Another fine day, and once more I went window-shopping and souvenir hunting on the streets of L.A. Once again, Eliot picked me up and took me to Burbank for the Stein Online show. This time the guest was Peter Schwab, author of "Cuba: Confronting the U.S. Embargo", talking about Cuba 40 years after Fidel Castro took over.
Afterwards we went for a drive around Burbank, L.A. and Beverley Hills, with Eliot pointing out the sights, and I got to try some more American cuisine.
Alas, my holiday is coming to a close, so I book out of the hotel, and have my car fetched for me for the very last time. There is still time for a bit more sightseeing though, so I head for the coast next to the Marina del Rey. Here, after looking at the sights for a while, my attention was drawn to a seal stranded on the beach. Help had been sent for, and soon arrived in the shape of the Marine Mammal Rescue, who loaded the animal into a basket and onto the pick-up, and drove away with it. Just as well it wasn't a whale, as there was only one man sent!
Then it was time to tackle the Los Angeles traffic one more time, and rise to the challenge of finding the car hire place. That done, I once more submitted myself to an advertisement tape on the shuttle bus, and to long queues checking in at the airport. I caught flight UA 934 at 18:00 on Tuesday March 30, arriving on Mar 31 at 13:25.
This time every seat had a small screen in the back of the seat in front, and there was very little legroom. At one stage we went through such turbulence that the staff had to strap in, but no harm was done. Having passed through more queues to collect luggage and pass through customs, I trekked to the bus station. There were a lot of people there, so seeing that the bus stopped at another terminal first, I caught the new express underground there. Travel between terminals is free, though you have to pay to go into London. The British clocks had changed but the American hadn't, which made life rather confusing.
It was a great struggle to keep awake on the bus, but I managed it - which was just as well, as the bus driver needed directions. Carrying all of my luggage, I bought some fresh food and drink to take home, as my fridge/freezer had broken down just before the holiday. Milton Keynes is currently enlarging its shopping centre and building a theatre and sport centre, so finding where the taxi rank had been moved to during construction involved quite a lot of walking. I made it safely home, though.
And so to bed! :-)
© 2001. Copyright Sue Nethercott.