Welcome to the personal blog of Gwen & Matt Tundermann! This is where we share all the day-to-day happenings of our life in California and travels around the country and abroad. To check out our photography blog, visit www.gwendolyntundermann.com/blog.
We woke up in London on Christmas Day with no real plans. We started over at Trafalgar Square because there were some walking tours meeting up there, but the groups were large and it was hard to hear, plus it was raining, so we just decided to wander around on our own. We started by doing what people do on Christmas – go to Chinatown! We read that there would be restaurants would be open over there, but most of them appeared to be closed. Perhaps they opened for dinner, but we stumbled upon The Wardour and decided to stop in for a pint an a bite to eat! Not knowing if we’d find any place to eat later, we chose to make this our main meal of the day and had a large meal that included meat pies!
We spent a couple hours there before wandering around some more. We decided to just wander whatever streets looked interesting. At one point we found people congregating while street performers entertained the crowd. We ended up along the river, walked around the Tower of London, crossed the Tower Bridge, and come back along the other side of the river.
As we made our way back toward our hotel, we found a little cafe that was still open so we popped in for some late night coffee and dessert to end the day!
We spent the holidays in Europe once again, though a MUCH shorter trip than last year! This year we visited London, Venice, and went back to Paris to celebrate the New Year!
We left from Los Angeles on the evening of December 23rd, arriving in London on Christmas Eve in the early afternoon. We had a direct flight on Virgin Atlantic, which was great! We had a little time to sleep on the plane, so we were ready to make the most of our day before everything closed for Christmas. Arriving in London, we had a nice little tour of the Thames and some of the sights. If you look closely, you’ll see the Tower Bridge with the Tower of London on the right and the Shard up and to the left.
Since it was Christmas Eve and we figured everyone would be out finishing up their holiday shopping, we opted to take a taxi to our hotel. We were so excited to take a taxi but we had the misfortune of getting a driver who hardly said a word to us the whole ride. The cab below is not ours, though we wish it had been because that driver seemed much friendlier!
We arrived at our hotel, The Grand at Trafalgar, and checked in to our room. It was fairly comfortable, but really we chose it for the location. We did a lot of walking and this put us in the center of a lot of places we planned to see during this part of our trip. We stayed in another part of town on the back end of our visit.
We got settled in and freshened up and headed out to see the city! We started by walking down to the Thames, headed toward Big Ben, then over to Westminster Abbey. These were all within 10 minutes of our hotel.
By now, it was starting to get dark. That’s the downside of traveling in the winter. There are much fewer crowds, but the sun sets around 4pm or so. 
But there was still plenty to see and do! We headed over toward Buckingham Palace on our way to the Winter Wonderland festival in Hyde Park.
We started making our way back to the hotel, just wandering the empty streets. We passed some beautifully decorated store windows along the way!
Finally, we stopped at a pub for a proper pint! We enjoyed our beers outside… because we could! It was a great way to finish the day before catching up on some much-needed sleep!
We’re excited to share another trip to Mexico with Let’s Go Clandestino! This time we went down to Valle de Guadalupe for wine tasting and a splendid dinner under the pine trees! On our way to the valle, we made an impromptu stop at a cheese stop to taste some of the local cheeses and pick up some snacks.
We continued on to the lovely Chateau Camou winery for a tour with owner Fernando. The views here are amazing and it’s so peaceful. Fernando told us about how he got into owning a winery and you can tell that he has so much passion for what he does. It really comes through in the wines! They were incredible! We did a tasting in the wine cave with some bread and cheese and the most delicious green olives I’ve ever tasted! I was in heaven! We picked up a couple bottles to enjoy later. Everything we tried was amazing!
Next, we went to Tres Mujeres, which is a co-op winery. They have an outdoor restaurant on the property that is completely outdoors, from the dining area to the kitchen (yes, even the refrigerator!). They have a close connection to this property. It is also their home, and dining here was like being invited over to dine with family. The meal was incredible. Not only were the flavors complex and wonderful, but the ambiance while toasting as the sun set over the valle is one that has no comparison.
We had a very full day, but we still had one more stop to make! We ended the night with some drinks at Bodegas del Valle. It’s an open air venue with a great drink selection, a vast amount of wine options, and a kitchen that made me salivate even though we’d just finished the most incredible meal.
We made our way back home crossing the border at Tecate. It was a long day, but one that we will never forget! Mexico is full of so many surprises. It’s by far cooler than San Diego! We can’t wait to go back!
