Seattle

Karen and I arrived in Seattle at about 11:30am on Good Friday (which was also Mum and Fay's Birthdays). After a short wait, and a few phone calls, Fay picked us up outside the arrivals in her car. She had changed shape a little since the last time we saw her...She is now 6 months pregnant with her and her husband, Justin's, first child. She is having a girl, and the only name she and Justin can agree on is Sydney (Karen is offended that they're not going to call her Melbourne).

After jumping in Fay's car, the three of us (with the help of the SatNav on Fay's phone), headed to Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle. After parking the car, we first had lunch at Ivar's Fish and Chips Bar (according to Fay, the best fish and chips in Seattle) on the pier. Sydney was hungry, so Fay made us order a serve of fish and chips, clams and chips, scallops and chips and seafood chowder to share. It seemed like a lot of food, but the three of us must have been hungry as well, as we managed to polish it off. After lunch, we walked back along the pier towards the Pike Place Market.
The first time I had heard of the Pike Place Market, was the weekend before I left Australia, when Bronnie told me that if I had a chance that I HAD to go, as she'd seen a film of the people who work in the fish stall there, and that it looked like a great thing to see. The workers certainly seem to enjoy themselves! Whenever anyone orders fish from the front of the stall, the guy working at the front throws the selected fish to the back which is caught by another worker, who wraps the fish up and then hands it to the customer. We watched these guys for quite a while, but (despite it being Good Friday) they only made about 3 sales in the 15 minutes we were there. They didn't let that bore them though, and they made their own fun by throwing some fish back down to the guy at the front of the stall to display, and also throwing a stuffed, toy fish which hit a guy with a camera, and was very funny! See video below.

We left shortly after that, as we were a little concerned that we might be their next target, and we took a walk around the rest of the market. The rest of the market sells home made and home grown wares such as flowers, jams, sauces, paintings, hats, soaps etc.
Outside the market, on the other side of Pike Place, is the very first Starbucks ever! It's amazing that such a small store could give birth to so many others.After visiting the market, we jumped back in Fay's car, and (with the aid of SatNav again- although if we'd only just looked up, we'd have been able to figure out our way, I'm sure) we headed to the Space Needle. Before we went up to the top of the space needle, Fay made Karen sit in the Daffodils for a photo, which was reminiscent of a trip the three of us took to Launceston's Cataract Gorge once and Fay also made Karen sit in the Daffodils for a photo. At the top of the Space Needle, which is 500 and something feet in the air, we had great views over Seattle, and were able to get an idea of the orientation of the city. We saw where we had been that morning, and also where we were planning to visit in the following few days. Despite the traffic and freeways, Seattle to me is an attractive city, water being a dominant feature, but also lots of park areas and cherry tree- lined streets, and with snow covered mountains as a back drop. With so much water around, it is also very green! Although in this photo, it looks kind of grey... We didn't spend too much time loitering about the top of the space needle, as we had to get home to Fay's house (aided again by SatNav- we would have been lost without that thing!) to get ready to go out for Fay's Birthday Dinner that night. Fay and Justin live in a beautiful 2 bedroom house in a town about 20 minutes out of Seattle called Sammamish. They had just finished painting their guest room, when they discovered that Fay was pregnant, so now they're going to repaint it for the baby! Justin arrived home shortly after we did, and shortly after that, we all piled into Fay's car again and headed back to Seattle to meet Fay and Justin's friends, Randy and Becky (who Karen and I had met in Hawaii at Fay and Justin's wedding), at an Italian restaurant.
We had a great meal, after which we headed out to Randy and Becky's neighbourhood, Kirkland, to have a few drinks at a bar. Unfortunately, I had left my passport at Fay and Justin's house, and only had my Australian drivers licence with me for ID. The bouncers wouldn't accept my non-USA form of ID and I was denied entry! So we all left, and went back to Fay and Justin's house for a few drinks instead, after which Randy and Becky went home, and the rest of us went to bed.

We had a wonderful sleep in, and after having a shower, I was tempted down the stairs by the smell of bacon cooking. I was wrong though, it was actually bacon AND scrambled eggs AND ham AND turkey sausages AND croissants. Fay didn't want us to go hungry, so Justin was cooking up a storm for breakfast. By the time we'd finished and got ourselves together, it was nearly midday, and Fay, Karen and I headed back to Seattle to do some more sightseeing. We decided to do the Seattle Underground Tour, so went to Pioneer Square, from where it departs.

