Southern California (and Mexico)
Trip Start
Oct 05, 2008
1
6
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Los Angeles,
California,
United States
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The weather in San Diego was beautiful - 75 degrees Farenheit and hot a cloud in the sky. I had visited SAn Diego briefly in 2003 so found some parts familar which was useful. Its a lovely, compact city with a nice mixture of bars, shops and restaurants. We were here for four nights so spent a bit of time exploring the city itself, atking a nice stroll by the harbour and around the vibrant 'gaslamp' district, which was actually where we were staying (our hostel was great but due to the location pretty noisy at night). we also spent a day over at Pacific Beach which was beautiful - it felt very strange to be lying on a beach in mid November but also we certainly were not complaining!
We also took the opportunity whilst in San Diego to head over the border (on two occassions!) to Tijuana. I remember from before how quick and easy it is to head over to Mexico so we took the blue line trolley to the last stop and headed up over the ramp, through the football style turnstyle, past the disinterested looking Mexican policeman and we were in Mexico! We visited on a Saturday afternoon so it was incredibly hectic, with seemingly every shop/restaurant/bar owner beckoning us in - even whistling at us from the other side of the road. The place was a bit nuts so after a quick potter we sunk into a bar to get out of the madness and midday heat. We had a couple of beers (and tequila) before making the trip back over the border. We hadn't bought anything as it was pretty much all tourist 'tat', but vowed to return one evening for a meal. The US border was a slightly different experience, with queues, passport checks and bag x-rays, though we still got through pretty quick and actually headed back over the border a couple of days later for a lovely meal, some Mexican wine (and more tequila...!)
We had a really nice few days in San Diego, also really enjoying our time in T.J. A few people in the hostel we were chatting to were looking to move to San Diego - I can certainly see why....
After S.D. we were heading to our last destination in the USA - Los Angeles. We had mixed feeling about the place, being well aware how large and car orientated the place is. However, we were flying out of LAX so had to head there at some point. We took the Amtrak 'Pacific Surfliner' up the coast on the 18th Nov and arrived at Union station that afternoon. We were staying at Santa Monica so took the #33 bus from Union station, heading off down the street 'Venice'....almost two hours later we got off the bus - still on the road Venice! We pottered up to Santa Monica, which is a really nice place and feels very separate from the rest of LA. We were staying near the pier so had a great location and we spent our first spuple of days in the area, one day walking down to Venice beach and also heading out on an evening pub crawl around the Santa Monica area. We also took some time out to check out the new 007 movie, which we both enjoyed.
One day we decided to head out to Hollywood. This involved a bus and a metro journey and took almost two hours which I think is pretty ridiculous - LA is so huge, it was pretty evident the only way to function in the place is with a car. We got some photos of the Hollywood sign and wandered down Hollywood Boulevard, dodging people dressed up as the Joker/Jack Sparrow/Spongebob etc etc (all asking for money) and headed down to Sunset Boulevard. We were at number 7000 and needed to get to 8900 - which involved another bus. We found the Hollywood area in general a bit uninspiring and completely impractical to navigate on foot so were happy to head back to Santa Monica (2 hours later!)
After another day pottering in SM we spent our last day in Los Angeles and indeed in the USA with Anna and Iain - who had flown there the previous day. Iain is a pilot with BA so he had actually flown there, while Anna got to relax in first class! We left our hostel in style with Anna picking us up in a convertible! She took us down Rodeo Drive, before heading to teh infamous Beverley Hills hotel where we stopped for some afternoon cocktails (as you do!). Iain then took over the driving and took us up the coast on Highway one. We headed up to Malibu, which was an awesome place, before stopping at one of Iains favourite haunts, Moonshadows. This was a bar/restaurant right on the water (a pod of dolphins were spotted). We had a great lunch (including starter and a main!) and then bathed in the sunshine with a few beers. We then headed back south for a quick stroll around Venice Beach before scooting over to Sunset with the plan for a couple of drinks. However, both the Viper Rooms and Whiskey a go go were closed so we decided to head over to the airport as time was cracking on. We headed over to LAX and with some expert manouvering from Iain to avoid a BIG traffic jam we arrived at the airport right on time. We said our goodbyes and thanks - had a very different experience of LA today with some wheels - we had an awesome day and it was a great note to leave to the USA on.
Next stop, over the Pacific and equator to the Cook Islands.....