I may like costumes a little bit. Just a little! So when Halloween comes around, I get pretty excited. This year, we had 4 opportunities to dress up!
First up was Dia de los Perros. Okay, so not really Halloween, but there was a dog costume contest so we decided to dress up as well!
The night before Halloween, Matt and I met up with our friends Cynthia and Adam for the 91x Boos Cruise – a fun Halloween party on a Hornblower cruise. We did it last year and had a blast, but it was even better having our friends with us!
On Halloween, we dressed up and went over to Liberty Station to grab lunch and check out the festivities.
The evening was pretty low key. We met up with some friends at Ballast Point. Oh, and we were photobombed by a dinosaur. That may be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me! 
The highlight of the weekend, and always my favorite part around this time of year, was Dia de los Muertos in Old Town! I got dressed up for it last year, but this year Matt decided to join me. People kept stopping to take photos with us. We decided not to join the processional and instead grabbed dinner and drinks and walked around with the dogs.
We also took advantage of some
Last month, we took a fantastic day trip down to Ensenada with San Diego company Let’s Go Clandestino. We’ve been wanting to do one of their tours for a while, and we were excited to finally get a chance to go on one! The tour conveniently departed from one of the breweries near our house. We got there early and met up with the rest of the tour group, hopped in the van and soon we were on our way. Within minutes we were at the border, and it was quick to get through. Once we crossed the border, the party began! We all drank mezcal on the way to our first stop in Ensenada.
Stop #1 was Muelle 3, an awesome seafood spot right on the pier in Ensenada. We drank some cold beers and enjoyed a pre-fixed mariscos lunch with some of the most incredibly fresh seafood imaginable. Everything was incredible! I’d go back to Ensenada just to visit this place again! If you happen to take a cruise, it’s very close to where the ships dock.
Our next stop was Wendlandt Cerveceria. Honestly, I don’t know that I could find this place again. It’s a bit tucked away, but worth looking for! They make some great beers! There was also a taco guy outside. Even though we had just finished lunch, we couldn’t resist the chance to get some tacos! We just got one of each. No idea what was in them, but they were amazing. I’m pretty sure one of them was tongue.
Stop #3 wasn’t on our itinerary, but our crew was full of beer lovers so Angel stopped by Agua Mala. A unique brewery made from shipping containers with an amazing view of the ocean, this was one of my favorite stops on our tour. They have some nice stouts and we spent some time hanging out enjoying the ocean breeze!
On the way back, we made a stop at a taco shop for some amazing adobada tacos! Again, we weren’t hungry but you just can’t say no to tacos! I didn’t think it was possible, but these guys set a new bar for adobada tacos. Nothing we’ve had in San Diego even comes close.
We can’t wait to do another trip with Let’s Go Clandestino!
Well, I guess I’m a little behind on blogging! This is a trip we took at the end of May/beginning of June, and it’s now September! It’s been a very busy summer!
We knew it was going to be busy and that this would be our last chance to take a long trip for a while, so we hopped in the car and went camping on the Utah/Arizona. We stayed in Phoenix the night before and then got an early start, stopping at a few interesting places along the way.
The first stop was Montezuma Castle – a 700 year old Native American dwelling built into the side of a mountain!
We continued on the highway, heading north, until we came to Sedona. The beauty of the red rocks is so serene, but then you get into the center of town and it’s crawling with tourists. I would love to come here one day – maybe during the off season!
Our next step was near Flagstaff where we took a scenic detour along a loop that passed by Sunset Crater and the Wupatki pueblo ruins.
Though we enjoyed taking our time getting to Lake Powell, it was nearly sunset by the time we arrived at our campsite. After driving through the desert all day, the beauty of Lake Powell seems like a mirage. Photos really don’t do it justice. It’s on such a grand scale that you really have to take it all in with your own eyes!
We set up camp for the night, made a fire, and sat back and relaxed, finally able to take a deep breath and relax!
Morning came early, so we woke up and sat outside with some coffee and took in the view of the lake. We were greeted by a bunny and a hummingbird that decided to hang out with us.
One of the reasons why we chose to camp at Lake Powell was because Antelope Canyon was a bucket list item. We started with the Lower Antelope Canyon, which may have been our favorite of the two simply because there were fewer people in there at one time.
Next, we went to the Upper Canyon. It was busy and felt very rushed, but I’m still glad that we saw it.
After a busy day, it was time to head back to the peace and tranquility of our campground.
