Los Angeles in winter: reflections on a vacation

We have been unlucky once, I think, hitting some rainfall in Los Angeles in December, but usually we get sunshine.  So it proved this time, as after a late-night arrival in LA, we woke to bright sunshine (if a cool breeze)!  It was a real delight to see daylight after such dark days in the UK.

The view from our LAX hotel

Passing temptations - a poster reminding me that I really wanted to see Les Miserables when it opened in the UK!

The LAX Westin was our Hotwire hotel this time around.  A ridiculously large lobby and entrance forecourt...

Ah, Santa Monica: the reason we come to LA en route...

Here's Neil - between coughs - enjoying the Santa Monica shopping

It was important to remember this was Christmas: the giant hotel Christmas Tree was a clue.

And I always love being able to see the moon, and the sun setting over Santa Monica beach...

 There is just something wonderful about seeing a sunset, especially over a beach/water.  It just feels *right* somehow, like this was how we should ALL get to see a sunset.  Plus it reminds me of Hotel California...

New Zealand 2011 - mostly food

In the run up to our journey to NZ, Christchurch had a real blast of winter. Indeed, the Thursday we flew out of the UK (off to sunny 30 degrees in Los Angeles), Neil's mum was only just getting dug out of the snow drifts at her home.

Southern hemisphere you see --- their winter. So we could have been really caught out - stuck and unable to reach the family.

As it was, it perfect timing, the sun came out. This meant there was snow on the mountains still, but our level was just beautiful.


One thing that I do indulge in over in NZ is coffee: I don't drink much coffee here (I'm a tea-belly if anything) but they do make a real effort with the presentation of coffee in New Zealand. Witness this cappuccino from Seagars in Oxford, NZ.


Indeed, food standards generally are pretty hot in NZ: see these lovely desserts, also from Seagars. (Apart from the fruit I swear everything was made with maximum attention to calories...)


We also had some spiffy food at Route 72 and at Pukeko Junction, near Amberley and Leithfield, NZ.


(Sorry about the lighting but the Pukeko salad and frittata was too lovely to not photograph - even if the lighting came out weird).

San Francisco non-activity (aka what Neil did not do)

Neil and I could not resist photographing the sign but... no - he didn't.

Getty Center - LA

We had a blast last time we went to the Getty, but the journey there was a tad traumatic. Working out we could go via Santa Monica, and then through Brentwood up to the Getty was a great treat and much less hassle. And - befitting a sunny summer day - we had a glorious time again.



There is something exquisite about the light and colour of the place. Here's a short video of the visit. If you can get through my 'peg-on-nose' nasal tones and talking with Neil, there's a good of-the-period joke about Nick Clegg (see here for details).

London to LA (Santa Monica)

Neil and Rullsenberg on the train to London - ready for the big adventure! It has to be admitted that as our tube later in the journey passed by Earl's Court, Neil did teasingly suggest we make another visit to the Doctor Who Experience... We were tempted but...


Rullsenberg at Heathrow T5 at ungodly o'clock ahead of our flight. Very relieved that I had surrendered the (nevertheless would have been delightful) pleasure of seeing Much Ado for a third time the evening before. Heaven knows how little sleep I would have had.


Still: all worthwhile to arrive in LA and immediately hop on the Big Blue Bus to Santa Monica and have a paddle!

And now I'm back from Time Travelling and Globe Trotting

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm a bit zoinked from travelling but I'll be back with news and reviews of our travels over the coming days.

• Wednesday 17 August - travelled to London, overnight at Sheraton Skyline Heathrow
• Thursday 18 August - fly out from Heathrow 09:55
• Thursday 18 August - arrive in LA and stay at Marriott LAX, visit Santa Monica (lots), Getty, and Armand Hammer gallery
• Saturday 20 August - fly out from LAX 23:40
• Monday 22 August 08:10 (yes, I know - we crossed the dateline and lost a day) - arrive in Auckland to catch connecting flight to Christchurch - stay with family
• Wednesday 31 August - fly out from Christchurch up to Auckland 15:00 - stay at SkyCity Grand Hotel
• Friday 2 September - fly out from Auckland 13:05 to LAX
• Friday 2 September arrive 06:30 (yes, I know: more time-travelling, this trip going back in time) - pass security and re-check baggage to get flight to San Francisco at 09:30
• Friday 2 September (STILL!) - stay for four nights at the InterContinental San Francisco on Howard Street: lots of walking, the Coit tower, Haight Ashbury, Fisherman's Wharf, lots of shopping (City Lights!)
• Tuesday 6 September - fly out to Heathrow at 16:55
• Wednesday 7 September - land in the UK 11:25, home by 18:00
• Thursday 8 September - back to work!!!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

In Praise of .... May Day (and other Public Holidays)

May Day has a long historical significance as a festival; pagan celebration and marker of workers' rights are just two.