I thought the tour would just be of the city's old sewerage system, or something along those lines, but it was actually a lot more interesting than that. Apparently, when Seattle was first settled, the city used to flood- alot. To make matters worse, when the toilet was invented and they were installed through the town, the drainage system was inadequate, and at the wrong time of the day, depending on the tide, the sewerage sometimes flowed the opposite way to what was intended, and so going to the toilet could be a messy experience. After the town burnt down in the 1890's, it was proposed that before rebuilding started, the town would be raised 12 feet higher than what it had previously been, by building a large retaining wall and building on top of it. Unfortunately, the town's people objected to the proposed 8 year delay in building, and started building right where their houses and shops had previously been. The city decided to continue with their plan, however, to raise the city, so built 12 feet walls in front of the shops beside the pavement, on top of which they built their roads. After years of inconvenience and several fatal accidents, the towns people finally built up their pavements to the level of the roads, burying the first floors of many of the businesses. So basically, the tour was of this first floor of several old businesses, and of the pavements which used to run outside the front of them. The tour was punctuated by several humerous stories of some of the characters which lived in the city during that time.

At 2:30, when the tour had finished, we drove to a suburb called Fremont, which Karen's Lonely Planet had suggested as a pretty laidback place to visit. It was a pretty nice spot. It reminded Karen a little of Carlton, in Melbourne, and it reminded me a little of St Kilda, in Melbourne, I'm not sure why exactly. It was just a trendy little part of town. We had some Cold Stone Icecream (where they mix lollies and chocolates and biscuits and peanut butter and caramel and things in with different flavours of icecream to come up with some great tasting creations) and walked around the streets for a while, window shopping and browsing inside some shops, and checking out the Lenin statue (which is a controversial piece in the town). We then headed back to Fay and Justin's to again get ready to go out for dinner.

This time we went out for Sushi with a friend of Justin's whom he works with, and his wife. We all perused the menu, before ordering a few dishes, which we shared between the 6 of us. Highlights were the tempura shrimp, and the sashimi dishes. Karen was very pleased to be eating sushi again- apparently they don't do great sushi in dead centre of the United States. The following day was Easter Sunday, so we all got dressed up in our Sunday best and went to Church. Yes, we actually did do that, even Karen who is Jewish! For once in their lives, Fay and Justin were on time to church- despite the fact that they were aiming to be 15 minutes late!

Afterwards, we went out for lunch to a Mexican restaurant then, unfortunately, it was time for Karen to head back to Kansas. Fay and I drove her to the airport, then decided to indulge the shopaholic in both of us and head to a centre of factory outlets nearby. Unfortunately, being Easter Sunday, there was only one shop open, so we headed to another Shopping Centre a little bit further away. Again, there was only one store open, so Fay and I decided that that would have to do. Luckily, they were offering 60% off already reduced prices in the store, so we managed to come away with a few bargains. Of course, I am still practising a little bit of self-restraint due to the fact that I have to carry around anything I buy in my backpack.

The next morning, Fay and I headed to Pike Place Market, yet again, to meet up with my friend Nicky, from Launceston, and her boyfriend Wes. Nicky and Wes are currently living and working in Victoria, Canada, and decided to take a road trip to Seattle for the Easter long weekend. Nicky is addicted to Chicos, so I brought a couple of packets over with me from Australia for her. Fay and I had driven about 10 minutes into the city when I realised that I'd forgotten to take them with me, so we had to turn around and go back to Fay's house to get them. So we were a few minutes late meeting Nicky and Wes, but once I'd handed over the goods, I think I was forgiven!

We managed to find a little place that was still open for breakfast, and caught up over some waffles and coffee. Nicky and Wes then headed back to Victoria early that afternoon, as Wes had to start work again the next day. It's always great to catch up with people from home when you're travelling overseas!

This carwash sign is apparently a famous landmark in Seattle.

That afternoon, Fay and I went for a drive to Snoqualmie Falls. This is a large waterfall only 30 minutes from Sammamish. It is actually a hydro plant, but the view is pretty spectacular all the same.

This poor squirrel was being harrassed by a couple of small children at the falls.

After the falls, seeing as we were halfway there, Fay and I decided to visit another group of factory outlets. We managed to find ourselves a few more bargains and again, Fay did a bit better than me- she managed to get a pair of shorts for $1 at the maternity shop! This is a photo of the backdrop to the carpark of the outlet centre.

