside San Francisco where many large international companies are located, such as Google, Apple, and Facebook. Many of them have their headquarters there. It has always been a dream of mine to set foot there someday. I'm sure everyone has seen reports about it on Galileo. Well, not just the reports attracted me there, but also my affinity for business administration. Thanks to Travelguide Paps, we were well-prepared. He was so kind and sent me a little plan in advance and showed me where the 'most important' companies are hiding. Of course, 'important' is a relative term. For me, Google, Apple, Facebook, NASA, and SAP were at the top of the list.

Oh my, I was so excited when we drove there. You can maybe imagine it when you've only seen something like that on TV before and now you're on your way there *Grins*. It was an amazing feeling! We first visited Google.

I don't know if you're as disappointed as I am right now? The pompous Google logo in colorful writing has just disappeared into thin air in my imagination. But we still went on an exploration tour and took a closer look at the company grounds. I have to correct myself a bit! Google offers its employees a swimming pool, basketball court, dog kindergarten, and those were just the things we could clearly see from the outside. So I think it's a case of 'ugly from the outside, beautiful from the inside'. German companies should take note of that as well. I hope everyone agrees with me *Grins*.

Enough about Google, that wasn't all! Then we found the founding place of Apple on the internet, of course with the help of the Google search. Yes, you heard that right, the garage where Steve Jobs and co. started the beginnings of the apple, it still exists.

Let me introduce you. The founding of the apple. A very inconspicuous little house.

We had to travel at least 30-40 minutes between each company. But after that, we were fully geared towards the apple.

At Apple, it was basically the same. A small, inconspicuous logo, often you only know you're in the right place when you use the navigation. We went to the main entrance. We were politely asked to leave pretty quickly. Well, we are not employees after all. Then we had some fun in the adjacent Apple store. The fascination for the iPhone X started again! Such an amazing device.

Next up was SAP. No comparison to Walldorf. But it was still a must, definitely!

Just around the corner, we found the house where Steve Jobs lived in the end.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see from the outside. The windows were covered with blinds. The house actually looked like a small castle. Really beautiful. It was possible to live there undisturbed during Steve Jobs' time, but since his death, many tourists visit this house. We were among them. It's certainly unfortunate for the new owners, but the risk should be known when buying such a house!!

Not only this house stood out in the area. I think all my possible dream houses were gathered here. Take a look... you'll love it.

Okay, I took this snapshot just because this house reminded me of American Pie. Got it?

I thought it was really cool too.

It makes you feel like you're in Tuscany. Not exactly my style, but I thought it was beautiful.

Next up was Facebook.

As you can easily see, even the street name is in a larger font size *laughs*. Well, I've already complained enough about the inconspicuous logos.

What I really liked about Facebook were the different building colors. You would expect that more from Google. But it doesn't matter. All kinds of colors were visible. Here in the picture, it's yellow, red, and green.

Oh, I forgot to mention Stanford University. It's just around the corner. Of course, we also took a look there. Just the avenue with palm trees leading to the main entrance is amazing. The landscaped garden in front of the main building. Absolutely stunning!

The church on the campus can't be missed.

Just one more little snapshot.

We then headed straight to the super intelligent people, where else *Grins*....... Okay, actually we just had to go to the bathroom and the nearest one was there. I have to say it's a pretty small faculty. What I mean is that it's just a small building and there weren't really many students listed in the small reception hall. Strange, even though NASA is nearby.

Google bike on campus.

All in all, you can consider yourself lucky to study here. I looked it up on the internet. It seems that out of over 30,000 applicants, only about 3,000 are accepted as students. Crazy! But it's not without reason that it's one of the most famous universities in the world.

Finally, we went to NASA. I was really excited about that.

We unfortunately only got to see the sign. This was the first time we saw a really extraordinary building and a spaceship after entering. But despite all our efforts, we were not allowed to enter. Neither by car nor on foot. Such a shame. Unfortunately, the Visitor Center was already closed *sigh*. I'm sorry, but there's only this picture and my memories of it.

Then we slowly drove back home. On the way, we once again confirmed how crazy Americans really are.

The most amazing Christmas lights we've ever seen.

When we finally got home, I went to the nearest gym and got a 5-day pass for a whopping $0. Yay! That means I can finally start exercising again. Finally... if there's one thing I miss, apart from my loved ones, it's exercise!

And now I'm going to bed, have fun reading. Kisses.