We arrived in LA and gided by an enthusiastic man to the correct bus for the price of a donation to his selected charity. That seems to be the price asked for any advice in LA. We caught the big blue bus to santa monica. The SM pier was mostly closed and cold but it gave a good view of LA. We went in search of coffee in vain, ending up with some starbucks like crap in a cup. After being acosted by more people asking for donations we found an ok spot to eat and I had a Nutella Martini... [View Full Entry]

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Stood in Sydney International airport at 3pm on the Wednesday 5th November the world changed as Barack Obama was pronounced USA’s 44th President, the crowd was quite sizeable and the mood was really good. Then we boarded our 16 hour flight and the start of our very long day. We took two flights changing in Auckland which was quite strange to return to after sixth months on. The flights were both excellent and I could not praise Air New Zealand more they were faultless and everything was just as it should be. We landed before we left in Los Angeles and [View Full Entry]

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SANTA MONICA Thurs 21st - Mon 25th August This is my 3rd visit to Santa Monica and all have been in periods of significant change - turning 21 (and celebrating by eating a Sundae with 21 different flavours of ice cream - not I hasten to add all by myself, now that would be a sight to see - I had the help of a few friends, one of whom I get to meet again after losing touch for about 13 years); then being pregnant with Jack and eating a lot of ice cream just for the sheer hell of it, [View Full Entry]

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9/10 Uneventful bus trip to Santa Monica, which took a little longer than expected due to LA traffic. Arrived at the Fairmont Mirramar how luxurious. We had to accept an upgrade to a suite because the room we had booked wasn't available, beautiful suite but alas no view, they also threw in complimentary Champagne, chocolates and strawberries as Jac told them we had renewed our vows and celebrated my birthday. Checked out a few shops had dinner and back to our room for a few drinks before bed. 10/10 Not happy with our upgrade due to no view, so Jac sweet-talked [View Full Entry]

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After exhausting most of LA yesterday, we decided to checkout of the hotel and hit the LA coast. We started in Santa Monica; parked the car and took a walk around the main sites of the area. The pier was decent and there was plenty going on on the main strip of shops. The beach was nice too, but with high rise hotels lining the coast, it wasn't really a place we were interested in staying too long. As we drove down the coast we passed Venice Beach and then finally reached a place called 'Rodondo', about 5 miles south of [View Full Entry]

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Saturday Sept 20th Another relaxing day in Santa Monica, went to the beach and to a thai restaurant in evening, Sunday Sept 21st Hired bikes and cycled 12 miles down the coast. Venice beach looked so tacky!! Stopped and took photo at muscle beach. Quite a few people surfing. Went to beach at Santa Monica later in the afternoon, really nice temperature. Took pictures of the sunset, was given some advice by a very nerdy Japanese/Chinsese guy, he told me the sun sets at 6.49 and that I should take a video of it not a photo as it would be [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in LA on sept 17th at the amtrak station in downtown LA, we asked a bus driver how to get to the stop for the no 10 to Santa Monica, he told us to get on and he would drop us at the stop for the no 10. We thought it would be about 2 stops... half an hour later he told us to get off - didn't want us to pay and there we were at the stop and 10 mins later we were on bus to SM. Found motel easily- only 1 block from beach- nice room with [View Full Entry]

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Bonjour à tous! Nous sommes déjà à Los Angeles, voici quelques photos prises depuis notre arrivée à San Francisco, jusqu'à aujourd'hui. [View Full Entry]

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Los Angeles - more photos [View Full Entry]

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Today we slept in. Then we got up and leisurely ate breakfast on the patio overlooking the pond. It is hot today and humid for some reason. It was beautiful sitting on the patio and just catching up with Stephanie. Other than the ginormous bug that kept attacking us on the balcony leaving us screaming and running back into the condo. It is the size of a pet turtle from the pet store with wings and it is actually green!! Why does it keep bothering us? Then we leisurely got ready as it was already after noon. Then I had wanted [View Full Entry]

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