The next day, Fay had to go back to work, so I decided that I was going to go on a whale watching tour. Apparently March is the best time to see Grey Whales, and the website for the tour said that a sighting was guaranteed! Unfortunately, when I rang up the tourguide that morning to check that there was a place available for me he said "You know what, I don't think we'll be going today". He had taken his boat to some islands the night before and he didn't think that he'd be back in time for the start of the tour at 10am. This was very disappointing, as I'd really wanted to go whale watching, and this was the only tour that operated directly out of downtown Seattle. I decided to go into Seattle anyway on the early bus, so Fay dropped me off at the bus stop on her way to work. I went down to the pier, just to double check that there wasn't a tour going that day (there wasn't), then decided to go to the Seattle Aquarium instead. The Aquarium houses lots of different sea creatures including Sea Otters and Seals, as well as the usual starfish, octopus, and colourful tropical fish. There were lots of school kids running around which made the experience a little frustrating. I think there were probably about 5 school groups there, so it certainly wasn't a quiet morning at the aquarium. For lunch, I decided to head back to Ivar's for some fish and chips, then I spent the afternoon looking in some of the shops, before heading back to Sammamish on the bus.

The next day, Wednesday, was another day off for Fay, and we spent much of it searching for a glider recliner which Fay wants for when the baby comes. We were unable to find the one that she's after, but we did manage to find a stroller at least. We also had lunch in Kirkland at a really nice cafe. Kirkland has lots of interesting bronze statues around it's streets. This is one of a cow with a dog on it's back. I'm not really sure why...

That night I had to start packing my bag again to catch an early flight to New York the next day. It was so great to see Fay and Justin again and to spend some time with them before Sydney arrives. Hopefully I'll get to see them again soon and meet Sydney, probably on my way back home to Australia. As for my impression of Seattle? I loved it. It was pretty cold, and I think that we were lucky that it only rained one day that I was there, but it was a really pretty city with lots to do.

Love,

Lis x.

ps. Comments, critisism, news and general gossip from home may entice me to update my blog a little more regularly ;)

The Little Apple

Manhattan, Kansas. Also known as the Little Apple to the townspeople. Also known as Manhappenin´ by some of the Residents and Interns at Kansas State University. Apparently, when there are no students at KSU, the population of the town drops to 20,000. I couldn´t tell you what the population is when the students are in town, as it was Spring Break whilst I was there. The town pretty much revolves around the University and their football team: The Wildcats. The football colours are purple, and this is reflected around the town, with many things painted purple- including playground equipment, and even a couple of houses!

I arrived in Manhattan on Saturday the 15th of March at around 3pm. Karen came to the airport in Kansas City to pick me up. I hadn´t realised until Karen told me, but the Kansas City Airport is actually in Missouri (and KC is in fact the capital of Missouri), and Manhattan is about a 2 and a half hour drive away. Poor Karen had just come off a week of Emergency (she´s a Small Animal Intern at KSU) which meant that after a week of surviving on little sleep, she worked from 5pm on Friday night, straight through until 8am Saturday, meaning that she would have only got a maximum of 4 hours sleep before heading to the airport to pick me up at around midday. Sleep deprivation and driving alone are not really a good combination... Luckily, another intern Ben, and his girlfriend, Hannah, had heard of Karen´s predicament and so picked her up from work on Saturday morning and drove Karen to the airport, allowing her to sleep on the backseat on the way down. So, I was greeted by three friendly faces at the airport that afternoon! Hannah and Ben are Kiwis, but we won´t hold that against them...

On the way to Manhattan, we stopped off at the capital city of Kansas, Topeka, for dinner. When we drove down the main street, we could have been forgiven for thinking that it was a ghost town, there was nobody about. We had a bit of trouble locating the Indian Restaurant that we were wanting to eat at, so we called into the local Police Station to ask for directions. We sent Karen in to do the honours, and after looking it up in the Yellow Pages, the Sheriff pointed us in the right direction.

You may ask why we would eat dinner so early, as it was only 4:30pm when we arrived in Topeka, but according to Karen, it can be difficult to find good food in Manhattan. Besides, we weren´t the first in the restaurant. Apparently people eat early in Kansas. We had a lovely meal, and after not being able to finish it all, we packed up our leftovers in individual containers and headed back on the road. Everywhere you go in America offers take-out containers if you can´t finish your meal (which is often).

