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After enjoying a land perspective on the coach/van ride to the helicopter, you will board a Bell Jet Helicopter and begin your exciting adventure of San Francisco from the sky. Musical background accompanies your flight, along with spontaneous narration by your professionally trained pilot. View the hills of San Francisco, the city skyline and other Bay area communities from a distance. On this 60 kilometer flight (15-20 minutes), take in the major highlights and well-known landmarks of San Francisco such as the Ferry Building, Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges. So come and admire the view!
The Wine Lovers' Tour is for lovers of great wine, lovers of beautiful scenery, or people who just want to see where America's most famous wine labels come from. Typically, the guide will take you to both Sonoma and Napa Valleys, and visit from four to six boutique wineries that are less frequently visited by tourists, so you will get more personal attention, and the guide will take requests, within reason and distance constraints, so you can help plan the trip.
On this tour, you'll be able to sample wines from famous grape-growing regions such as Rutherford, Oakville, St. Helena, Yountville, Stags Leap, Los Carneros, Sonoma Valley, Kenwood, and Glen Ellen. The guide will also make sure you have an opportunity to have a delicious meal of "California Cuisine".
A few wineries offer complimentary tastings, but most charge a fee ranging from $5 to $10 (or even higher) and guided winery tours may also cost extra.
Your day will begin with a hotel pick-up and then a drive through the San Joaquin Valley with a rest/snack stop on the way to Yosemite National Park. Then you will head on through gold country and up into the Sierra Nevada range to Yosemite National Park where you will get to spend 5 to 6 hours! Once in the valley there are activities to suit everyone - Enjoy a hike to one of Yosemite's waterfalls or watch the climbers on El Capitan; rent bikes for a relaxing ride around the lovely flat bike paths throughout the valley; take the shuttle buses around the loop and hop on hop off at different stops for different views and trails, in summer take your swimming gear and cool off in lovely river pools; or relax at the visitor's center where there are museums, restaurants, and the Ansel Adams Gallery to inspire every amateur photographer. There's also a chance you will see a black bear during the day.
After lunch you will be driven to one of the Giant Sequoia groves, stopping on the way to get a bird's eye view of the whole valley. Many consider the giant sequoia trees the largest of all living things, with some towering over 300 feet (91 meters) with tree trunks of 40 feet (12 meters) in diameter! Here, you will have the opportunity to go on a short 2 mile (1 hour) hike through the Giant Sequoia grove walking through (literally) one of these colossals; or you can choose to relax in the picnic area.
When it's time to head back to San Francisco, you will drive down the Sierra Nevada, descending over 2000 feet and passing through Stanislaus National Forest. There will be a stop along the way for a break and a bite to eat, and then you'll be back in San Francisco, enjoying views of the sunset over the East Bay hills, the Peninsula and the city lights where your tour will end with a drop off at your hotel.
The Golden Gate Tour will fly you directly out to the Pacific Coast, and south to the Golden Gate Bridge. After flying over the bridge, you will continue your flight over the Financial District and Downtown San Francisco, along the waterfront, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, then north to Alcatraz, around Angel Island, and along the picturesque towns of Tiburon, Belvedere and Sausalito.
The flight lasts approximately 20 minutes, and offers a great balance of sights from Marin to San Francisco.
The seaplanes are ideal for sightseeing and photography. Their high wings, large view windows and untinted glass present panoramic views and unrivaled photo opportunities. Experienced pilots will point out landmarks as you cruise by at a leisurely pace. Get set for a magical ride above some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.
After meeting your personal guide in the lobby of your hotel, the tour will take you over the Bay Bridge until Treasure Island for a breathtaking view of sunset over the city. This is followed by the spectacular view of the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Bridge by night. Dinner will take place in North Beach at Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope's Café. And finally, a memorable view from the Coit Tower will bring your Soiree to a close.
Dinner at: Zoetropes Cafe
Named for Francis Coppola’s venerable production company, American Zoetrope, Café Zoetrope is located in the majestic Sentinel Building, a San Francisco historic landmark in the heart of North Beach. European-style café and offer authentic Italian cuisine and a wide selection of Italian and Californian wines, including premium offering that they carry exclusively at their wineries. One-of-a-kind mementos spanning Francis’ long and celebrated film career decorate the inside walls while the awnings and heated sidewalks make it comfortable to dine outside even in foggy San Francisco weather.
A full evening of entertainment and dining, Teatro ZinZanni combines some of the world's most renowned cirque artists, contortionists, aerial artists, jugglers and illusionists with live music from a five-piece band and a gourmet five-course meal. Guests quickly discover that the entertainment is not confined to the stage as European clown characters engage and entertain the entire room. The show breaks new artistic territory with this intoxicating blend of interactive theater, spectacle, fine arts and fine dining, put together under the direction of One Reel's Norman Langill.
The splendid antique spiegletent, named Le Palais Nostalgique, is one of the few remaining hand-crafted traveling tents built in the early 1920s in Europe. Owned by a Belgian family, Le Palais Nostalgique came to the United States for the first time in October 1998 for Teatro ZinZanni. Originally these spiegeltents served as wine tasting pavilions and dance halls, traveling to thousands of European locales for over 70 years.
THE PERFORMERS (See below for Performer profiles)
- Yamil Borges as Madame Sofia ZinZanni
- Lutz Jope as Monsieur Lutz
- Leon Kaufman as Mr. Gusti
- Kristin Clayton as The Diva
- Ron Campbell as Chef Cecil B. De Grille
- The Collin Brothers
- Les Petits Frères as Jacques, LouLou, and Edmond
- Tuan Le as Fu Ling You (Bobby)
- Vita Radionova as Mademoiselle Suzanne
- Sabine Rieck as Frieda
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