Wednesday 19th March 2014 -7 Hours GMT ­ Los Angeles, California, USA: Homeward Bound

My flight was aboard a spanking new Airbus A 380 – illustration taken form the British Airways website.  This aircraft seat some 469 passengers on tow decks and takes off nearly vertically.  It reached cruising altitude in about half the time of comparable aircraft.

So even though I have suffered extreme jet lag since returning it proved to be an interesting and smooth flight back to London Heathrow.

The photo is a little truncated since the aircraft is over 72 metres in length but I wanted to give you an idea of just how impressive this aircraft is.

Tuesday 1st April 2014 1600 Hours GMT ­ Reflections and Where Next

Over the last 8 weeks I have had the privilege of experiencing many new countries – Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Japan, Taiwan and Hawaii and to revisit India and Oman.  Myanmar was a real joy to visit and I want to go back to sea more of this fascinating country that was the scene of the most awful fighting in WWII and that is now emerging from a long period of isolation.  Its people are adorable, lively, friendly and always smiling and to have a chance to see this country before tourist commercialisation perhaps changes it forever was an unforgettable experience.

Japan too I have only managed to scrape the surface and want again to revisit and I am not likely to forget my two maiden helicopter flights over the Hawaiian Islands.

So I will end this Blog here but with a trailer for my next adventure that begins on Tuesday 8^th April when I fly to Hanoi via Singapore to join friends that I met in the Antarctic in 2011 for an overland and Mekong River cruise/tour of Vietnam and Cambodia.  So after a couple of days in Hanoi and a cruise overnight in Ho Long Bay, I fly down to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to join the RV AmaLotus for a 7 night cruise up the Mekong to Siem Reap finishing with a visit to Angkor Wat – another of those places on the list of ‘Must See’ tourist sites.

I will not be writing a Blog whilst I’m away since the itinerary is pretty full on and there are no sea days but keep logging on to my Blog sites in May for the full story when I return.

I’m off to collect my Vietnam Visa, currency and to finish my ironing so I can pack it all again!!

For now Adieu.

Wednesday 19th March 2014 -7 Hours GMT ­ Los Angeles, California, USA: The Oldest House in LA

Los Angeles was founded in 1781 by Spanish pobladores (settlers), on a site southeast of today's Olvera Street near the Los Angeles River.  The photo shows the entrance to Olvera Street, the oldest street in LA, named by a City Council ordinance in 1877 to honour Augustín Olvera, the first Superior Court Judge of Los Angeles County, who owned an adobe house nearby.

The first photo shows the entrance to Olvera Street and the second is the house called Avila Adobe, believed to be the oldest in LA, dating from 1818.

Today Olvera Street houses a handicraft market and you know what is coming next?  You guessed; I bought my last handcrafted fridge magnets!

So after an interesting day it was time to make our way to the airport for the flight home.

Wednesday 19th March 2014 -7 Hours GMT ­ Los Angeles, California, USA: The Walt Disney Concert Hall

My penultimate stop on this short tour of LA was to the Music Center. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States and is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and the Walt Disney Concert Hall shown in the photo. Designed by Frank Gehry, a world renowned architect based in LA - whose best-known works include the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao the Walt Disney Concert Hall – constructed from stainless steel, has a 2,265-seat Concert Hall and is home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

The reflective stainless steel surfaces have had to be toned down to prevent dazzle to drivers!

NB.  I have used the American spelling of ‘center’ etc. just in case anyone thinks I have not used the Spell Checker.

Wednesday 19th March 2014 -7 Hours GMT ­ Los Angeles, California, USA: The Iconic HOLLYWOOD Sign

You cannot come to Hollywood and not view the famous ‘HOLLWOOD’ sign and the top floor of the building adjacent to the TCL Chinese Theatre affords just that opportunity.

"HOLLYWOOD" is spelled out in 45-foot-tall, white capital letters, and is 350 feet (110 m) long. It was originally created in 1923 as an advertisement for a local real estate development, and read “HOLLYWOODLAND” but it garnered increasing recognition after the sign was left up. The sign was a frequent target of pranks and vandalism, but it has since undergone restoration, including the installation of a security system to deter vandalism.

Wikipedia reports that originally each letter of the sign was 30 feet (9.1 m) wide and 50 feet (15 m) high, and the whole sign was studded with some 4,000 light bulbs so that it would flash in segments; "HOLLY," "WOOD," and "LAND" before lighting up entirely.

Over the course of more than half a century, the sign, that had only been designed to stand for only 18 months, sustained extensive damage and deterioration.

During the early 1940s, Albert Kothe (the sign's official caretaker) driving while inebriated, was nearing the top of Mount Lee when he lost control of his vehicle and drove off the cliff behind the H. While Kothe was not injured, the letter H was destroyed.

In 1978, in large part because of the public campaign to restore the landmark by Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy Magazine, the Chamber of Commerce set out to replace the severely deteriorated sign with a more permanent structure. The new version of the sign was unveiled on Hollywood's 75th anniversary in November1978, before a live television audience of 60 million people.