THE DUTCH VILLAGE

SOLVANG 

My parents surprised my sister and I with a spontaneous trip up the coast to revisit some of our favorite towns up northern California. Back when I was nine years old we took a week long summer vacation as a family near Avila beach, which happens to hold some of my favorite memories. Ever since my traveling bug hit me in my teens, I've been dreaming of venturing back. Neighborhoods, local restaurants, crowd of the people, nearby scenery, and the entire town just comes together in a way that is seen in such a bigger picture when traveling in the eye of an adult. Plus it never hurts to be able to document such a trip with my own camera for this blog, lol.

So I hope you enjoy these next few blog posts as we continue our memorial day weekend trip up the coast! Our itinerary includes Solvang, San Louis Obispo, Avila Beach, and perhaps Morro Bay.

Our first stop was Solvang. Walking around this area feels as though I'm in Switzerland because of the large windmills, danish bakeries, cottage like architecture, and coo-coo clocks hanging from every store window. This little dutch village is just darling, and filled with so much to do, see, and eat! Everywhere I looked seemed to be so photogenic or Instagram worthy (as they say) because each shop door was painted bright colors! So Copenhagen if you ask me.

As for a special treat you really cannot go wrong as there are over five bakeries to chose from, all filled with danishes, chocolate truffles, and shortbread cookies. The classic choice Solvang is truly known for is their aebleskiver's which are hot fried donuts served with raspberry sauce and then topped with powered sugar. This would have been my thing minus raspberry so I opted for a danish treat instead which did not let me down! As you can see from the photo below I purchased a fresh whipping cream eclair. Ahh, it was so delicious. A few bakeries I would recommend is Mortensen's Danish Bakery, and Danish Mill Bakery Inc.