More of my holiday!

Well having managed to see the beaches of LA, Vegas and the Grand Canyon in my first 5 days, a relaxing weekend was in order! My Aunt  had the weekend off on Saturday we headed to Beverley Hills and Rodeo Drive to see how the other half live! We had lots of fun shopping in Tiffany’s and doing lunch at the Beverley Wilshire (Pretty Woman). Having shopped till we dropped we headed back and had dinner and Cocktails at Tony P’s.

Sunday called for a day on the beach followed by a very special Sunday lunch at The Ivy on the Shore, followed by yet more shopping in Santa Monica!

With Amanda back at work, I decided to get into the City to discover the delights of Hollywood….I managed to get buses and the metro to Hollywood, to discover a fairly run down, over-crowed and scruffy city. I spent a couple of hours doing what all tourists are meant to do (Walk of Fame, Hollywood sign, Manns Chinese Theatre etc etc) before deciding I needed to move on!  I got a ticket to ride a open top bus which you could get on and off as desired around Hollywood and the surrouding areas. Very nice afternoon sat soaking in the sun whilst being whisked around the city. I decided to get off at The Farmers Market and Grove Centre, a very hip place to shop, loads of fresh food, fruit and veg in the farmers market and then very trendy shops and restaurants in the open air shopping mall.

The bus then dropped me back in Hollywood where I got the metro and Bus back to the apartment.

The following day I woke early and went to Venice Beach where I hired a bike and cycled North, through venice Beach, Santa Monica and Will State Beach, where unfortunately the cycle route ended and the Pacific Coast Highway took over. I cycled back with the intention of going further south than Venice but found yet again a lack of cycle paths and no-one seemed to know how to get through, I decided that probably meant no-one really bothered going south!

Having jacked the bike idea in the swimming pool, hot tub and sunbeds back in Marina Del Ray were calling.

On Wedneday I decided to get a bus and go towards Malibu, the bus wasn’t a problem but it would seem that I blinked and missed Malibu! However it wasn’t a wasted trip as I noticed a street sign for Paradise Cove, somewhere highly recommended by my Mum after her visit, so I jumped off the bus, walked down a side road and sure enough I was in Paradise!!! It is a small cove with an idyllic beach, a restuarant with reclining deck chairs for you to use, a small fishing pier, and at 9am when I arrived no-one to be seen-perfect!!!

I spent the day here, the beach gradually got busier but still peaceful. I ended up having a few beers with a couple of guys from Kent! Then a very nice seafood platter before getting the bus home, a gorgeous day.

The last couple of days in LA were spent chilling at the beach, shopping and 2 lovely meals at Venice Beach, one back at the French restaurant where by now we were considered to be regulars and were given a complimentary 3rd bottle of wine and free pudding to soak it up!!!

Needless to say I was leaving LA having seen as much as I could of in 2 weeks!! And was getting nervous that Hawaii might not live up to my new expectations……..

Back in the UK:(

Well, actually I’ve been back a week which has been very hectic and other than sorting my holiday photos haven’t had a chance to report back on my trip to the USA.

I’m going to learn from my brother Mark and do this in bitesize chunks, so am starting with my arrival in LA and then 3 days in Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

 Mon 1st Oct, after a fairly long and dull flight I arrived in LA at about 1500 and was picked up by Amanda and her work collegue Angela who dropped me at the apartment. I promptly left the apartment and took a very nice walk around Marina Del Ray to a bar!!! Shock horror it was happy hour so I ordered my first beer in an American bar (have not been to the USA since turning 21).

When Amanda got home we went to Venice beach, had a very nice meal before I crashed and burned!

The next day I was awake early due to confusuion over time zones so took a walk along a very quiet Venice Beach up to Santa Monica Beach and Pier, spent the day trying to orientate myself before ruturning to the apartment for takeaway pizza and beers!

Wednesday morning I had to be up early to get to Chinatown to catch the coach at 0600 to Vegas. My tour company was called GOTOBUS, a chinese company hence the pick-up point. The crowd was predominately chinese but were easy going and the tour guide was bi-lingual so no major problems. I have to say it was a very cheap package and I would recommend them to anyone who was on a budget.

We arrived at The Plaza Casino and Hotel in the afternoon, not the best of hotels, but had a huge room which was clean, comfortable and had everything I needed. The hotel was used in the film Pay It Forward for anyone who’s seen it, if you haven’t do, its a great film!

I got changed and got a cab up to The Strip, as I couldn’t be bothered to figure out buses at that point. Vegas was incredible, I had no intention of gambling so was unsure of how much there would be to do – answer:loads!

Highlights of my first eveing were the Bellagio fountains, going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and a delicious Italian meal by the Trevi fountain!

The following morning we had early wake up calls at 6am to go to the Grand Cayon, by this point I had been convinced by my tour guide to take the helicopter and boat trip, this turned out to be the highlight and a bargain! The helicopter took us from the air terminal over the top of the canyon and down to the river banks where we swapped onto a boat. After spending about half an hour on the Colorado River we then retured to the helicopter which took us up and out of the Canyon back to the base.

Shuttle buses then took us to the Skywalk, a new viewing platform which is a glass platform stading 4000ft over the top of the canyon!! A nerve racking experience and a bit of a tourist con, you are not allowed to take anything with you, including cameras and phones. Funnily enough they take photos of you which are available to purchase!

A second shuttle bus then takes you to a third area of the west rim where you are provided with an Indian BBQ buffet, consisting of pulled pork, corn on the cob, coleslaw and cake. Not bad and made much better by sitting on the edge of the canyon taking in the incredible views.

After a fairly long day we returned to Vegas via the Hoover Dam (wasn’t overly impressed). back in Vegas, I figured out the buses and saved myself some hefty cab fairs. Highlights tonight were the Venetian Hotel (complete with canal and gondulas), the Mirage Hotel with exploding volcano, the New York hotel and M&M world. I had a fairly dissapointing meal at Hard Rock (don’t know why I still bother going to them but it seems I cannot resist the cheesy tourist traps!)

The following day was mostly filled by the coach trip back to LA, I had planned to meet Amanda and Angela at Universal City Walk for dinner, so when I got to LA at about 1830, I found my way to Union Station where I figured out the Metro and got to City Walk. A fairly scary experience at that time on a Friday night but I survived to tell the tale!

We had a very good meal at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Company and a browse around the shops before heading back to the Apartment.

A very successful first week, and already taken about 350 photos!!