left coast roadtrip part two // hearst castle

On day two of our roadtrip, we drove towards San Simeon, where we visited the epic Hearst Castle, brought to life by William Randolph Hearst himself (and technically, his architect, Julia Morgan). Some friends had told me Hearst Castle was one of those places you don't dare pass up if you're driving through, so like good little tourists, we made a stop to see what this castle was all about.

Just to get to the castle itself involves a five mile ride in a bus from the visitor center to the very top of the hill, which is pretty neat in itself. You know you're pretty dang important if your friends have to drive five miles of twisty roads up a mountain just to get to your house.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a fan of 'ole Willy's interior decor. Waaayy too stuffy for me. But hey, nice tapestries.

This room is called the Refectory, which sounds like a place you'd get quarantined for bubonic plague or something. But nope, just a place for fancy dinner parties with 'ole Hearst.

THIS POOL. Someone needs to throw a Gatsby-style pool party, and invite me immediately.

Walking around the gardens and terraces was so lovely. It was easy to tell that Hearst was a big fan of Spanish architecture. And having lived in Spain, I almost felt like I was visiting the Alhambra in Granada again. It was gorgeous.

So I guess if you're Mr. Hearst, having one gigantic pool isn't enough. The Neptune Pool is a fantastically gorgeous indoor pool that I would've happily paid money to swim in. I mean, look at it! The crazy reflections, the tile work...it's insane. Beautifully insane.

You can just make out the ocean if you look through the clouds. What a view. Fancy people live in fancy houses on top of fancy hills. That's pretty much the lesson of the day folks.

Next up on the road trip....San Francisco :)