Got up in time to catch the train to Del Mar. Persuaded Cheryl to come down to the beach so we could do a bit of sun-bathing while watching the California Girls. I think the two of them are less frustrating when separated. See "synergy". Unfortunately Cheryl had parked her car in a tow zone and had it towed away. $140. Phew. It was like something from Viz - "The adventures of Suzy and Cheryl, the crap parkers".
Caught the train to LA and it was just like a severely overcrowded European train. Waited over an hour for the #33 bus because we were standing at the last stop on the route. Went round the corner and discovered the first stop. Hallelujah. The bus filled up as if it was an Orange Bus in Rome and took just as long. finally got off at Lincoln Blvd only to find the hostel full. We were offered a sofa and told were the nearest motels were.
Ever the adventurers we decided to walk to the beach and try the Cotel. Got there and then went into the wrong hostel. The v nice beach hostel turned out to be the v horrible beach hostel. Still, we had a bed. A search for food only upturned Van Go's a weird cafe which sold kissonts (two bad puns in one sentence, neither of them by me). A veritable feast was had. Nourished by this we headed back to the hostel. I settled down on the floor as the bed was too soft.
Survived the night listening to the various grunts, snorts, farts and mumbling from our room-mates without (I hope) catching anything from them or the room. The 10 year old grundies in the bathroom disappeared over-night - probably eaten by the shower curtain. The hamster cage smell was over-bearing and we made our escape as workmen moved in to knock it down.
2011
"Ever the adventurers" = too tight to pay for a motel. We hiked for miles through some dodgy parts of town - I think we went straight through the area that kick-started the riots a year later. I really should check this. We were young and naive.
The hostel we ended up in was absolutely filthy and stunk to high heaven. Everything was stained or mouldy. I don't think we bothered getting a shower there.
"Orange bus in Rome" - a reference to an inter-rail trip in 1987 when Oz, Bop and I squeezed on overcrowded buses with our backpacks. They were so full there was no way of getting to the ticket machine. In fact, they were so full, we didn't even know there were ticket machines so we travelled around on them for a week and innocently didn't pay. In my defence, it was my first ever week outside of the UK.
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