The next morning, we took a day trip on a boat out to Rainbow Bridge. I can’t even put into words how amazing it was! Seeing the flooded canyons up close was so surreal. Some day it would be amazing to rent a house boat and stay on the water for a few days!
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool at the hotel (which is all part of Lake Powell Resort). Near sunset, we headed up to a vista point just outside of the park gates.
Though it was time to go, our trip was far from over! We stopped at Horseshoe Bend, which wasn’t very far from our campsite. We tried going at sunset before but it was so busy that we thought early morning would be better. The world is a pretty incredible place!
Our biggest stop of the day was at the Grand Canyon, which I had only seen from a plane until that day. This will definitely be a trip for another time. I’d love to get down there and hike and really get to appreciate this beautiful park!
Yesterday, Matt and I participated in I Love A Clean’s San Diego‘s annual Creek To Bay cleanup! Cleanups were organized at over 100 sites throughout San Diego County. We joined other people from our neighborhood to clean up the area around the Golden Hill Recreation Center, and we were shocked by how much garbage we pulled out of the canyons! Matt and I took the 28th Street canyon since we occasionally take the dogs through there to get to the dog park. We personally collected over 80 lbs of garbage! Our team had the dumpster nearly full an hour before the event even ended. We found a lot of beer bottles and cans and TONS of cigarette butts and broken glass. But we also found couch cushions, an old barricade sign, old metal pipes, and an old tire that Matt was determined to remove. It was more than halfway buried and caked in mud, but he used one of the metal pipes to pry it out and he flipped it all the way up the canyon. All of the movement loosened up the mud so he was able to empty it out and make it lighter, but the final weight was 55 lbs. With the mud inside it was easily 10-2o lbs heavier!
Not everything we found was trash. As we cleaned the canyon, we discovered a beautiful field of wildflowers that we never knew about before. And the most interesting piece of garbage we found was some kind of old switch. Our cleanup site organizer liked it and decided to keep it!
We really enjoyed being part of the cleanup and definitely plan to do more of these in the future! We also talked about picking a morning to pick up trash around our neighborhood. We love where we live and want it to be a neighborhood we can be proud of!
A couple weeks ago, we decided that we needed a quick weekend getaway to decompress and clear our heads. Fortunately, there are plenty of great places within hours to take a nice weekend trip. We decided that Big Bear was exactly the kind of relaxing weekend that we needed!
Spring has arrived in Big Bear, and we enjoyed the beautiful view driving up to the cabin!
When looking at cabins, we were deciding whether we wanted to be near the lake or if we wanted to have a view. We opted for the view and it was a great choice. In town it was a bit busy, but up in the mountains it was peaceful and serene! Even though our cabin had 3 bedrooms and plenty of space, it still felt nice and cozy!
We got settled in and then sat on the patio swing, enjoying the view and drinking wine. Matt cooked an incredible dinner, which we enjoyed as we watched a beautiful sunset. Just day one and we could already feel all of the stress in our lives fading away!
The next day we just had a lazy morning. We sat in recliners reading (and napping). This is what every weekend should look like!
We finally got motivated to get out and do something and decided to go for a hike. There were several trails close to the cabin, and we decided to venture up into the mountains in search of a nice view of the lake. We ended up on a trail that took us to Snow Summit, and we actually ended up on the ski trails! Talk about a great view!
When we got back to the cabin, everyone was ready for a nap! The rest of our evening was much the same as the previous night – hanging out on the patio, having an amazing dinner cooked by Matt, relaxing in the hot tub, and ending the night watching TV and sitting by the fire. We can really get used to these kinds of weekends!
On Monday, our trip was at an end and we started to pack up. Peanut and Taz looked at us like “What do you mean we’re going home??” They had such a great time, too! Not to worry, little pups. I’m sure we’ll have many more weekends like this one!
There are so many reasons why we LOVE living in San Diego, and now we have one more to add to the list! Matt took his first sailing course this spring and has been getting some practice in before his next class. Whenever we have a free weekend, Matt is checking the weather to see what the wind is like. He has taken me with him a few times and it’s so much fun! Can’t wait for this summer when we can cruise around the bay on a larger boat!
We recently started taking Peanut and Taz kayaking, and they LOVE it! At first they weren’t so sure about being in a boat, but it wasn’t long before they were enjoying the ride! They even have their own life jackets! These are pics from two different trips that we took with them around Mission Bay.