We arrived at Karen and Brad´s apartment in Manhattan a little after 7pm, and it wasn´t long after that that Brad arrived home from attending a wedding. Apparently weddings finish early in Kansas as well (I feel that this would be a good point to mention to those who don´t know Karen and Brad, that they are two friends that I went to Uni with. It is also important for me to mention that Karen and Brad are not going out, otherwise there may be some confusion later in this blog).

The five of us, and Kit, an anaesthetic resident at KSU, went tenpin bowling. Karen decided that it would be an Aussie vs Kiwi tournament (Kit, an American, was made an honorary Kiwi). Of course, the Aussies won both games, and Karen won both games overall by miles, despite the sleep deprivation (she´s not at all competitive though, so I´m sure she wouldn´t have minded if we´d lost!). Karen also was quite amused by my ¨patonque¨ style of bowling, although I didn´t come last in any of the games, and even got a strike and a couple of spares, so I was quite happy with my unusual technique. It was the first bowling place that I´d been to that served beer and allowed smoking! We partook in the first, but not in the later.

The next day, after eating breakfast out with Brad, Karen, Hannah and Ben, Karen took me on a sight-seeing drive around Manhattan. The first stop was KSU, where Karen took me on a short tour of where she worked. Quite swishy-do really, they even have a digital X-ray machine which you can change the settings on after you´ve taken the radiograph (vets, and radiographers will appreciate how much nicer this would make the job of taking an x-ray).

Next stop was a drive around Tuttle Creek, which appeared to be more of a very large Dam to me, and also around the Flint Hills. Karen kept assuring me: ¨It´s really very pretty in the summer, when everything´s green¨. Unfortunately, I came at the end of winter when everything was grey. I can appreciate, though, that it must be a lot more attractive when it´s green.

That night, Karen, Brad a few of their friends, and I went to The Brookville Hotel for a traditional ¨Kansas Style¨ dinner. The menu consisted of a starter of Sweet and Sour Coleslaw, Cottage Cheese, spiced apple, and pickled cucumber. The main was one-half skillet Fried Chicken (each!), mashed potatoes and cream gravy, cream-style corn, and baking powder biscuits (which are basically scones). This was all followed by icecream for dessert. So yes, it was pretty much KFC! But what made the whole experience was the surrounding decor. We dined in the ¨Spirit of Kansas¨ room, which had deer antlers as the chandeliers, and cows painted all over the walls. There was also a room called ¨Brandy´s Opera House¨, and a Bank room and Vault room.

The next morning, Karen went into Uni to show her face and make sure that she didn´t actually have to be there that day (she´d chosen to do a week of dermatology that week, despite hating skin, because she knew that it would give her more time to spend with me). When she came home, we first had to run a few errands then we headed to Wamego (a nearby town) to visit the Oz Museum. This Museum features lots of memorabilia about not only the film version of The Wizard of Oz, but also the books by L. Frank Baum, which started it all. It sounds pretty daggy, I know, but I actually found it all quite interesting and entertaining- maybe I´d already been in Kansas too long?

We were going to try and have Tacos at a little restaurant just down the street called Toto´s Tacos, unfortunately, it was closed on Mondays, so we went home and cooked dinner for Brad and his girlfriend, Emily instead. Well, I made the salad, Karen actually cooked - salmon grilled with a beautiful seasoning on it- who knew Karen was such a good chef? After dinner, the four of us went to the movies and saw Horton Hears a Who. Brad, Emily and I all really enjoyed it. Karen thinks that she enjoyed it, but as she spent half of it with her eyes closed (and at one point she even started snoring), she may have to see it again before she´s 100% sure.

Oh, and from now on, please just call me Mrs Dr McDreamy!

On Tuesday, as Brad and Karen both had to go to work, Emily and I went sightseeing. Emily is from Laurence, which is about an hour and a half drive away from Manhattan, and had never really been to Manhattan before meeting Brad, so much of what we were seeing was new to her as well. First, we went to the Insect Zoo, where we had the opportunity to pat a tarantula if we wanted. We didn´t want. It was quite interesting, and a little bit creepy, and it made me want to throw out any flour or rice that may have been sitting in the pantry for a while.

After some lunch, we headed to The Beach Museum, which is an Art Gallery, named after one of the professors of KSU. Afterwards we headed to a historical museum, which displayed artefacts such as old washing machines and ice-boxes. There was also an old farmhouse on the premises, but unfortunately it was closed due to lack of staff, so we couldn´t have a look inside. In the afternoon, I baked a caramel slice which I had promised Brad that I would do when I came to visit.

