San Simeon (Hearst's Castle) is a remarkable feat of architecture, building and sheer determination. Based on a Mediterranean villa, the "ranch," as it was called, defies description. Maggie and I basically spent the entire tour with our mouths open. But the 'piece de resistance' was when we were driving down highway 1, having just left the complex, and we spotted some of the zebra herd descendants that the Hearst's set free when the state came to confiscate them! There are five tours in all (some people try to take all five in one day)! We felt lucky to get on the tour we did, which included Hearst's private quarters, some of the upper floor guest rooms, his private library (4000 volumes or something like that), the kitchen (which was every bit as big as some of the institutional kitchens we've seen) and of course the two pools (the indoor pool is the most photographed pool in the world). Well, maybe we don't have all our facts exactly right, but suffice to say we were WAY impressed! Though a little confused what anyone 'needed' that size house for!