luckykaa

Final day in LA. flickums  wanted to go to the Forest Lawn cemetery. There are many famous people buried there.

We arrived. Found the mausoleom - not too hard since it was massive. But the door was locked. So was the other door, but there ws a sign saying visitors need to be able to say who they want to visit. Apparently the staff aren't allowed to say where people are buried either. They're not really about tourists.

So we abandoned that, and came back. We did have time to do another luckykaa thing. The Angel Flight railway. A funicular that goes from the street to nowhere in particular. But it's always fun to ride a funicular.

After that we had a lot mopre time to kill than expected. Loitered in the hotel a little. Took a lot of photos. The lobby was used as the ballroom. the gallery was used as the main entrance. The elevators were used as-is. I think a lot of the corridors were on the floors that we couldn't access. I feel I should have posed with my Slimer keyring but I forgot I had it.

We had a lot of time so decided to take the LAX Flyer to the airport. It's only a couple of stops on the metro to Union station and a lot cheaper than an Uber.

So that was it for the holiday. Minor annoyance that they didn't realise we had an upgrade. Decided to splash out for lounge access again. Flew home. Travel to Euston station was frustrating with many delays on the Elizabeth line, Paddington being confusing, and no escalator at Euston Square.

Still, we got home. Had tea. Watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Slept like the dead!

Or Driving Miss Flickums or LA Story.

Happy Birthday flickums !!!

So it's Flick's birthday. She magnanimously allowed me to book a private tour of Movie locations. We'd selected 10 must-see locations, and set off to meet our driver in Hollywood!

Trip was not that pleasant. LA's metro system is cheap and efficient, but also quite popular as a place for LA's homeless to sleep. And some guy sounded like he was spoiling for a fight so we felt it might be wise to switch to the next carriage, as did at least one other passenger. But aside from that there were no issues.

Our Driver - Paul met us at the Metro station on Hollywood Boulevard. A very friendly chatty chap with excellent movie knowledge, as well as knowing the locations we were seeing well - all skills that make for a good guide. He also does a really good impression of Donkey from Shrek. Not an essential skill but amusing.

Hollywood Boulevard was a good place to start because we have the Dolby Theatre - where the Oscars are held, and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which is probably the world's most iconic cinema! Fantastic place - outside are blocks with famous names and handprints! I put my hand where Leonard Nimoy had (his hand print was the Vulcan salute, or course). We found the Star Wars prints, and then there was Roy Rogers and Trigger!

We made our way around another tour - a group tour; that actually made us feel pretty pleased to be part of a private tour, and into the car!

First up was Nancy's House from Nightmare On Elm Street. Paul had a laptop with images from the movie to give context, which was useful because without context, this is just a house. Apparently the owners put a Freddy Kruger in the window on Hallowe'en.

Ode To Joy in the music system informed us that we were approaching Nakatomi Plaza! We jumped out, took photos of me wearing me Nakatomi 1988 Christmas Party T-shirt and onto the next location.

Next stop was Flynn's arcade. A brief stop. It no longer has the main sign, but there is a canopy at the side that says Flynn's Arcade, and a note in the window saying it's not actually an arcade. After that, I wanted to go to the Tar Pits, more out of nerdy curiousity than any movie connectiion, although they do feature in the game LA Noire. LA Noire's tar pits seemed to be a lot larger though.

Brief stop at David's House from Wargames. Then Dom's house from the Fast and Furious movies. the owner of the F&F house apparently doesn't like that people come to look at it, and it's surrounded by a large fence. Seems strange to buy a house with that history and be angry at the result.

We absolutely had to stop at the intersection where Butch ran over Marcellus in Pulp Fiction. Our driver had a prop for us - a donut box - so we could re-create that scene.

A quick zip through the Toon Town Tunnel; which was also the tunnel in Back To The Future Part 2, zoom round Griffith Observatory, and then back to near the start, where we stopped at Musso & Frank Grill from Once Upon a Time In Hollywood and Ed Wood.

We were dropped off at Mel's Drive-in for Lunch, and we went our separate ways.

Paul the Driver had mentioned that there's a car museum, which has Ecto-1, so we thought that might be a good place to go. But we could not find ecto-1. We found the movie car display. There was a 1989 Batmobile, and KITT, and a Delorean Time Machine, and a lot of others but no Ecto-1! We asked and apparently it had been taken back by the owner some months before.

