Roller coasters

Today was Disneyland. We went. We went on several roller coasters. A water one where I was soaked, an Indiana jones one, which had a lot of noise and you were shaken to death, and several others. Toad of Toad Hall, Cinderella's hall of terror, haunted Christmas, cars... We went on a short day, as they were having Mickey's Halloween afterwards. As a result, the queues were only for half an hour (rather than the usual hour plus) and we were able to do the popular, scary ones.

It confirmed that Disneyland and such commercialised recreations are not my scene. Charlotte enjoyed herself. You will notice that I was not screaming.

Stars

Yesterday we visited the Hollywood walk and the LA County Museum. We also went along a ridge of LA that had wonderful views all over. One of the times we were lost,we went down a street full of tents (with streets off it that were also full of tents) - in the middle of the city centre.

The walk was much better than I thought it would be because there were so many names that were familiar. It shows just how biased lists of "the best" generally are towards the current.

The Hollywood sign was easily seen from the side streets as we were going along the Hollywood walk, and it was also visible from the top of the Broad building in the museum. The museum was fantastic, and we spent three hours there. It had collections of American art - including a bit of indigenous art from Latin America. There didn't appear to be any from the US. There was an exhibition of African textiles which was fantastic, but it was the only stuff that couldn't be photographed. There was also traditional art from the Pacific - New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji, and Hawaii. Asian art (including a Japanese pavilion) and European art, including a good antiquities section, rounded out a reasonably comprehensive collection.

Charlotte was surprised that my name was on the pavement in Hollywood walk.

Smog

Today we arrived and had a relatively quick time going through customs. The plane was good - we had a spare seat between us, which really made the trip better. There were very few children, and no babies, which also helped.

Los Angeles was very smoggy, but despite this and tiredness after the flight, we visited Santa Monica pier, the Getty Villa, went via UCLA (but we couldn't work out where we needed to go), and saw the Hollywood sign.

The photo was taken at mid afternoon from the Griffith observatory which is the best place to view the Hollywood sign. It was quite hot.

About to go

So today is the last day at home for two months! Finishing making clothes, packing...

It is a beautiful spring day, the tulips are spectacular, the blossom is just about finished but the irises haven't really started (except the florentine irises which have been blooming for weeks).

I sound homesick already!