The Government is proposing to 'move' May Day - or rather REmove May Day - so that, ostensibly, the tourist season is extended.

There are a number of arguments to be had around this: others, far more articulate than I, will make a case about protecting the one rare day that acknowledges the struggle of workers to unionise and protect workers' rights against exploitation.

I'd like to take a slightly different approach and look at how the Public Holidays work in the UK - and especially England - at the moment.

Why has May Day come under attack again? Simplistically, May Day isn't popular amongst Tories, but it's more to do with the accident of how Easter has fallen this year that has highlighted the perceived problem.

Easter is 'late' this year: this, combined with TBRW* holiday, means that there are FOUR public holidays within 11 days (effectively FOUR within 7 working days). Given the long gap between New Year and Easter, one can understand that this isn't really a very even spread of Public Holidays. Equally, it is a LONG time between the August Public Holiday and Christmas.

But is it really fair to lay the blame at the door of May Day?

How come NO-ONE wants to bite the bullet of fixing Easter? It can wander around anywhere between the third week in March and the start of the final week in April.

In that context, how the hell would offering St George's Day (23rd April) in England possibly help alleviate that mad glutch of Public Holidays in the spring? In that respect, offering a date in October for a Public Holiday is far more sensible (though I feel a little iffy about Trafalgar Day).

To my mind, the issue is more one about Public Holidays per se than 'moving' one (or 'fixing' Easter). The UK has a bad rep for having so few Public Holidays - why not ADD an October date to the calendar?! (I mean, next year 2012 we get a Public Holiday for the Queenie's Diamond Jubilee --- not an extra one, but just shufting the Spring Bank Holiday aka poor old Whitsun).

I'm not especially thrilled with the reasons why certain days are deemed Public Holidays for sure: I'm not religious, I'm not a Royalist, and I'm pretty ambivalent about celebrating 'victory' over other countries in wars. That's probably why preserving May Day, Worker's Day, Labour Day, DOES mean a lot to me.

But we need Public Holidays: I'd like there to be a campaign to fix Easter for Holiday purposes, and by all means bang in national holidays (I'd be celebrating Shakespeare personally, rather than St George, but that's me), but let's instead think about the logic of what Public Holidays can do for worker energy and moral by ADDING in one for later in the year.

I'll be controversial and suggest Halloween :)

*aka The Bloody Royal Wedding

Retro Post: Sheffield's loveliest hotel

Last weekend - Friday 2nd July to Sunday 4 July - Helen Lisette and I stayed in Sheffield. Helen took over booking a hotel and by gum, she yet again proved her worth with finding the most lovely hotel in Sheffield.

The Leopold Hotel


Exterior of the hotel


A sample photograph of a bedroom


Sample bedroom twin - similar to what H and I had


Even the corridors are lovely

Overall, I could HIGHLY recommend this hotel as the staff were lovely, the environment charming and the rooms an absolute treat.

Dropping approximately 30 degrees...

Woo! When we landed yesterday, temperatures had hit the dizzy heights of 1 degree Celsius!

Woo!

We left London in a blizzard. Looking at the BBC pictures of the UK snowfall, I long for the warmth of our holiday weather (though currently our destinations, apart from LA, are experiencing mostly rainfall).

The cat has just about forgiven us for leaving her in the capable caring hands of Helen and our neighbours (despite her ravaging them in our absence).

And I still haven't watched Dr. Who - so keep your comments spoiler free til I let you know I've watched em!

I need my attention to be a little more focused before doing battle with RTD's finales for Ten.

The long Monday - 4th Jan 2010

Today is the longest day.

No, really it is.

It's 45 hours long.

We spend 23 of them in New Zealand (sadly a lot of the afternoon and evening in airports - first Christchurch and then Auckland).

We then fly for approximately 12 hours (it could be as long as 13).

We land at Los Angelese around 2pm --- on the same day 4th January 2010.

So we then have the remaining 10 hours in the USA.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

All being well, Santa Monica tonight.

Walking (and sitting) in Oxford, South Island New Zealand - 3rd Jan 2010

Farmer's market day and (as it is the first Sunday of the month) also Craft market day in Oxford. Perfect for a blowy walk as the sun pops in and out. I'm going to miss this warmth and sunlight!

