Thanks for following once again! I hope you have enjoyed it! I close this trip's blog with one of my favourite jumping pictures, one that Megan took up on Mt. Douglas in Victoria.
tisdag 24 juli 2012
That's all for now!
Thanks for following once again! I hope you have enjoyed it! I close this trip's blog with one of my favourite jumping pictures, one that Megan took up on Mt. Douglas in Victoria.
The last flights back home
My fear of flying is almost all gone which and that the geographer is in charge when I'm flying which means that I love the window seat these days so I can study the ground during take off and landing and if I'm lucky in between too :)
I got a pretty nice seat for the flight to Munich by the window just before the cabin crew members area in Economy Class (I had no one behind me that could disturb me by pressing the in seat TV-screen). I also just had one neighbour which made it easier to get in or out even though she was reluctant to get up when I wanted to get out, but I got quite good at climbing over her after a while.
Excited to see Chicago at night during take off I closed my eyes for a short while. I quickly opened them again when I heard that the cover for the window was pulled down. It was my neighbour that barely knew any English that pulled it down. She wasn't able to pull it all the way down and asked me to close it all the way down showing with her body language that she thought it was scary to watch the take off. I did as she asked at the same time as I tried to explain that I would open it to watch and cover the window with my head so that she wouldn't have to see. She would have to use force to prevent me from looking out :)
Good thing that I looked out. The view of Chicago and its surroundings made my top 3-list of scenery from flying (the other two are flying in over Vancouver in 2008 and flying in over the South Island of New Zealand the same year.
I had a surprisingly good flight over to Munich. I got to sleep quite a bit. The only thing bothering me, that has never bothered me before flying were restless legs and feet.
Flying over Germany, close to landing at the airport in Munich.
I flew Lufthansa as I did on my way to Toronto, and the same kind of aircraft. It looks pretty new and has all the toilets for Economy Class one stair down which is nice because it means less people are hanging around your seat if you are sitting close by.
My 45 minutes in between flights in Munich was enough even though we got of to a late start from Chicago. I slept most of the way of the last flight as well when I wasn't woken up by the Swedish group of EF language school students returning from Malta.
If you look closely you can see the northern part of Öland. Öland was the only part of Sweden I could see, the rest was cloud covered.
Back at Arlanda I discovered while walking passed Starbucks in Terminal 5 that it now exists a Sweden mug (it wasn't there flying out). What a nice ending to a fantastic trip being able to by my seventh mug on this trip. The weather greeted me with grey clouds, but I guess that has been the weather ever since I left. I kind of thought though that I would bring the sun back with me :) Maybe it got delayed on the way :)
Oh, I just have show the nice tag my suitcase got in Chicago. I know it's a pretty awesome suitcase but I've never thought about it as hot :)
I got a pretty nice seat for the flight to Munich by the window just before the cabin crew members area in Economy Class (I had no one behind me that could disturb me by pressing the in seat TV-screen). I also just had one neighbour which made it easier to get in or out even though she was reluctant to get up when I wanted to get out, but I got quite good at climbing over her after a while.
Excited to see Chicago at night during take off I closed my eyes for a short while. I quickly opened them again when I heard that the cover for the window was pulled down. It was my neighbour that barely knew any English that pulled it down. She wasn't able to pull it all the way down and asked me to close it all the way down showing with her body language that she thought it was scary to watch the take off. I did as she asked at the same time as I tried to explain that I would open it to watch and cover the window with my head so that she wouldn't have to see. She would have to use force to prevent me from looking out :)
Good thing that I looked out. The view of Chicago and its surroundings made my top 3-list of scenery from flying (the other two are flying in over Vancouver in 2008 and flying in over the South Island of New Zealand the same year.
I had a surprisingly good flight over to Munich. I got to sleep quite a bit. The only thing bothering me, that has never bothered me before flying were restless legs and feet.
Flying over Germany, close to landing at the airport in Munich.
I flew Lufthansa as I did on my way to Toronto, and the same kind of aircraft. It looks pretty new and has all the toilets for Economy Class one stair down which is nice because it means less people are hanging around your seat if you are sitting close by.
