To begin with a short rant. As we were coming into LA on the train the driver said "It's a bit of a grey day out there today but it's supposed to clear in the afternoon". The Los Anglean sitting next to me said "Yeah don't worry it always becomes fine in the afternoon". I did wonder to myself what sort of weird weather pattern means the sun only shines in the afternoon, which was pretty naive on my part. The truth being, of course, that there is such a thick layer of smog covering the city that it takes half a day for the sun to fight its way through before being beaten back again at about 4pm in the afternoon. HOW CAN PEOPLE THINK THIS IS OK??? GET OUT OF YOUR CARS. Ahem, rant over.

Highlight of LA was definitely the Getty Center, perched high in the hills, a truly beautiful beautiful building with lovely wide open spaces and courtyards and gardens to meander your way through. I'm no art gallery or museum buff but I managed to get quite happily lost in the place for 5 hours.

Universal Studios was fun too although sadly they update the place as new movies are released so the Back to the Future ride I've been wanting to go on since my teens is long gone (although yay for the Backdraft and Jurassic Park ones which have managed to survive).

Driving down Wisteria Lane and seeing Waterworld re-enacted wasn't quite the same.