After my late arrival in the USA yesterday, I spend my sunday exploring. The morning brought me to a coastal forest, but the weather was way better in the Sacramento valley, so I went for an early return and spent the afternoon exploring the city.

I enjoyed Downtown Sacramento and the Old part of the city, and I was genuinely pleased with that experience.

The best part of this city is that it looks like it is thought through. That might surprise Americans, but for a European it is not something we take for granted.

We are used to old cities, that have been growing like a living thing for century after century. We are used to narrow, winding streets with houses that can barely support there own weight and have to lean on each other to survive another year.

We are not used to the space, the tidiness and the design of a city like Sacramento. With its straight avenues, broad streets and tall, modern buildings, the city looks to be designed on the drawing table of a talented architect with a love for clarity.

The golden tower bridge is the main attraction of the city, and it is a true beauty in the afternoon sun. The noise and fuss it makes when it has to get up – vertically – to let a sailing ship pass is way over the top, but it adds to its allure of a construction from ancient times, when transportation was still magical.

I have been told the place is sometimes even denied the name ‘city’, probably by Americans who are used to bigger and busier. But I love the place, and I am glad it is my first confrontation with big USA.