My 45 minutes in between flights in Munich was enough even though we got of to a late start from Chicago. I slept most of the way of the last flight as well when I wasn't woken up by the Swedish group of EF language school students returning from Malta.
If you look closely you can see the northern part of Öland. Öland was the only part of Sweden I could see, the rest was cloud covered.
Back at Arlanda I discovered while walking passed Starbucks in Terminal 5 that it now exists a Sweden mug (it wasn't there flying out). What a nice ending to a fantastic trip being able to by my seventh mug on this trip. The weather greeted me with grey clouds, but I guess that has been the weather ever since I left. I kind of thought though that I would bring the sun back with me :) Maybe it got delayed on the way :)
Oh, I just have show the nice tag my suitcase got in Chicago. I know it's a pretty awesome suitcase but I've never thought about it as hot :)
Chicago...part 2
Back downtown I enjoyed free wifi access at Starbucks while having lunch. My goal for today is two eat all my meals at Starbucks :)
After finishing up the lunch I walked around downtown looking for stamps. I wasn't successful so I'm sorry to announce that the few that can expect a postcard will get Swedish stamps on them :(
I was successful in returning a pair of the earrings I bought at Macy's on Thursday in LA that broke the first day. I also managed to by two new once though :)
I must say that I really enjoyed Chicago. Probably more than all the other American cities I've visited this year except for New York. I can't really describe it more than a feeling though.
Looking towards Millennium Park.
The train system above ground. Reminds me so much of the TV-show ER that I will mention more about further down.
Looking up at an emergency exist staircase outside an apartment building.
I like how many American cities try to make busses look old. To me it just looks ridiculous.
This is also a way of getting forward if you have one leg in a casket.
Yeah! Chicago!
I don't think I would choose to walk through this narrow street.
A cool building.
Roses!
I like the top of the building in the middle.
I think the yellow warning cone was part of the art installment.
For us ER-fans two streets reminded me of the TV-show that took place here: LaSalle St. (above) and Wells St. (below).
O'Hare train station.
This morning when I arrived at O'Hare I though this was a pretty cool and very modern airport. But now I've changed my mind. So few opportunities to charge your electronics and no free wifi which the other airports I've visited during this trip have had. And San Diego airport yesterday had great charging stations built in to the rows of chairs by the gates.
Soon time for flight number second, the 8 hour one, to Munich! I hope I will sleep most of the way :)
After finishing up the lunch I walked around downtown looking for stamps. I wasn't successful so I'm sorry to announce that the few that can expect a postcard will get Swedish stamps on them :(
I was successful in returning a pair of the earrings I bought at Macy's on Thursday in LA that broke the first day. I also managed to by two new once though :)
I must say that I really enjoyed Chicago. Probably more than all the other American cities I've visited this year except for New York. I can't really describe it more than a feeling though.
Looking towards Millennium Park.
Looking up at an emergency exist staircase outside an apartment building.
I like how many American cities try to make busses look old. To me it just looks ridiculous.
This is also a way of getting forward if you have one leg in a casket.
Yeah! Chicago!
I don't think I would choose to walk through this narrow street.
A cool building.
Roses!
I like the top of the building in the middle.
I think the yellow warning cone was part of the art installment.
For us ER-fans two streets reminded me of the TV-show that took place here: LaSalle St. (above) and Wells St. (below).
O'Hare train station.
This morning when I arrived at O'Hare I though this was a pretty cool and very modern airport. But now I've changed my mind. So few opportunities to charge your electronics and no free wifi which the other airports I've visited during this trip have had. And San Diego airport yesterday had great charging stations built in to the rows of chairs by the gates.
Soon time for flight number second, the 8 hour one, to Munich! I hope I will sleep most of the way :)
söndag 22 juli 2012
Driving on Highway 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBQ9JgH34a4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Copy and paste the link in the address field as I described before.
Copy and paste the link in the address field as I described before.
Chicago...part 1
We arrived in Chicago around 4:30 AM local time after the what the flight attendant called the most rapid drive to a gate ever.