I did quite enjoy the rest f the museum. Some nice exhibits, especially of some early cars, like the Model T and the Benz Patent Motor Car, plus some hot rods and supercars and a lot of concept cars on the second floor, but I think I was a lot more into this than Flick.

Ground Floor was dedicated to Tesla (the company, not the guy) which was not that interesting. Felt too much like an advertisement.

We headed back to Hollywood Boulevard and after looking at some of the stars on the Walk of Fame, and Flickums being a Disney shill in the Disney store, headed to Musso and Frank's for dinner. Turns out the servings were a lot larger than I expected though and I couldn't finish it. Also was a little uncertain about whether the pork was properly cooked so decided to accept defeat. So we asked fro the check, and waiting while the next customer felt that she absolutely had to chat to the waiter.

After that we were flagging somewhat so headed back to the hotel.

That leaves time for canoodling and maybe a quick swim.

Disneyland is not close to Downtown LA. But there is an express bus service that will take us there in 2 hours. Not bad for $2 per person, especially since the driver decided he couldn't be bothered dealing with 2 tourists trying to pay so let us on for free.

Disney has the usual security bag check. We got through there, and flickums asked someone where we could buy tickets.

"You don't have a reservation!?" came the shocked reply. We were grudgingly directed to the ticket booth. I tried getting the app to work. Turns out it was the Disneyland Paris app. Tried downloading the correct app. Didn't want to let me log in. Tickets were a lot more expensive than Flickums was prepared for. And for some reason needed to supply an email address for tickets, as the ticket seller disappeared for several minutes dealing with this.

With Flick still feeling from sticker shock, we got in! I was feeling a bit grumpy over tech frustrating me, so Flickums let me have first choice. After walking down Main street, we were right by Star Tours! So that's my choice. It's really good fun! It's a simulator - hydraulic movements - and the premise is we're taking a trip to see the sights of the Star Wars universe but we get mixed up in the events of the movies.

Next was Flickums Choice, there wouldn't be any argument, so Haunted Mansion!!! 

This did involve taking the train! Which took us through the dinsosaur era!

Haunted Manson is really good fun! Lots of clever optical illusions. Starts in a "Stretching Room", which seems to just extend. Portraits around the edges extend so you see the full bodies of the people in who are now shown to be in dangerous situations. The stretching room is actually a lift. something I told Flick about some time ago but she already knew and now I'm relentlessly teased about. But it is a really good ride! So much fun, and lots of clever optical illusions for the ghosts.

Flick then insisted we go to Fantasyland which is where all the princesses live. Flick was getting very excited, then exploded at seeing a princess meet and greet! I glued the exploded flickums fragments together and we joined the queue. Flick was assuming we'd get a random princess, but we got three! First up was Cinderella who loved that I was being Lucifer for the day! Next up was Ariel who said it must have been a long swim from England. And we were directed to the next room. where Flick almost missed Snow White! I was on the verge of a rugby tackle before she noticed, and seemed really quite star struck! After that we went on the Snow White Enchanted Wish ride at Flick's behest,

I felt at this point, I could demand it was my turn to choose, so I went to Galaxy's Edge - the Star Wars area. Disney have done some fantastic set dressing there! It really feels like you're on Tatooine! There was a bar selling blue milk, which tasted kinda weird. We then went to Docking Bay 7 for food. Really quite tasty - Star wars themed but fairly general fast food type stuff. I had a pitta hummus and fake meatball thing - "Felucian Kefta", Flick had "Chicken Yip Tip" which was crispy chicken served with American style gravy.

Rides in the area were a little heavy on the queuing, so I was dragged back to Fantasyland for Mr Toad's Wild ride - basically a car taking us through Wind In The Willows scenes. Next was It's a Small World because apparently it's the law. I have to say this is one that confuses me. I guess it was quite a nice attraction when is started in the 1964 worlds fair, but it seems a little tame and kinda of cheap looking by today's standards. And damn that song gets stuck in your head!

I really wanted something that was more of a Neil thing, so we agreed to go our separate ways, Flick hates roller coasters. I love them, so I went for Space Mountain! Longest I had to queue. An hour and a bit. But I would have been upset if I hadn't gone on this one. It's one of the famous rides. A space themed roller coaster in the dark! There are some elements that really feel like you're just being launched into a void! Great fun!

Poor Flick was stuck in the  queue for the storybook canal, and then they closed the ride on her, so had to go for some retail therapy.

