Automotive heaven (20 April)

Inside this stunning piece of modern architecture (with an unusually grey sky for LA) is one of the world’s special motor collections. Some places may focus on size and quantity, but this one most definitely focuses on quality. 

Needless to say, visiting the Petersen Collection had been on the itinerary since we first planned the trip. The core collection is owned by the Petersen family, and is supplemented by various short-and longer-term loans. In the reception area was a Porsche 956 in Jägermeister livery, which raced at Le Mans in the mid-1980s.

One of my favourites was this exquisite 1957 Ferrari 625/250 Testa Rossa.

Being LA, there were plenty of cars with film connections. The De Lorean that featured in “Back to the Future” was on display, and the flux capacitor looked to be in full working order. 

The dates were displaying correctly too.

Continuing the movie theme, here's the gorgeous Toyota 2000GT that featured in the Bond film "You Only Live Twice".

The bulk of the collection was American, and featured sparkling (literally) beauties such as this low-rider. Even the insides of the wheel-arches were decorated.

By far the biggest highlight of the day, however, was the separate guided tour of the Vault. Housed in the basement, it’s part reserve collection, part parking lot for cars arriving on loan or about to return to their owners, and part workshop. In addition to our tour guide we were accompanied by a security guard, complete with secret service-style earpiece. Sadly, the security restrictions included a strict ban on photography.

To provide a flavour of the tour, we saw cars owned by film stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable and Steve McQueen (the latter being a most amazing Jaguar XKSS).  There were cars that had carried US Presidents, including Roosevelt.  There was also “dictators’ row”, which featured cars owned or used by the likes of Saddam Hussain, Nikita Krushchev and Ferdinand Marcos. We saw another De Lorean - this time, it was gold-plated, and could have been yours for $85,000 back in 1980 from the American Express Christmas catalogue.  One last mention is the De Tomaso Pantera formerly owned by Elvis Presley.  Annoyed it wouldn't start one day, he promptly took out his gun and shot it! More details here.

Lights, camera, action! (19 April)

Universal Studios - wow!  What a day!

 

I was less sure what to expect than Disneyland - some rides, for sure, but with more of a film-making theme.  Anyway, I doubt I'll ever get to walk down the red carpet again.  (Yes, Tom is nearly as tall as me!)

First up was Harry Potter World.  Having never been to Elstree I can't comment on whether this is bigger/better or not.  What was certain was that Tom was extremely excited.  I ducked the big immersive ride but went on the rollercoaster.  It was fine, but over so quickly compared to Thunder Mountain at Disneyland.  Hark at me, comparing rollercoasters!  Hogwarts looked a bit strange with the addition of palm trees.

All three of us were keen to see the 'Animal Actors' show.  We had lots of insight into how animals are trained for the movies, and watched so very clever and funny sketches live on stage.  Here are two of the gorgeous dogs that performed for us today.

Talking of animals, Tom was lucky enough to meet one of his favourite furry film-stars.  All hail, King Julian!

Next up, we took the tour of the film sets and theatres.  The guide gave us a fantastic commentary, and as well as seeing different street sets, the tour also included some 3D immersive adventures too.  I'm pleased to report that we avoided the various dinosaurs and King Kong that tried to attack us in Jurassic World, and when we raced through the set of Fast & Furious, we avoided being shot as well.

I got to meet one of my film heroes too - Donkey from Shrek, who was very chatty!

Tom enjoyed wandering through Springfield and soaking up the atmosphere of 'The Simpsons', including an encounter in Moe's Bar.

The final live show we saw was Waterworld, featuring stunts from the film.  The style of show - with lots of stunts, moving sets and flames - reminded us very much of Puy du Fou in France. There were boats and jet-skis racing around, people falling into the water, and other high jinx - all highly entertaining.

Finally it was time to head back to the hotel for our last evening in LA.  We've one last special trip tomorrow, but then we head to the airport and travel home.

Hollywood! (18 April)

So, today's destination was Hollywood! Yay!  The outside temperature reading from the car also tipped 93 degrees Fahrenheit - a bit different from the snow of Bryce Canyon.