I picked up my bag as I had to and was so sure I would be able to drop it at Lufthansa's baggage drop no later than 6 AM. I was so wrong. The baggage drop didn't open until 12:15 PM. I asked a United Airlines service person if their would be a place downtown to store the suitcase but apparently there isn't a single place in Chicago that does that since September 11th. A little bit weird that Chicago took away all those options but Washington D.C. still has the option at the largest train station at least.
So now I had three choices, wait until the baggage drop would open, bring the suitcase with me and return to the airport to drop it to then head back in to downtown or dragging it along all day. I choose the middle alternative since it was pretty easy and cheap to go back and forth to the airport.
My plan for the morning when I would have the suitcase was to go down to Lake Michigan and have breakfast by the water and just enjoy the view. I took the train from O'hara airport at 5:45 AM and reached downtown 45 minutes later. I was not alone on the train even though it was early on a Sunday morning. Apparently there was a Rock&Roll marathon race downtown so getting off in the central part of the city walking down towards the lake a lot of the traffic was redirected because of the race. I could walk down to the water without any disturbances though except the heat! I thought it was hot in California, but the humid heat here beat the California dry heat. Was it ever hot! I was not happy that I had to drag my suitcase along with me. Getting breakfast from Starbucks and then finding a bench in the sunshine by the harbour where there was a bit of a breeze cheered me up a little bit. The sun was still, rising when I got down there. I walked a little bit along the lake trying to find shadow since I thought I would melt away otherwise. I found not a place in the shadow but a place with a bit more breeze and with a really nice view of the lake with sailboats and the skyscrapers downtown in the background. I ended up sitting there for about three hours until I could head back to the airport. By then clouds had also helped making it a bit cooler. I even got a few drops of rain on me.
The train!
Washington Station. Performances are allowed on the platforms here as long as they have a permit.
Breakfast with a view.
Very hot!
Part of downtown.
Quatchi with another part of downtown in the background.
This is for my mum. The sailboat to the right is called Mon Amie.
Another part of Chicago.
I tried hard on the jumping pictures today, it's difficult with a timer. This is the best one.
Walking back to the Blue Line I ended up walking through a pretty neat park, Millennium Park.
A walkway in the park.
Really nice walkway.
The kids just loved running around in the water coming down from these pillars.
Parts of downtown from the park.
Back at the airport dropping the bag was really easy. I had put the shoes I picked out in San Diego to make the suitcase weigh less back in and I didn't get any complaints this time even though the suitcase still was too heavy. So now I only had one carry-on bag to carry around in the humid heat.
That's all for Part 1. More later in Part 2.
I picked up my bag as I had to and was so sure I would be able to drop it at Lufthansa's baggage drop no later than 6 AM. I was so wrong. The baggage drop didn't open until 12:15 PM. I asked a United Airlines service person if their would be a place downtown to store the suitcase but apparently there isn't a single place in Chicago that does that since September 11th. A little bit weird that Chicago took away all those options but Washington D.C. still has the option at the largest train station at least.
So now I had three choices, wait until the baggage drop would open, bring the suitcase with me and return to the airport to drop it to then head back in to downtown or dragging it along all day. I choose the middle alternative since it was pretty easy and cheap to go back and forth to the airport.
My plan for the morning when I would have the suitcase was to go down to Lake Michigan and have breakfast by the water and just enjoy the view. I took the train from O'hara airport at 5:45 AM and reached downtown 45 minutes later. I was not alone on the train even though it was early on a Sunday morning. Apparently there was a Rock&Roll marathon race downtown so getting off in the central part of the city walking down towards the lake a lot of the traffic was redirected because of the race. I could walk down to the water without any disturbances though except the heat! I thought it was hot in California, but the humid heat here beat the California dry heat. Was it ever hot! I was not happy that I had to drag my suitcase along with me. Getting breakfast from Starbucks and then finding a bench in the sunshine by the harbour where there was a bit of a breeze cheered me up a little bit. The sun was still, rising when I got down there. I walked a little bit along the lake trying to find shadow since I thought I would melt away otherwise. I found not a place in the shadow but a place with a bit more breeze and with a really nice view of the lake with sailboats and the skyscrapers downtown in the background. I ended up sitting there for about three hours until I could head back to the airport. By then clouds had also helped making it a bit cooler. I even got a few drops of rain on me.