At this point the Pirates Of the Caribbean ride queue had died down a bit so we went on that. Good fun. We got to sail past diners at one of the restaurants. Were planning on food after this but Haunted Mansion queue had shrunk and Flick wanted another go!

Dinner at Alien Pizza Planet.

I really wanted to go on the Smuggler's run ride so we figured we'd squeeze in a few more rides. especially because things were a lot quicker now people had started going home. It was a confusing ride. Interactive to a degree. We were pilots. I was left/right, flick was up/down. Not sure whether the controls actually did that much but it was fun!

We were hoping to see the castle, and go on the paddle steamer but by this point things were starting to close. Decided to finish off with one last ride on Peter Pan - okay that came out wrong. But anyway, the ride involves flying over London and Neverland in a pirate ship.

And at this point we just had the trouble of getting home. Was a bit confusing where to get the bus. Tried the other side of the road, but no. Disney staff were pretty hopeless and guessed wildly but were wrong. A helpful man who knew what he was talking about. Turns out buses in both directions stop at the same stop.

2 hours later we were finally back home.

Bed was nice. Bed was warm!

Airports are not a great way to start a holiday but usually a necessary one. The trip through Manchester Airport security was slooow. Took about an hour to get from airport entry to airside. Then there was an unexpectedly long wait for boarding, as they had to remove a passenger; no idea what happened there. Also, sadly we couldn't sit next to each other because we were a bit late booking a flight. Was a bit miffed that they forgot my meal as well. And service was slow. On the plus side, flickums bought me a Prosecco.

We did arrive at Gran Canaria though, just an hour later than planned, a little after 10pm. Taxi straight to hotel, and collapse on bed at about 11

Day 1 was a chilled out day. Always good to keep things simple on the first day. So, we found Tourist information to work out bus details. Went to the beach. Swam a little. I really like the beaches here. Sandy, but unlike a lot of sandy beaches, it gets deep really quickly. chilled out a little and hunted for some fish to be startled by.

Explored. Found the bus station, and returned to the beach to find Flickums on a sun bed. Lazed around. Eventually someone asked for money so we dutifully paid, and a minute later it started to rain.

Figured indoor activities were the order of the day, so we went to the aquarium. It's a very nice aquarium. It has many fishes and a few frogs, the odd lobster and seahorse. Flickums filmed a shark which was photobombed by a ray.

Chilled out in the hotel for a bit.

Went for food. Unlike a lot of tourist places, Gran Canaria doesn't do everything in local language and English. Most places are Spanish only. Wish I'd realised before. I would have brushed up on some essential phrases, like "My pork is undercooked". But the waiter seemed to understand my gesturing as he took the pork away and returned, and once cooked properly it was absolutely delicious.

Wandered along the beach looking for somewhere that does cocktails. Surprising lack of such places. But we found a nice bar and there was a saxophonist playing Abba's greatest hits.

At that point, we called it a day. Early start tomorrow for birthday shenanigans on the opposite side of the island.

Woke up at stupidly early o'clock because we're using a budget airline. There are no sensibly times flights to Athens. Still, got an Uber, managed to get through security reasonably quickly, had breakfast and flew into Athens.

A very long walk out of the airport, because budget airlines use the gates that are furthest away from the main terminal. Still, managed to get a metro to the city. Quite nice trains, and very cheap, and the station was a stones throw from the hotel. Checked in. Flumped.

Didn't really feel like napping so went to the rooftop pool. Nice but cold. Really hot day though so no complaints there. Walked into town through the Google's shortest route,. which involved going through a fairly tatty part of the city, but as soon as we saw a place with outdoor seating looking very much like we were abruptly in the overpiced tourist district.

We ate a hearty meal, then ate a lot of cheese because Flickums is cartoon-mouse.

Wandered through the tourist tat area. Warded off several attempts to give us a "free" flower. Then had a look at a tourist tat shop and had to fend off an overly pushy saleswoman. We just wanted to look!! We're not buying a figurine yet!

After that, it was time for the only thing we'd actually booked. A rooftop play - 4 man show. I think I was a bit too tired to really follow it but it seemed to be a bunch of stories loosely connected through a framing device of a time traveller or something. Despite not really following what the hell was going on or what the plot was I still rather enjoyed it.

Went for cocktails, Then to bed. Then an early wake-up the following morning because we had our road trip!

Olympia - the sire of the ancient Olympics - is a hour drive away, but was one of the main reasons for the visit - really should have gone when we were in Zakynthos since it's a lot closer. We were met by the driver, who seemed very helpful and seemed disappointed when we didn't let him open the door for us.