Before we got too excited, however, was the reality of driving in LA. First, we simply didn't clock that going "across town" from Anaheim to Hollywood was more than 40 miles, nor that it would take an hour and a half ... in the middle of the day.  This view is typical LA driving!

After what seemed an eternity, we arrived at our hotel, pre-registered, dropped our bags, and headed up to Griffith Park.  Like so many other tourists, our mission was to see the Hollywood sign.  Like so many other tourists, we found it was rather harder than we thought.  Griffith Park felt like being in Greece to us, given the dry hills, pine and olive trees.  We walked from the free parking (at least we felt smug we hadn't paid ten dollars!) and reached the top of the hill.

The Observatory is wonderful - there's lots to see and do inside, and best of all it's free entry (and cool inside).  There were great views of the city from the top, although the smoggy air meant that it was a bit hazy.  Again, we thought of Athens.

The view of The Sign is great with the camera zoomed in.

However, it makes for a pretty poor shot when you want someone in the foreground - the sign ends up tiny by comparison.  We therefore went on a bit of a detour through some rather lovely residential roads, most of which said "no vehicle access to Hollywood sign" in a bid to get a better photo for Tom.  This was the result - a quick snap standing in the middle of the road!

Next up, into the city proper to see the Walk of Fame.  Hollywood Boulevard is a bit of a circus; there are street entertainers, hawkers selling churros and wedges of watermelon, stalls selling plastic Oscar statuettes, political campaigners and homeless people, all bundled together in a so-called street of dreams.  First-up, the stars.  It took me a while to realise that stars are given not only for film, but also TV, radio, music recording, and live performance. Here's the star for a screen favourite of mine.

In the TV category was the star for a certain Donald Trump.  However, standing on it was a lovely gentleman campaigning for Bernie Sanders.  I didn't get his name, but he had campaigned for Bernie Sanders all the way back to his first Senate and gubernatorial elections in 1972.  He was charming and polite, and gave me a gentle ribbing about Brexit.  Fair play!

Disneyland: I am not a theme-park person ... (17 April)

Steve has always wanted to visit Disneyland.  His Dad visited decades ago while travelling for work, and showed Steve the brochures and photos.  It left a big impression on a small boy, so today was the fulfilment of that ambition: a real "bucket-list" item.

From my perspective, I struggle with large crowds. I don't like the noise of large crowds, and I'm just not a thrill-seeker when it comes to big rides.  Ordinarily, therefore, today should have been hell on earth for me.  Oh, did I mention the suggestion we should arrive by 7.30am, ready for 8am opening? I'm not a morning person either.

So ... here's the sight that greeted us inside the gate.  Yes, there's Walt and Mickey, but where's the castle?  The truth is, it's undergoing major renovations.  It made me feel a bit better about all the tourists in London who emerge from Westminster Underground station, only to be disappointed not to be able to see the Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben) as it's clad in scaffolding.

We enjoyed sitting by the lake, watching the paddle steamer pootling about.  We joined Davy Crockett and kayaked the loop - overtaking the boat in the process.  I'm not convinced how much of our progress was really down to our paddling and/or whether there was some hidden underwater propulsion of some sort.  (My money's on the latter option.)

As to rides, I'm assured that Disneyland is more about the themes that the thrill factor.  For the record, out of the larger rides, I went on Pirates of the Caribbean (tame), Indiana Jones (pretty wild), Splash Mountain (twice), and Thunder Mountain (definitely just the once).  All the rides used darkness to great effect.  Splash Mountain (the log flume/water ride) was immense fun.  The first time we got splashed a bit, but the second time - with two large men in the front of the boat - we got soaked.  A heavy front-end meant that we dipped lower into the water at the bottom of each descent.

And so to Thunder Mountain - a rollercoaster with a "old-time gold mine" theme.  Read that as giving a rickety and bumpy ride.  I screamed a lot (according to Tom).  I survived.

Steve and Tom posed for a photo beside the ride.  We couldn't help notice the similarities between the "mountain" and the rock formations we'd seen at Bryce Canyon earlier in our holiday.

Steve and Tom also went on "Space Mountain" - a rollercoaster completely in the dark.  Judging by their stories, I'm glad I sat this one out. 