The train!
Washington Station. Performances are allowed on the platforms here as long as they have a permit.
Breakfast with a view.
Very hot!
Part of downtown.
Quatchi with another part of downtown in the background.
This is for my mum. The sailboat to the right is called Mon Amie.
Another part of Chicago.
I tried hard on the jumping pictures today, it's difficult with a timer. This is the best one.
Walking back to the Blue Line I ended up walking through a pretty neat park, Millennium Park.
A walkway in the park.
Really nice walkway.
The kids just loved running around in the water coming down from these pillars.
Parts of downtown from the park.
Back at the airport dropping the bag was really easy. I had put the shoes I picked out in San Diego to make the suitcase weigh less back in and I didn't get any complaints this time even though the suitcase still was too heavy. So now I only had one carry-on bag to carry around in the humid heat.
That's all for Part 1. More later in Part 2.
My last day in California!
We didn't get up as early as the day before. And my need to prepare my check-in suitcase and carry-on backpack for two days of flying home meant that we didn't leave the hotel until after 9 AM. Our plan to drive through Beverly Hills was then cancelled since that would have taken us in the wrong direction since we wanted to go south towards San Diego.
Leaving our hotel.
I've been longing for Costco since Canada, and it turned out to be one just across from the hotel. Too bad I'm not a member.
It's definitively more windy in the backseat.
My buddy in he backseat, with a seatbelt and everything.
One of today's adventure was going through a toll booth.
We prioritized going to an outlet mall and another beach visit along the way instead. I wasn't supposed to do any more shopping but ended up with a dress, a new pair of runners (which I needed since I left my more than 5 year old runners at the last hotel), and another two pair of earrings (I needed to make up for the broken pair). The guys still beat me though (not in the buying earring contest of course :)).
I probably had the best hamburger ever at Ruby's Diner in the Carlsbad Outlet Mall. It had avocado, bacon and blue cheese among other things. So good but filling. I didn't need the sweet potato fries on the side but I needed a few since I don't know when I will be able to have sweet potato fries again.
I got to drive the last hour to San Diego! I'm going to miss the Canadian flag maple leaf coloured car. We decided to skip the beach since we couldn't access one easily and since I prioritised using the shower in Bjorne and Mr. M's hotel room in San Diego before heading to the airport.
The little I saw of San Diego looked really really nice so I may have to return one day to do some more exploring.
Bjorne and Mr. M dropped med off at the airport quite early to have time to return the car before the ESRI-conference they are attending would begin in the evening.
Everything so far on this trip has really worked out well so I guess it was time for me to have some bad luck checking in at the San Diego airport. My trip back home includes three different flights (San Diego-Chicago, Chicago-Munich, Munich-Stockholm) and two different operators (United Airlines and Lufthansa) with a 16 hour lay over in Chicago (even though I booked it together as a package or whatever I should call it). I was worried that I wouldn't be able to check my suitcase all the way to Stockholm and I was correct. It's apparently only possible if you have less than 13 hours between flights. I also had to pack another carry-on bag with all my shoes since my suitcase was 4 lb. overweight and managed to break the zipper on the extra bag (which I managed to repair later though). So I didn't have the best start to my going home trip.
My spirit got a little bit lighter when the security guard at the security control liked my dress I was wearing that I bought at the outlet.
Even though I still had 4 1/2 hours to kill before my flight the time just flew by which was really nice since I was worried I would get bored.
Another positive thing that happened during the evening was that I was upgraded to Economy Plus for free if since I gave the correct answer YES to the question if was "ready and willing to help out in case of an emergency (I got a seat in the emergency aisle just by the door).
I was so ready to fall asleep on the plane which was good since I only had 31/2 hours to charge my batteries for sightseeing in Chicago for many hours with potentially a suitcase!
Leaving our hotel.
I've been longing for Costco since Canada, and it turned out to be one just across from the hotel. Too bad I'm not a member.
It's definitively more windy in the backseat.
My buddy in he backseat, with a seatbelt and everything.
One of today's adventure was going through a toll booth.
