'Rodeo Drive, baby' ...

I hadn't been going to break my journey back.  But two weeks into my UK visit I realised that it was going to be just as hard to leave this year as it was last.  What was a girl to do?  I emailed American Julie, mentioned stopping over in LA, and received the reply I most needed to hear - 'If you can stop in LA I'll drop everything and come and meet you!'.  That was it.  Air New Zealand obliged with changing the booking (as did Roy, paying the supplement), and suddenly Julie and I were going to be spending 3 nights together in LA :)

That certainly helped soften the blow of leaving.  What's a mere 12 hour flight, when you'd been expecting 24?  (And in the event a helpful tailwind made it much shorter - more like 10.5.)  Not to mention the prospect of a playdate with Julie....

Ever been to LA?  It's the second most populous city in the USA.  It's also the home of film-making -  famously Hollywood .. and Beverly Hills ... and Sunset Boulevard, and...   Well, I had quite a check-list.  Julie had booked us into the Elan hotel on Beverly Boulevard, and she didn't even know at the time that it is No 6 in the Chic and Hip Hotels list (Dorling Kindersley's 'Top 10' Los Angeles pocket guide - thoroughly recommended).  We were off to a good start.  From there we planned our onslaught of the city.  Luckily Julie doesn't mind driving; plus she went to university there (USC), which helped.

Faced with so much choice and  not quite 3 days, we drew up a list of definites and maybes.  Some were easily ticked off; others took a bit longer.  We didn't care.  We had time to play, so play we did.

Of the two major centres of cultural excellence in LA we started with The Huntington Library, former estate of Henry E Huntington, railroad and real estate baron.  A glorious house on the top of a hill overlooking the city; pretty good art collection; massive library (around 4 million rare manuscripts and books, apparently); and beautiful botanical gardens in different styles.  And in spite of the 'June gloom' (which means sea mist spends most of the day covering the whole city til it burns off around 4pm) we got great blue skies from 11 am onwards, as you can see:

[The 1455 Gutenberg Bible, one of only 12 surviving copies printed on vellum]

[Huntington's Japanese Tea Garden]

[Julie hugging a Queensland kauri!  Not quite as big as its Kiwi counterparts]

 [One of the best 'afternoon teas' (aka lunch) I've ever had.  

Think Ritz quality, only self-service - as much as you want to eat :)]

To get to the Huntington we'd already driven out past the famous Rose Bowl:

and up through the very wealthy area of Pasadena, where we admired The Gamble House, an excellent example of American Arts and Crafts architecture.  It's called The Gamble House because it was originally built in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble, of Procter & Gamble Company...

Afterwards we dropped down through the historic El Pueblo de Los Angeles, where LA's oldest structures are, built between 1818 and 1926.  I hadn't realised that LA used to be part of Mexico.  Not surprisingly the Mexican/Spanish influence remains strong in both culture and heritage.  We stopped briefly at the Old Plaza. Spanish-style music was playing and people were sitting in the midday heat, chatting and listening, or browsing the stalls.

and admired a reasonably-sized Moreton's Bay fig tree (like we have in St Heliers), yet another example, along with the Queensland Kauri, of the link between west coast USA and Australia.

Nearby the Art Deco Union Station got a quick visit:

[Wish our UK train stations were a fraction as smart, clean and comfortable
and stylish as this!]

Julie continued to drive whilst I looked excitedly between map and street, trying to identify landmarks and buildings - like the Walt Disney Hall, with its state of the art metal curves :

and the Los Angeles Memorial Colisseum, site of the 1932 Olympic games:

That was enough for one day!

The next day the June gloom was rather more prominent.  Undaunted we set off for cultural extravaganza number 2 - The Getty Centre.  It's quite something - mainly thousands of tons of travertine stone quarried from Italy!  It sits atop one of the local hilltops, with a commanding view (when there's no mist), and took 14 years to plan and build. They actually filled in the gap between two hills to make the site work, probably by using the earth dug out to make the car park which goes does many, many floors.  You can only access the site by electric tram ...

Whilst the gardens on the top level were designed by the architect, Richard Meier, and are all symmetrical and uniform, and somewhat 'cold', they got someone else in to do the lower gardens - Robert Irwin, a visual artist, not a landscape gardener at all (much to Meier's disgust).  As a result the lower gardens are a delight, with running water, complementary planting schemes - and and pool with a maze in it :)

These were my particular favourite; multi-coloured bougainvillea 'umbrellas' inside metal spokes:

As for the art collection... well, it made the Huntington rooms seem rather second-rate.  We only took in a small part, but there was an array of exquisite 19th and 20th century European art to rival the National Gallery.  I particularly liked this Van Gogh:

Enough culture.  It was time to do some serious tourist stuff.  Time to see some Pretty Woman landmarks. We dropped down through...

and headed for....

Rodeo Drive is actually not as big or as impressive as I'd imagined; this is it - this short block of extremely expensive shops with the names we all recognise (which I shan't advertise here):

And then there was only one place we could go:

.... The Beverly Wilshire, where Julia Roberts accompanies Richard Gere into the famous lobby and into the famous lift.

Julie and I celebrated with a glass of pink champagne and a cheese platter :)

I haven't finished being tacky and touristy yet.  With Pretty Woman under our belt it's off to Hollywood Boulevard itself.  I have stars to see!  Pavement ones, anyway:

My camera is at maximum zoom.  I don't care.  There it is; I've seen it for myself. And walking back along the road we see limos pulling up outside a venue and Billy Crystal gets out and waves to us all on the other side of the road.  Star-struck?  Who me?  All in a day's tourism....  We head off back to our hotel, down...