That night we went to a steakhouse in Manhattan for dinner. They had large sheets of paper on the table as tablecloths, and crayons, so while we waited for our meals to arrive, we drew on the table. Of course, I had the steak- Kansas is the home of steak (and it was good steak).

On Wednesday, Emily and I went to The Sunset Zoo, in Manhattan. It is a pretty small zoo, but it was still quite entertaining and interesting. I also saw a couple of animals that I´d never seen in life before- such as an anteater- and it is home to the oldest Grizzly Bear in captivity, who is 60+ years old.

Emily had to work that night back in Laurence, so left that afternoon. When they got home from work, Brad, Karen and I went for a drive to a reserve area. Unfortunately, the water level of the river was too high and we couldn´t drive across to the area where there is the most walking paths and wildlife. On the way home, we drove to the Manhattan Water Tower where there is a lookout. I´m sure the view is great in the summertime, or after it has been snowing, but unfortunately it was a little grey when we were there. Brad cooked us dinner that night- Beef Bourguignon made in the crock pot. It was great.

The next day, I relaxed at Brad and Karen´s apartment while they were at work. We were going to go to The Prairie when they got home, but Karen was a little late, so we went to Wamego for Toto´s Tacos. We all had a wet Burrito, which was very tasty.

That night, Karen and I packed our bags ready to leave the next morning, and the three of us played a few games of Yahtzee.

The next morning, on Good Friday, Karen and I got up early to catch our plane from Kansas City to Seattle. So my opinion of Manhattan, Kansas? Well, I don´t think it would actually be fair to judge the town on my 6 day trip. I was there at the end of winter, when there were no leaves on the trees, but wasn´t cold enough to snow and when all the students had gone home for spring break, so there wasn´t a lot of life in the town. As Karen keeps telling me: I need to go there in the summer time (but I think that she´s just trying out for a job as Manhattan´s PR Rep - sheś going to be there for another 3 years and so wants as many visitors as she can get). Anyway, I still had a good time because I was catching up with a couple of great friends, which is only reason I went there anyway.

Love,
Lis x.

New York, New York

Hi!

Sorry I´ve been a little slack with the updates lately, but I´ve been busy catching up with friends in the States. Here are a few pictures to keep you occupied until I´ve had a chance to write a new update.Karen and Brad having a Domestic at the lookout from the water tower in Manhattan, Kansas, Wednesday, 19th March.
Me at the Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas, Monday 17th March.Me at the famous fish stall at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, on Good Friday.
Karen and Fay in Fremont, Seattle, last Saturday.
The Empire State Building just a few hours ago.
Me, at the top of the Empire State Building, just a few hours ago.

I´m just about to head off to bed now to get some rest in the City that never sleeps. It was a very early start this morning to get to the airport in Seattle for my flight to New York. Many thanks to Fay´s husband, Justin, for getting out of bed an hour earlier than usual to get me to the airport on time!

There will be a proper update and more photos very soon.

Goodnight,
Love,
Lis xxx.

LALA Land

I flew with United Airlines from Melbourne to LA, via Sydney, and I must say that United Airlines has nothing on Qantas. Unfortunately, there was no Movies on Demand on the flight that I was on. Fortunately, they played good movies anyway, and I also used the opportunity to get some sleep, as I was arriving in LA at 9am.

When I boarded the flight from Sydney to LA, I found that I had the window seat, however, the man that was sitting next to me, asked if I could swap seats with his wife who, for some reason, had been seated along the same row, but 4 seats away. I agreed, and, feeling my halo glowing, and wondering what great things Karma was going to send my way, I sat in her seat which was one of the middle seats of a group of 4. I ended up sitting in the middle of a group of 3 Orthodox Jews. They practised Kosha, and didn't eat any of the food on the flight, but had brought their own. The women were wearing long black dresses and the man had long hair curled around his ears and was wearing a hat on top of his head when he boarded and disembarked the flight.

After getting through passport control and customs in LA, I was standing outside the arrivals door, contemplating how I was going to get to my hotel in Hollywood, when a lady approached me and asked if I needed any help. She suggested that the easiest way to get to my hotel would be to take a shared shuttle which would take me right to the door of my hotel. So that is what I did.

My hotel was called Hollywood Orchid Suites and was situated just behind the Kodak Theatre and Hollywood Blvd. It came equiped with a kitchen, so if I could have been bothered, I could have cooked for myself every night.