We prioritized going to an outlet mall and another beach visit along the way instead. I wasn't supposed to do any more shopping but ended up with a dress, a new pair of runners (which I needed since I left my more than 5 year old runners at the last hotel), and another two pair of earrings (I needed to make up for the broken pair). The guys still beat me though (not in the buying earring contest of course :)).
I probably had the best hamburger ever at Ruby's Diner in the Carlsbad Outlet Mall. It had avocado, bacon and blue cheese among other things. So good but filling. I didn't need the sweet potato fries on the side but I needed a few since I don't know when I will be able to have sweet potato fries again.
I got to drive the last hour to San Diego! I'm going to miss the Canadian flag maple leaf coloured car. We decided to skip the beach since we couldn't access one easily and since I prioritised using the shower in Bjorne and Mr. M's hotel room in San Diego before heading to the airport.
The little I saw of San Diego looked really really nice so I may have to return one day to do some more exploring.
Bjorne and Mr. M dropped med off at the airport quite early to have time to return the car before the ESRI-conference they are attending would begin in the evening.
Everything so far on this trip has really worked out well so I guess it was time for me to have some bad luck checking in at the San Diego airport. My trip back home includes three different flights (San Diego-Chicago, Chicago-Munich, Munich-Stockholm) and two different operators (United Airlines and Lufthansa) with a 16 hour lay over in Chicago (even though I booked it together as a package or whatever I should call it). I was worried that I wouldn't be able to check my suitcase all the way to Stockholm and I was correct. It's apparently only possible if you have less than 13 hours between flights. I also had to pack another carry-on bag with all my shoes since my suitcase was 4 lb. overweight and managed to break the zipper on the extra bag (which I managed to repair later though). So I didn't have the best start to my going home trip.
My spirit got a little bit lighter when the security guard at the security control liked my dress I was wearing that I bought at the outlet.
Even though I still had 4 1/2 hours to kill before my flight the time just flew by which was really nice since I was worried I would get bored.
Another positive thing that happened during the evening was that I was upgraded to Economy Plus for free if since I gave the correct answer YES to the question if was "ready and willing to help out in case of an emergency (I got a seat in the emergency aisle just by the door).
I was so ready to fall asleep on the plane which was good since I only had 31/2 hours to charge my batteries for sightseeing in Chicago for many hours with potentially a suitcase!
Hurry, hurry...we have to see it all!
How to do LA in 1 day, that's the question. We got off to a good start by getting up by 6 AM (or before that if you were jet-lagged as Mr. M. I mostly woke up that early since I spent the last hours in my travelling sheet on the floor since it felt like Bjorne was climbing a mountain and then jumping down from the mountain every time he turned around on his side of the bed which he did a lot after 4 AM (Jaimie, I know what it feels like now referring to my twisting and turning in Megan's bed).
We had breakfast and left the hotel just around 8 AM. Mr. M and Bjorne had prepared some things for us to do back in Sweden which didn't include any admission fee sightseeing targets (like Universal Studios) since those kinds of things would take all day on their own. Since we were out early we decided to begin the day with Hollywood Walk of Fame which probably was a good decision since the walk wasn't that crowded when we got there. We could only park for a hour so that was how long we spent walking along the stars. Most names were unknown to us but we found quite a few that we recognised as well like Ingrid Bergman and Donald Duck. I bought one LA-themed Starbucks mug. It was like the New York one with the yellow taxi but instead of a taxi and the NY-skyline this one had the LA-skyline and a woman driving a red cabriolet. I will always see that woman in that cabriolet as me even though I never drove our cabriolet downtown LA. My collection of Starbucks mugs actually began in LA four years ago on my way back from the excursion to New Zealand. Back then I bought two of the then "standard" mugs (now I never buy two of the same, but I didn't know then that I would start a collection).
On our way to Hollywood Blvd.
Arriving at Hollywood Blvd.
High jump for Ingrid Bergman.
A little less high jump for Greta Garbo.
Our favourite star was this one.
Starbucks on Hollywood Bldv. where I bought my latest mug.
A picture of this globe was necessary.