Mona Vale and a Gondola ride with the family - Jan 2nd 2010

We had morning tea at lovely Mona Vale and then the family all drove over to the Gondola so that Neil's mum could finally get a ride up and see over Christchurch and the volanic bays of the Banks peninsula towards Lyttleton and Diamond Harbour and out across the east beaches of Christchurch.

A most lovely morning and lunchtime.

The downside of starting 2010 with 33 degrees of heat

... is that we know we will soon be coming home to temperatures approximately 30 degrees lower than this!

Ah well, at least we ended New Year's Day 2010 on a glorious dramatic sunset.

Xmas Eve in New Zealand - sunshine and warmth!

Rullsenberg paddling in the sea at Woodend Beach New Zealand on Christmas Eve, 2009

Rullsenberg on Woodend Beach dunes Christmas Eve 2009

The restful view - Rata Street's best garden and NZ clouds


It really is hard to complain when you are sat in temperatures of approx 23-28 degrees on Xmas Eve. Lashings of lemon ale and plenty of rest.

I'll be in touch, but avoiding Doctor Who news over the coming days til we return to the UK is likely to mean a fairly enforced absence online.

See you in 2010!

Arrived in NZ

Heaven knows what time it is in the UK (1.30am ish? 11.30am ish? - I get lost on the forward and back of time crossing the date line!)

Still, we are here and the sun is out and the neice and nephew have welcomed us and we're generally acclimatising to the sunlight and summer.

Life is good.

In San Francisco

My word - that Hotwire deal we got was a BARGAIN.

We're staying at the Intercontinental on Howard Street in SF and it is brilliant. Views are spectacular and the food is awesome.

Almost a shame we are here for such a short time.

Been to City Lights and are now off to Golden Gate Bridge and to Amoeba records in Haight.

New Zealand at Highland Peaks, Dunedin

Whilst we were away in New Zealand, Neil's mum very kindly organised a trip away down to Dunedin (which is even further down the South Island coast of New Zealand). We had a spectacular journey down and great weather during our all-too-brief stay. But mostly we had a great time because we stayed at Highland Peaks. This is a Bed and Breakfast with a difference: hosts that really make you feel welcome, accommodation that is superb and food provisions to make your mouth water. Di and Peter were delightful hosts and Bud has to qualify as one of the most adorable dogs ever to fuss for food.

Highly recommended for a taste of luxury (in every sense!)

Cardiff in Pictures - January 2009

Cardiff visit - Friday 23 January 2009 to Sunday 25 January 2009

Helen and I decided some time ago that it was rather ridiculous we hadn't visited Cardiff recently (or in my case, at all). It is after all the capital of Wales so we figured it deserved a visit.

We also just wanted a girls' weekend away for peaceful gossip.

Anyway, we were blessed with a beautiful journey down by train (passing through Chepstow and along the river). We stayed at the Barcelo Cardiff Angel Hotel


... and thanks to H's superb skills in hotel booking we got a great deal that gave us dinner as well for 50p extra each -- that's 25p per two course meal. It was yummy.

Here are some shots of the visit:

Cardiff Memorial - we started Saturday by taking a good walk from the hotel past Cardiff Castle and up to the University and old Assembly Building district.


Deciding that a walk to Cardiff Bay from the city centre was a bit much (especially as we expected to be on our feet all day) we hopped on a bus down to the bay. And Glorious Sun came out!




It's hard not to think of this area AS Torchwood, especially as the buildings are so iconic...


As you can tell, I can't resist an arty photograph:


The closer you get to the edge of the bay, the more odd the juxtapositions: for example, this is the old Pier Building, a surviving relic of the area's former life...


And this is the new Welsh Assembly building.

Being a bit dippy, I was convinced we wouldn't be allowed in the building, but Helen persisted in her belief there were people inside and approached the doors. It is an incredible building and I will hopefully add some pics from H later on (she took some crackers of the inner chamber).




We really enjoyed being out and about and the weather was fabulous (even if cold).




And as we killed a couple of hours in the area, we were able to come out and catch the view of the Roald Dahl Plass by night...


Next day, we dreaded rain but thankfully it was bright if clouding over gradually as we left. We strolled round the corner from the hotel and walked down past the Riverside Market (did I see Julie Gardner there? Not sure...) and past the Millenium Stadium. Of course, as the stadium commemorates all manner of sporting nations, I could not resist photographing New Zealand:


We ended our visit with a walk past Cardiff Castle: it's a real jumble of gothic styles with a Victorian vision.



And so endeth the visit!