Monday 31 January 2011

Stayed overnight at a Premier Inn near Heathrow. This is the second time we have stayed in a Premier Inn recently and we are very impressed, for value for money they are hard to beat!

Tuesday 1 February

Took the BA flight to LA from Terminal 5. Its a long flight (11 hrs) but not too bad, certainly a much more enjoyable experience than our flight to Florida last year with Virgin Atlantic. The route took us over Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Bay before we dropped down to pass close to Calgary (although we didn't see it) and over the Blue Mountains. There was no cloud so we had a clear view of the ground and all we saw for several hours was snow and ice, even the sea was frozen! After we left Iceland we didn't see any significant signs of habitation until we were over Reno in Idaho.

We have been told that entry to LA can be an unpleasant experience, but we had no problems and we were able to get through Passport control and customs very quickly.

After we checked into our hotel, an Art Deco gem, we went out for a walk, watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean and had something to eat at a restaurant called the Blue Plate Oysterette. The restaurant was excellent, quirky but great fun!

Wednesday 2 February

We seem to be coping quite well with the jet lag.

After breakfast at the Hotel we decided to take a tour bus to get a better feel for the area. We went round Santa Monica, Brentwood (rather more up market than the one in Essex!), Beverley Hills and Hollywood. We love Santa Monica, it has a really nice atmosphere and we also enjoyed Beverley Hills (amazing shops on Rodeo Drive), but we were less impressed by some of what we saw in Hollywood. We wanted to walk along Hollywood Bv. to see the Walk of Fame but it turned out to be rather a tacky street and we were approached by people trying to sell us tour tickets every couple of yards which was very annoying. Can't image why stars are so keen to have their name there!

Note for Anna and Steve – the tour bus didn't take in Sherman Oaks so the commentary didn't point out where the Stevens family used to live!