Maybe I should mention that we rented a GPS along with the car. I do not know how we would have been able to last without it even though the voice was quite annoying especially when we thought for ourselves and didn't follow her instructions to a 100%.
Our next stop was I think it was called the Griffith Observatory or something similar. The beautiful building was up on a hill anyway overlooking both parts of the city as well as the Hollywood sign. I don't think we could have found a better spot to enjoy the view from in such short amount of time. Up there we decided that our next stop needed to be were there was air condition. We ended up in a mall of course where we both could have lunch and do some shopping. Thanks again GPS for leading the way! The guys bought shoes, clothes and presents. I walked out of the mall with four new pairs of earrings from Macy's summer sale (one pair broke though when was using them for the first time).
Griffith Observatory.
A really nice building.
A map to help you to figure out where we were.
The Hollywood sign in the background.
Close-up of the sign.
Jumping in front of the sign.
Bjorne doing the same.
Quatchi trying to get loose.
Quatchi and Globe in front of some part of LA.
Globe with the Hollywood sign.
Globe's new friend.
At the shopping mall we really liked this solution for moving carts between floors.
Ready for some more sun hopefully combined with a breeze and maybe Pamela Anderson our next stop was the beach in Santa Monica. We were not the only one wanting to spend Friday afternoon on the beach but we were lucky finding a parking spot on our first try even though it said that the lot was full.
Pamela, where are you?
Regulations, regulations!
The walk, running and bike lane along the beach.
I mostly love the shadows in this and the jumping picture below.
Surfing under water.
No Pamela here unfortunately.
To lazy guys.
Sand everywhere.
This beach was way nicer than the one in Santa Barbara even though there were still a bit of sea weeds and a lot of sand circulating in the shallow parts. The waves were higher than the day before so i couldn't prevent my hair from becoming wet. But that also meant that I could go all in and play around in the water as much as I wanted. :)
We spent about two hours on the beach think that life is pretty good! Even though Bjorne and Mr. M didn't see Pamela. We saw the towers though. :)The traffic jam we ended up in trying to get to our last stop of the day was not as nice as the time spent on the beach. We did about 5 kilometers in an hour. It was so worth it though. Our last stop was the restaurant Duke's in Malibu (Hawaii surf themed restaurant). Bjorne and I had tuna while Mr. M had really delicious lobster (I think that was what it was). We enjoyed the food so much so we missed out on another sunset. We got to see some parts of Malibu though while it was still a bit light out on our back towards our hotel. I got the funniest question buying chocolate at the gas station where we got gas on the way back. The 20-something guy behind the cash desk first looked really long on the cover of the Lindh (I think I spelled that incorrectly) Chocolate with 70% cocoa. Then he asked me what cocoa meant and why all chocolate had cocoa mentioned among the ingredients. I barely knew what to answer but could after a few moments give him an answer. I guess he learnt something that day.
The cool place to be, Duke's.
Bjorne was hour designated driver so this yummy drink is non-alcoholic.
Back at the hotel Bjorne and I went for another jacuzzi experience waiting for the Ice Wine that I bought at Summerland Winery on the Rocky Mountain Tour to get chilled. I was excited to introduce the sweet and expensive dessert wine to Bjorne and Mr. M. They both seemed to enjoy it. :) What an ending to three fantastic vacation weeks on the western side of North America and to a great day in LA! Difficult to understand that they almost are over :( Still a few days left before reality hits me again though!
Quatchi having a serious talk with the Ice Wine.
Ice Wine-tasting/drinking on the balcony.
We had breakfast and left the hotel just around 8 AM. Mr. M and Bjorne had prepared some things for us to do back in Sweden which didn't include any admission fee sightseeing targets (like Universal Studios) since those kinds of things would take all day on their own. Since we were out early we decided to begin the day with Hollywood Walk of Fame which probably was a good decision since the walk wasn't that crowded when we got there. We could only park for a hour so that was how long we spent walking along the stars. Most names were unknown to us but we found quite a few that we recognised as well like Ingrid Bergman and Donald Duck. I bought one LA-themed Starbucks mug. It was like the New York one with the yellow taxi but instead of a taxi and the NY-skyline this one had the LA-skyline and a woman driving a red cabriolet. I will always see that woman in that cabriolet as me even though I never drove our cabriolet downtown LA. My collection of Starbucks mugs actually began in LA four years ago on my way back from the excursion to New Zealand. Back then I bought two of the then "standard" mugs (now I never buy two of the same, but I didn't know then that I would start a collection).