That afternoon, I went for a little wander down Hollywood Blvd and checked out the sights including The Kodak Theatre (where The Oscars and many movie premieres are held), Grauman's Chinese Theatre (outside of which there are the foot and handprints of famous people) and The Walk of Fame.

The next day, I caught a bus to West Hollywood for breakfast. I tried to buy a dayticket which can be used on the buses and the underground trains, however, when I asked the bus driver how much it was, he told me to keep my money and not tell anyone and he gave me a ticket for free. Whoops... now I have told everyone! I have to say that for the most part, people are so NICE here in America. I think Americans have a bad reputation for being loud and demanding, and I know that I have stereotyped them here in my own blog, but from what I have seen and experienced so far here, they are actually just really NICE.

I had breakfast at a place called Griddle Cafe, which serves pancakes and bacon, eggs etc. I ordered a coffee and a serve of the original buttermilk pancakes. My original pancakes were a stack of 3 pancakes, which were each the size of a dinner plate. My stack of pancakes was the size of an actual cake. They were served with whipped butter and there was maple syrup on the table. I was glad that I didn't order a side of bacon or potatoes to go with it, as was suggested by the waitress. I managed to eat 1/2 of one pancake. I wondered if anyone ever actually gets through a whole serve.

After breakfast, I headed to Burbank, which is where the Warner Brothers studios are situated, and did a VIP tour. This involved getting into a motorised cart with a tour guide, Dennis, who drove us around the studios and pointed out various locations and told us some of the inside secrets of movie making. Highlights included seeing the spot where Spiderman kissed Mary Jane, upside down in the rain, and various locations in "Chicago" which are featured in ER (such as the top of the hospital helicopter pad which is actually the studio's carpark). We also went to the WB museum, which has some costumes and props from some of their movies, and a whole floor dedicated to Harry Potter. I sat under the sorting hat on the same stool that Harry sat on in the movie, and was put into Gryffindor (sorry to all non-Harry Potter fans who didn't understand a word of that!). While we were getting back into our cart after visiting the museum, one of the stars of Cold Case, Jeremy Ratchford, came whizzing past us on a cart and was calling out "Cold Case Rocks!" Apparently he does that a lot.

At the end of the tour we were given a free gift: A photo of us standing next to the Hogswart Express, which was actually taken in front of a green screen. After getting a late lunch in Hollywood, (a really interesting but delicious Sushi dish) I headed back to West Hollywood and had a wander down Melrose Avenue. I stopped at a cake store called Sweet Lady Jane, and got a piece of Tripple Berry Cake to have for supper back at my hotel. During my walk, I passed an art gallery a couple of times, outside of which were a few paparrazo standing around with their cameras. Inside were lots of well dressed people, but noone that I recognised. When I got back to my hotel and turned on my tv, I found out that it was actually the opening of Lost actor Dominic Monaghan's exhibition of photos and that several of his Lost costars were there. My piece of cake was really good by the way.

On the Friday, I caught the bus (I actually paid for my ticket this time) to Mid-City and had breakfast at a trendy Cafe called Toast. My three eggs and bacon kept me going up until dinner time. After breakfast, I went to the nearby Grove, which is an open-air mall, and The Farmer's market. After having a wander around there (and not buying anything), I caught the bus to the Tar Pits and had a look.

In the afternoon, I caught a bus to Venice beach. As I pounded the sand, the Baywatch theme pounded through my head : "I'll be there... whenever you need..." I walked down the Ocean Front Walk, and while it was interesting to have a look, I can't say that Venice Beach really did anything for me.It was a long bus-ride back to Hollywood along Venice Blvd, and halfway along, some young boys got on the bus who would not yet have been 21. As the bus was full, they had to stand up the front. It was about 5 minutes after they got on that one of them vomited in the doorway. Noone had any newspaper or anything to clean it up with, so the driver made us all get off the bus and get on the next one. I'm pretty sure the vomit was alcohol-related, as the kid who did it kept telling his friend that it was his fault. I walked a few blocks up Venice Blvd, before deciding that it was much further to the end than I remembered, and caught another bus the rest of the way.

I had a pretty good time in LA. There is a lot to see there though, and 3 days is not enough to see it all.

I'm currently in Manhattan, Kansas, visiting my friends Brad and Karen, who I went to Vet School with.

More soon,

Love,

Lis x.

p.s emails and comments greatly appreciated.