Arriving - eventually - in a cold & windy Los Angeles!
February 3, 2008
I awoke as the plane was descending into LAX and my first impression was that Los Angeles looked like an ugly city from the air, with the exception of the Pacific and the mountains in the distance. After making my way through customs I withdrew a few more dollars from the ATM before phoning home to wish my brother a Happy Birthday. The only flaw(s) in my plan was that it was something like one o'clock in morning back in the UK and 'tomorrow', so I'd missed his birthday and awoken the entire house! Never mind, it's the thought that counts.
With Birthday Greeting expressed, my next task was to get a taxi to Santa Monica and the hostel that I was staying at. So I wandered along the taxi rank outside LAX looking for a minibus that was going in the right direction when something I wasn't expecting hit me. It was winter in the Northern hemisphere and it was bloody freezing! All I had was my summer clothing plus a fleece top - mental note: do some shopping for appropriate warm clobber at earliest opportunity.
Having found the right minibus I was soon on my way to Santa Monica and despite managing to fall out of the minibus I'd arrived at the rather excellent HI Santa Monica in one piece. With my bags deposited into my dorm room I went to the TV room (I wasn't feeling brave enough to venture into the cold night just yet!) where I watched the closing moments of the New York Giants winning Super Bowl 42.
However, I could no longer put off the need to eat and drink so I left the warmth of the hostel and made it as far as the opposite side of the road and into a coffee shop on the corner where I had a hot mug of caffeine goodness and a warmed pastry, plus my first taste of the famous US courtesy - "Have a nice evening, sir!" - which was very nice.
With Birthday Greeting expressed, my next task was to get a taxi to Santa Monica and the hostel that I was staying at. So I wandered along the taxi rank outside LAX looking for a minibus that was going in the right direction when something I wasn't expecting hit me. It was winter in the Northern hemisphere and it was bloody freezing! All I had was my summer clothing plus a fleece top - mental note: do some shopping for appropriate warm clobber at earliest opportunity.
Having found the right minibus I was soon on my way to Santa Monica and despite managing to fall out of the minibus I'd arrived at the rather excellent HI Santa Monica in one piece. With my bags deposited into my dorm room I went to the TV room (I wasn't feeling brave enough to venture into the cold night just yet!) where I watched the closing moments of the New York Giants winning Super Bowl 42.
However, I could no longer put off the need to eat and drink so I left the warmth of the hostel and made it as far as the opposite side of the road and into a coffee shop on the corner where I had a hot mug of caffeine goodness and a warmed pastry, plus my first taste of the famous US courtesy - "Have a nice evening, sir!" - which was very nice.
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