We took a brief stop at Corinth for a snap of the canal, then some hours later arrive. Went to the restaurant and had too much food , then on to the Olympia Archaeological site. Then it started raining! Fortunately, our very helpful guide found us and gave us umbrellas. We didn't think we needed them but the as the rain got worse we found out we really did.

So this is a UNESCO World Heritage site. These are always worth visiting because UNESCO doesn't give out World Heritage status willy nilly. It's an archaeological site so essentially foundations but with the information boards, geneally possible to have an impression of what these looked like 2000 years ago. Flickums left an offering to Hera which hopefully means that we'll be looked after if we try to find a golden fleece. We walked through the archway, and arrived at the ancient Stadium, where the ancients would run. I have now also run where they ran.

A few other sites of interest. Sadly the Temple of Zeus was roped off. Of course the statue has long since gone so this is close as I'll get to that particular wonder of the world.

By this point, Flick's feet were feeling a bit sore, and time was getting on so we had a quick look around the museum and headed back to Athens

Right, now I need some sleep.

So, today's cockup is... Covid!

Got tested early in the morning. Had a bit of a cold. Assumed it was nothing. Test was very quick and efficient.

Some hours later, Flickums received her result. It was negative. I received mine. It was positive.

Well, that's 10 days of excitement for me, confined to a hotel room. Guess I'll have ther opportunity to catch up with all the TV, and Kindle books I've been meaning to get round to.

Hotel has been reasonably good about things. Not all that sure about insurance. It takes half an hour to get through to them and they seem to want some very specific documentation.

Flying home on the 24th, pending a negative test. Looks like I'll have a jet-lagged Christmas.

Covid tests all sorted, we set off for New York, New York, Newwww Yoooork! Chilled out in the escape lounge. Contrary to the name we didn't need to solve  set of abstract puzzles to get out. Enjoyed the complimentary food and drink, and aso enjoyed the premium service on the plane. Slightly larger, slightly more comfortable seats.

Immigration was even less of a problem than last time. Granted the guy at the front of the queue had difficuty speaking English, and the lady behind did as well but there wasn't the epic multi-hour queue. Got out, got into a taxi, and then the troubles started.

Tried checking into the hotel. For some reason, flickums debit card was refused. Fortunately mine was okay so paid with that instead. Just meant there was a certain degree of faff involving transferring money around the place. It also completely maxded out my limit. Halifax doesn't let me pay via website until the charge is actually debited.

So we collapsed in room, and flickums looked for her phone.

We could't find it.

Panic!!!!!!

So looked into finding lost phones. The NYC Taxi web form for this was terrible but filled it in as best we could. Tried repeatedly to call the phone, hoping someone had found it. Taxi driver eventually picked up. Phew!

Said he'd return it but didn't give a time frame. After an hour, was starting to get a little anxious. After 2 hours was really getting upset. Eventually diceded to turn in and try and get some sleep. Didn't sleep, but phone did ring. Taxi driver was downstairs. Went out and have now reunited flickums with phone.

Unfortunately, wiredness, and jetlaggedness are not condusive to sleep. Have managed about 2 hours of sleep all night.

Well, will go for an easy day today.

Day 3: Castle and spoopiness

Can't visit Edinburgh without visiting the castle, so that's wat we did on day 3. A fairly steep climball the waqy to the top but nothing too strenuous. Really quite a lot to do and see. A war museum, a walkthrough of a prison, a display of the Scottish crown jewels, places to view the city - it is built at the top of a very large hill after all, so the views are very good. One of the highlights was watching the 1 o'clock gun be fired at 1 o'clock. This was originally a signal to allow ships to synchronise their chronometers but carried on as a tradition.

Next we went to the Edinburgh Dungeon. Same general idea as the other dungeons, with focus on Sawney Bean - who was apparently a cannibal before starring in Sharpe - and a few other local legends. The performers select random visitors as part of the act. Poor Nicole seemed to get picked on a lot. Event finished with a ride, which was meant to simulate hanging... Involved being raised into the air, and then dropped suddenly, as the camera flash goes off a fraction of a second later. The photo grabbed me looking very surprised.

Finished up the day with a Ghost Bus Tour. I'd worn my "Who you gonna call" t-shirt in preparation. This was a fun, but silly tour on an old Routemaster, decorated in a very funereal style, sith Spooky Samuel giving us information on the various ghosts who haunt the city. Various other spooky things happen on the tour - it's all a lot of fun. Bus did have a bit of trouble starting... It's a Routemaster, so while they were pretty darn reliable, this had to be at least 50 years old.