Rather less salubrious than its neighbour.  Definitely enough Boulevards for one day.

Our final day brings more June gloom but who cares?  We have more sightseeing planned, in a different direction.  Santa Monica beach here we come.  It has California's oldest amusement pier, built in 1908, and has a very old carousel amongst other things; it also marks the western end of Route 66.  Pity there's no blue sky as background.

and who'd have known that this is now a bona fide company?

'My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates.  

You never know what you're gonna get.'"

It was definitely too cold to swim. I'd brought my costume just in case, but no way, Jose. So instead we went to find Little Venice, bypassing the infamous Venice Boardwalk - decided we could do without lewd exhibitionism. The Venice Canals, on the other hand, are a gem. There were once 16 miles of canals, but they gradually got choked up. The city cleared some up in 1994, and there are now around 3 miles of rather lovely restored canals nestling in the heart of the Venice district. Bet those houses are exclusive.... They're all individual and rather charming:

[I guess I wouldn't say no...]

Our time in LA was sadly coming to an end.  But we felt we'd done justice to our 2.5 days of sightseeing. Just time for an authentic Mexican burrito in the most unassuming tiny restaurant called La Fiesta Brava on Rose Avenue in Venice.  Well worth its 5* reviews.  A Mexican family-run business, full of locals enjoying home-made nachos and guacamole and other delicious things. Very good value, too.  Julie and I shared our lunch space with a delightful woman on her lunch hour, who shouted us a beer (from a nearby store):

I'd heard that LA had little to offer.  Happy to say that from my perspective that wasn't true.  I had a brilliant few days especially in the company of American Julie.  First San Francisco, now Los Angeles.  Where to next?

Time to say goodbye to Julie and get on the plane and back to the other life we're living....

Still here :)

Oh dear.  It's been more than 3 months.  People have been asking if I'm OK? Am I still here?  Yes.  And yes.  But sometimes you just don't feel like blogging, and recently I've had a heart full of other stuff.  Still, today I emerge.  And I'm finally ready to play catch-up.  May take me a few blogs ;)

As many of you know, because you actually saw me, I was back in the UK for nearly 6 weeks. And it was completely wonderful!  Lots of the usual hugs/laughter/tears/meals/coffees/conversations - and, of course, cuddles with Elizabeth...  who is, naturally, the loveliest, brightest, cutest, most gorgeous granddaughter ever.

Elizabeth just 6 weeks, with 'Nana'

I find her smile utterly infectious.  What a tonic!

We had some time in Tollesbury, here and there, Roy of course himself only in the UK for 2.5 weeks.  I presided and preached at a Kiwi-style Eucharistic service at St Mary's, which was such a treat to be able to do; drank wine in the Cruising Club; renewed many friendships; and enjoyed our neighbours' kindness and hospitality once more.  We hadn't expected our sewage pump to fail, but these things happen (apparently).  And remember the weather in May?  I do.  I was wearing my NZ wool boots and fleeces most of my visit.  I gather things have improved more recently.

We took a holiday house in historic Lacock and entertained lots of family and friends over 5 days (including a big picnic which happened indoors as the temperature was only 10 degrees outside).  Can thoroughly recommend The Old Chapel as a first-class place to have a family gathering.

The refectory table just about takes us all (17) for our 'picnic'

Family coffee time :)

Nana and Papa, with Elizabeth and happy parents, Gillian and Oliver

Louisa and Ryan

Our two girls enjoying a roast at The Red Lion, Lacock

Roy and I visited the Mary Rose museum just before it opened.  If you haven't been yet, go if you can.  An amazing display of Tudor life, together with the actual boat hull cleverly displayed.  We also had 24 hours with Roy's RCDS (Royal College of Defence Studies) class of '93, down in Faversham in Kent, visiting Belmont House and its huge clock collection in the process.

And I managed another wonderful holiday week with my sister Anna (our fourth), down in the West Country once more (where it was even colder than in the East).

Anna, Ian (my brother), sister Sue, sis-in-law Wendy.  Ian and Wendy came down 

from Doncaster to share an evening with us in Somerset

Cousin Ally with Ted's paw, Dilly looks on hopefully.

 Anna and Chris sit back and enjoy the sunshine

Sidmouth, Devon.  Scene of happy childhood memories.

Deceptive sunshine - it was about 10 degrees outside

Beer beach.  Late May.  See what I mean?

Somehow I found I was able to see lots of people and do lots of things without getting overwhelmed, which wasn't quite the case last year.  I was asked by someone in Tollesbury what it was like coming back to a place where 'nothing and no-one has changed since you left'? My reply was, 'It's brilliant!  I love that nothing's changed.'  It's so reassuring to slip right back in to life, knowing that it's all still there, carrying on as usual without you.  Tollesbury is a very special community, for sure.

It was just as hard leaving as it had been last year.  Same taxi driver arrived to collect me and found a sobbing heap again; nothing daunted he drove me back to Heathrow and thankfully kept me amused and entertained all the way.

I loved being back home and seeing so many of you - and if I didn't get to see you this year, then let's try and make it happen next visit.

And to finish, an up-to-date photo of the gorgeous Elizabeth:

Yeah - I'm a soppy Nana.  But who can blame me?