LA

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So, as revealed in "our" (i.e. my) last entry, we flew to LA on Friday the 6th instead of driving down the coast as originally planned. LA really is quite big, so we have made this a multi centre stop - starting with 3 nights in West Hollywood, followed by 2 in Santa Monica, and another 2 in Hollywood after a jaunt down the coast to San Diego.

First 3 nights in West Hollywood were great, and we stayed in a gorgeous hotel right beside the Farmer's Market and Grove Shopping Mall. The Farmer's Market is an amazing place, ideal for cheap and cheerful eats while we were there, while "Shopping Mall" just doesn't do The Grove justice, - it's all outdoors for a start and is almost like a disneyland for adults, with beautiful landscaping, piped music and fountains. A great first location, also handy for shopping (well, window shopping) at Melrose Place and Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Oh, we also stumbled across the latest Harry Potter premiere while we were here - far too many people on such a hot day, but interesting to see.

Santa Monica has also been and gone at this stage, and
Farmer's Market
it's so different from Hollywood, so chilled out, that we can't quite believe it's the same city, only about 15 mins away in a taxi. Our hotel here was right on the beach and being slap bang between Venice and Santa Monica beaches, very handy for nice walks along the promenades. Walking is never the first choice of transport in LA though, so faced with a choice of hiring bikes or rollerblades, we went for bikes - my first time on one in about 20 years, and I only fell once!

Harry Potter Premiere

Venice Beach

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Comments

[John]

Lookin Good
Looking Good you two. What did Neil say to that wee chinese child to send him/her running like that!?