We haven't been able find working computers for a while, so now I have a bunch of stories for you.. I'll try to write as many, before my time runs up.
So last week we were in San Francisco, it was a nice city, but because we were staying at this very seedy part of town, our first experssions weren't that good. Once we walked around a bit further it was actually quite charming city with victorian houses and the steep steep hills (you should've seen Liina coming down one of the hills with her high heels on..). First night there we went to listen to live jazz and had dinner in a french bistro.
The following day we went to see if we could get tickets to some stand up comedy, but instead ended up buying tickets to a play called "Oh my Godmother" It was a musical, based on Cinderella, but with a few modifications.. There was a prince, yep, and the evil stepmother, but Cinderella was a boy - CinderAlbert. I guess we should've known what was coming - after all we were in San Francisco. :) It was one of the funniest plays I've ever seen and we laughed through the whole 2 hours.
During day time we just got to see the city, went to Japantown and see the bridge. It waqs really foggy, so none of photos turned out well. On our last nite we finally made it to the stand up comedy, and funnily enough the theme that night was - gays and girls! So I think we got a good look into the culture in San Francisco.
I enjoyed our time there and the city has many good things but the homeless situation is really bad and that was sad to see. I thought there were lots of bums in Finland, but it's a lot worse here in the States, and especially San Francisco.
After SF we continued our trip down the coast. It's been so great driving down west coast because most part of the trip we've been driving by the sea.
We went to the crazy rollercoasters in Six Flags theme park (one of them went as fast as 85mph at one point!!) and stopped in a few lovely beach towns, including Santa Barbara, before we reached LA.
LA is mad. It's like no other city. It's the most spread out city in the world and driving from one end to another can take hours. You can't get anywhere without a car and the traffic is a nightmare. You can sense the expecting atmosphere that's hanging in the air, everyones waiting for their big break, and everyone you meet is somehow involved in the movie business or at least knows people. In LA it's all about knowing people. Lucky for us, we knew people as well (well one person but it's better than nothing). Liinas old friend from London lives there and she was kind enough to show us around. And yes, she also works in the movie industry.
We went to the fancy hotel Roosevelt and I had the best burger EVER! (I think I talk about food too much..) and walked around Hollywood Boulevard, went to see the stars in walk of fame and went to see the Hollywood sign and Kodak theatre where the Oscars are held every year, so practically we did all the touristy stuff on our first night.
The next day we spent in the beautiful Santa Monica beach and I preferd the laid back atmosphere in Santa Monica to the craziness of LA. In the evening we wanted to spot some celbrities, so Laura took us to Skybar, an exclusive club, where you only get in if you're on the list. Laura's friend knew someone who was on the list, so we were in :) Unfortunately I didn't meet Ryan Gosling (the reason I wanted there so bad!) but we had a fun night and the view was amazing and the bar was cool, with a pool and stylish decor but very expensive drinks!
The last day we chilled and went to Santa Monica again for lunch and in the evening to a nice brazilian restaurant. On Monday we had an early start, we were heading to the OC! Janne I was thinking of you (and Seth) the whole time we were there! The beaches were great, the waves were big and water warm, so what else could you ask for. I love the beach and the sun! I might consider a (very) early retirement and live the rest of my life on the beach :)
Now we're in San Diego and this is maybe my favourite city so far. It's big enough, yet not too big, the atmosphere is good, it's pretty safe and there's a big universtiy here. I rember planning at one point that I'd like to come here and study, and as I wander around the downtown, I'm sure that it wouldn't have been a bad choice at all.
Now we're off to the Zoo!!