Tom was much more interested in the Star Wars area than the main parade, although we missed out on the major new feature that opens in May.  Nevertheless, he was one happy boy, as the pictures show.

If only Chewbacca could have kept his hand still!

And so to a verdict.  Did I enjoy myself?  Yes, massively.  I pushed my comfort zone, got soaking wet, and enjoyed seeing my two best boys having the time of their lives.  My feet ache (16,600 steps logged, although I had to switch my phone off as the battery was low), and I'm sure we'll all sleep soundly tonight.

A little piece of Denmark in California (16 April)

Yes, you read that right.  Back in 1911, a group of Danish emigrants to the USA wanted to create a community that reminded them of home. So they did, and the village of Solvang is the result.

Sure, it was a little kitsch, and given how many signs were written in Japanese before English and Spanish, we should perhaps judge it as a tourist destination first and foremost.  The sails on this windmill don't look big enough ever to have done any serious work.

By the way, the "storks" nesting on the roofs are fake.

Nevertheless, the Danish pastries and coffees in Birkholm's Cafe (now run by the third generation of the same family) were definitely the real thing.

I also loved the timeline of Danish monarchs painted on the side of the cafe.  This is the beginning and end.

Walking around a quieter corner, we found this elaborate doorway on a building that was being renovated.

I'm not a fan of all-year-round Christmas shops, but this one was beautiful.  Sadly, I didn't have the money for this amazing Advent set of drawers.

While I had no need for the watch-maker, I did rather like the sign in his shop-window.

And finally, it wouldn't have been a slice of Denmark without a Little Mermaid statue. She looked rather in need of a clean-up, and possibly felt a bit out of place besides the home-ware store.

And so we travelled, on to Los Angeles ...

Chilling out in Santa Barbara (15 April)

I rather like Santa Barbara - it's not too big a city, and has quite a small-town relaxed sort of vibe.  It feels human, lived-in and friendly.

Our first task this morning was to go to the laundromat. Not the most exciting of trips, but being away from home for three weeks we've had to do laundry a couple of times.  The Best Western Hotel in Bryce Canyon had it's own laundromat which was extremely convenient.  Here, there's the option for room service to take away laundry and deliver it back, but with prices starting at $3 for a single pair of socks (!) we decided to sort ourselves out.  Hats off, therefore, to the Modern Laundry in De La Vina Street.  If laundromats were on Trip Advisor, it would get a 5* recommendation.  There were dozens of machines, and what we thought would be two loads was just one in their large machine. With Starbucks opposite, free wifi, and large-screen TVs (showing the awful news from Paris) the time flew by.

Today I spent some time mooching around on my own, soaking up the atmosphere of the Old Town.  The Spanish influence on the architecture is very obvious, and very attractive too.  This is the Old Court-house.

The newer buildings in the legal district were every bit as interesting.  I particularly liked this quotation above the District Attorney's Office.  I haven't found anyone obvious to attribute it to, but feel free to enlighten me. 

I've tried hard not to overload this blog with pictures of flowers and gardens, but these magnificent strelitzias (bird of paradise flower) deserve to be seen. 

Back to the architecture theme, this was the tympanum above the entrance to the Santa Barbara Public Library dating from 1925.

Walking up State Street was very pleasant - shops, restaurants and all-round sunny views.  Despite this being one of the main arteries in the city there was little traffic. 

The railway that runs through Santa Barbara crosses State Street with a simple level crossing, and pedestrians just walk across the tracks.  A bit further downtown, I discovered the Arlington Theatre. It's now a cinema, currently showing the latest Marvel film. 

The canopy was elaborate, and the foyer was amazing - especially the ticket booth on the right!

Elsewhere, I admired tiles again - as shown here on the stairs of a shopping centre.

Finally - and back with Steve and Tom - we headed to a local tap-house bar for supper.  I remember trips to the USA back in the 1990s when Coors/Bud were practically the only offerings, and we were grateful to find a bottle of Sam Adams in and around Boston.  Now though, there are micro-breweries everywhere. 

I can personally recommend the Finney's Mosaic IPA here - I'm definitely a convert to the West Coast IPA style.  Last night's bar had it's own brewery, and even brewed its own Belgian-style dubbel and tripel.