Day 4: Age is but an illusion

Next day was my birthday. I wanted to do something nerdy, so we went to the World of illusions. This is right next to the castle, so involved another epic trek up the hill. Really good though. Lots of visual and illusiony things like 3d images, infinity mirrors, optical illusions, also some cameras that can be steered and pointed at various places around the city - kinda cool although there's a disturbing lag between pushing controls and cameras moving. Really liked the Vortex tunnel. This was a rotating cylinder of lights around a bridge. The sense of tipping is really quite disturbing.

Stopped for lunch at what appears to be a temporary gin festival. There was a musician providing background music. Really quite good. They had a catering van that did lots of cheese. Flickums had a cheese and ham toastie, and Halloumi fries. I had a mac and cheese toastie and stole some Halloumi fries. I also felkt the need to try a banana rum. As far as I could tell it smelled overpoweringly of banana. Flickums thought it smelled overpoweringly of alcohol.

Finally, we went to see the sea. Had a quick look at the Royal Yacht Britannia but couldn't really get a good view, and we were a bit too late to actually book tickets to go on board. But that was fine. We could sit by the sea and chill and have drinks before going to a birthday meal. Lovely pub that overlooks the sea. Pub actually overhangs the beach slightly and we were right by the window. I had Mussels. Flickums had steak.

So that's another birthday. I am feeling old. We've done a lot of walking, so my feet are feeling older. Happy to have a comfy hotel to return to.

International travel is still off the menu for a bit, but I like to go away for my birthday so flickums  and I went to the exotic land of the Scots, where the haggis roam free, Irn Bru is consumed with abandon, and King Nessie rules with an iron fist.

Train was a little packed and for some reason I couldn't reserve a seat even thugh many seats were reserved. Still, after a short search I found a pair of seat next to each other and summoned Flickums.

And we arrived. Checked in. Spent to rest of the afternoon ambling around the city. It's a nice old city, with a mishmash of old buildings and modern architecture - Some of it giving  sense of "What were they thinking?" at least when looking at Edinburgh's W Hotel. But there's also a strong sense of classical charm from a time when city planners had a lot of sway.

There's a very nice pub that used to be a cinema, and has a vintage projector in its lobby. Unfortunately it's a Wetherspoons, so I decided to use their loo and leave it at that. After a bit we were sick of walking so went on a sightseeing bus tour.

Finished the day hiunting for food and cocktails. The Roship provided both. Highland cocktail was rather good. Flick went for Neeps and Haggis - served in a very nouvelle cuisine fashion. I went for baked salmon, oddly served with peppers, tortillas, and the typical selection of mexican condiments (Soured cream, salsa, guacamole). Only 3 teeny tiny tortillas, inadequate for wrapping the rest of the meal so not quite sure how this was meant to be eaten. The wine I ordered never came, but we weren't charged for it so not sure what happened there. Finished up with a delicious White Chocolte cheesecake.

Decided to call it a day here, and headed back to the hotel. There's a nice bar in the hotel, so I had the wine I failed to get earlier.

Off to sea the trains today! If we're going to Wales, I really need to see a narrow gauge railway. The one I liked the look of was sold out but the Bala Lake railway was available. It's not actually a preserved narrow guage railway - built along the route of a standard gauge railway - but the locomotives are genuine, and used to work on the slate mines. Also has a nice little heritage centre.

Messed up a bit and ended up at the wrong end of the line. Ooops. But it was only a 15 minute drive to the other end of the line, and we had a chance to sit in a cafe by the lake and drink tea while we worked out where I went wrong. On the plus side the weather has now improved.

Train took us along the route. Nice view of the lake and lots of people like to wave at the train so we waved back.

Went to Llandudno via hotel.Turns out that the room hadn't been made over because they're not doing that either, apparently because of Covid. Not sure that makes sense.

Still, Llandudno is quite nice. Has a pier and a beach, so we walked along the pier, then I went for a swim.The water was bloody cold, but that's just a question of getting used to it. Bravely went all the way in, and did a bit of a doggy paddle so I can claim to have been swimming.

Hoping to do a Puffin cruise tomorrow. Options were limited so we booked a rather too late slot (social distancing regulations again). Have received an email suggesting that that may be cancelled due to weather. Not promising.