On our way to Hollywood Blvd.
Arriving at Hollywood Blvd.
High jump for Ingrid Bergman.
A little less high jump for Greta Garbo.
Our favourite star was this one.
Starbucks on Hollywood Bldv. where I bought my latest mug.
A picture of this globe was necessary.
Maybe I should mention that we rented a GPS along with the car. I do not know how we would have been able to last without it even though the voice was quite annoying especially when we thought for ourselves and didn't follow her instructions to a 100%.
Our next stop was I think it was called the Griffith Observatory or something similar. The beautiful building was up on a hill anyway overlooking both parts of the city as well as the Hollywood sign. I don't think we could have found a better spot to enjoy the view from in such short amount of time. Up there we decided that our next stop needed to be were there was air condition. We ended up in a mall of course where we both could have lunch and do some shopping. Thanks again GPS for leading the way! The guys bought shoes, clothes and presents. I walked out of the mall with four new pairs of earrings from Macy's summer sale (one pair broke though when was using them for the first time).
Griffith Observatory.
A really nice building.
A map to help you to figure out where we were.
The Hollywood sign in the background.
Close-up of the sign.
Jumping in front of the sign.
Bjorne doing the same.
Quatchi trying to get loose.
Quatchi and Globe in front of some part of LA.
Globe with the Hollywood sign.
Globe's new friend.
At the shopping mall we really liked this solution for moving carts between floors.
Ready for some more sun hopefully combined with a breeze and maybe Pamela Anderson our next stop was the beach in Santa Monica. We were not the only one wanting to spend Friday afternoon on the beach but we were lucky finding a parking spot on our first try even though it said that the lot was full.
Pamela, where are you?
Regulations, regulations!
The walk, running and bike lane along the beach.
I mostly love the shadows in this and the jumping picture below.
Surfing under water.
No Pamela here unfortunately.
To lazy guys.
Sand everywhere.
This beach was way nicer than the one in Santa Barbara even though there were still a bit of sea weeds and a lot of sand circulating in the shallow parts. The waves were higher than the day before so i couldn't prevent my hair from becoming wet. But that also meant that I could go all in and play around in the water as much as I wanted. :)
We spent about two hours on the beach think that life is pretty good! Even though Bjorne and Mr. M didn't see Pamela. We saw the towers though. :)The traffic jam we ended up in trying to get to our last stop of the day was not as nice as the time spent on the beach. We did about 5 kilometers in an hour. It was so worth it though. Our last stop was the restaurant Duke's in Malibu (Hawaii surf themed restaurant). Bjorne and I had tuna while Mr. M had really delicious lobster (I think that was what it was). We enjoyed the food so much so we missed out on another sunset. We got to see some parts of Malibu though while it was still a bit light out on our back towards our hotel. I got the funniest question buying chocolate at the gas station where we got gas on the way back. The 20-something guy behind the cash desk first looked really long on the cover of the Lindh (I think I spelled that incorrectly) Chocolate with 70% cocoa. Then he asked me what cocoa meant and why all chocolate had cocoa mentioned among the ingredients. I barely knew what to answer but could after a few moments give him an answer. I guess he learnt something that day.
The cool place to be, Duke's.
Bjorne was hour designated driver so this yummy drink is non-alcoholic.
Back at the hotel Bjorne and I went for another jacuzzi experience waiting for the Ice Wine that I bought at Summerland Winery on the Rocky Mountain Tour to get chilled. I was excited to introduce the sweet and expensive dessert wine to Bjorne and Mr. M. They both seemed to enjoy it. :) What an ending to three fantastic vacation weeks on the western side of North America and to a great day in LA! Difficult to understand that they almost are over :( Still a few days left before reality hits me again though!
Quatchi having a serious talk with the Ice Wine.
Ice Wine-tasting/drinking on the balcony.
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