California coast part 1

It was an early start to catch the first northern-bound Pacific Surfliner of the day from Los Angeles.

After travelling through the sprawling suburbs, the train lived up to its name and I started singing "surfin   USA" to myself. The RV park stretches for miles up the coast.

In just 2 hours, the train pulled into my destination, Santa Barbara on the American Riviera. 

The city is right on the coast, and makes the most of its harbour, wharf and stunning beach

I thoroughly enjoyed lunch at one of the city's favourite restaurants too.  In fact Chucks Waterfront Grill & Endless Summer Cafe are two restaurants in one on the waterfront.

The menu makes the most of the fresh fish which are landed by fisherman in front of the venue.

After lunch I took myself off around the city to see some sights.  

One of the oldest buildings is the Mission

Before the heat got too much for me (it reached 96-100f at one point) i visited part of the Urban Wine Trail, which Is comprised of many tasting rooms from the vineyards which exist in the mountains around the valley. 

i should point out that it is a 'tasting' trail, so you don't get a full glass of wine (northern Irish serving!) , it is literally a mouthful. 

After a short (but very hot) wander back to my hotel, I surrendered to the sun and took myself off to the pool. 

Los Angeles -can it be done in a day?

I suppose I should answer the question posed by saying it really depends what you want to do!

If, like me, you want to get an overview of the main sights in Hollywood & Beverley Hills and dip your toe in the Pacific Ocean, then yes. It gets complicated when you start to include the theme parks (Disney, universal et al) 

I figured out the best way to see as much as possible was to use the hop-on hop-off city tour. The red route starts right outside the Dolby theatre in the centre of Hollywood. I got on the bus at 11.30am and At stop 7 (near the famous Rodeo Drive ) I got off and transferred to the yellow route which takes passengers straight to santa Monica. There by 12.45, I was able to recreate the famous Forrest Gump scene, snap the end of Route 66 

And get a burger and strawberry shake at Pier Burger! (It really had to be done...research...)

I raced back to the bus stop and continued the yellow route back to stop 7, where I to the red route for stops 8-15.  Sounds more complicated than it was. 

I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see the famous Hollywood sign close up, but if you look really closely you can see it in the pic above. 

I also took the chance to visit Madame Tussaud's, which is half an hour I'll never get back. 

    Though I did sit and chat to Forrest Gump for a while.

I used the Metro subway to get around from my hotel to Hollywood. At $5 for a 24hr travel pass, it is excellent value for money.

The hotel was the Millennium Biltmore, one of the oldest and grandest in the Los Angeles area. 

It has had it's fair share of celebrity names coming through its doors, so my arrival didn't appear to ruffle too many feathers!  

It is used nearly on a weekly basis as a location for tv shows ( like west wing, 24 etc), movies (like Ghostbusters, independence day etc) and music ideas (like janet jackson "son of a gun" and Britney Spears "overprotected" ) and you could find yourself mingling with all sorts of famous folk.

The health club has been in use since the1930's and is a stunning area designed like a cruise ship. i had the entire place to myself for a refreshing swim.

So as you can see, with a bit of planning it is possible to do LA in a Day. 

Just don't ask this guy for help........

Amtrak Southwest Chief - Chicago to Los Angeles

For most of us, in Northern Ireland, a long train trip is the Enterprise from Belfast to Dublin. Long distance train travel is not really in our sights. However in the USA, Amtrak runs huge coast to coast trains, big double deckers with sleeping cars, dining cars and sight-seeing lounges. As part of this trip I decided to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles on the Southwest Chief, which takes in part of Route 66 and the Santa Fe trail. 

The 40 hour trip takes in 8 states and travels nearly 2300 miles. There are a number of stops along the way, some allow time to stretch your legs, others give you the chance to go into nearby shops while the train is serviced. 

I spent most of my time in the lounge car in order to take in the scenery on the route

Taking a train journey allows you to see just how vast the USA actually is. An experience you would never get on a plane. We passed herds of buffalo, wild deer, huge ranches and even ghost towns. I saw houses literally in the middle of nowhere, many many miles from their nearest neighbour. 

I saw houses were people had their fridges, and half their possessions, outside. This, it transpired, is because the area last saw rain about 8 months ago.

On board, the sightseeing lounge is the central point of the train, the cafe downstairs is open from early morning to late at night offering snacks, drinks and hot food. The dining room next door offers table service and amtraks policy is to fill the tables one at a time, so if you are a single travel, or a couple, you will meet different fellow travellers at each sitting. 

I had breakfast in the dining car, and for $7 was not bad at all. Scrambled egg, fried potatoes, fresh fruit, a croissants well as orange juice & coffee. 

My dining friends were two seasoned train travellers from New Mexico and New York who competed with each other to tell the best journey horror story (such as 8 hour delays etc!) 

In the lounge car you cannot help but overhear conversations. I was amazed to hear one middle-aged lady explain how this was her first time ever outside the state of Kansas, and also her first ever time seeing "a real life mountain". Having travelled through Kansas, which is predominately a huge expanse of nothingness for 8 hours, I can understand why she was so excited.

Chicago pt2

My evening in Chicago ended, quite literally, with a bang as I joined an architecture & fireworks river trip with Shoreline.  The tour gave us a night-time view of the many skyscrapers along chicago's river

The river was surprisingly busy, it was full of pleasure craft, tour boats and dozens of kayaks. 

The fireworks at navy pier marked the end of summer and Labor Day weekend. 

 

After the tour I stumbled across a crowd of people looking through the window while the nightly news was broadcast.  How the newscasters keep a straight face, while 30 people do their best to put them off, is beyond me!

Before I left chicago, the Willis (formerly Sears) tower was in my sights. The Skydeck is a set of glass ledges on one side of the building.

 

Not for the faint hearted at all.  However, they do offer stunning views of the city and Lake Michigan. 

I managed to hunt down the start (or end) of the famous Route 66 too.  Lou Mitchell's diner has been serving route travellers since 1923 and is an institution in Chicago.  

It was like walking into Al's in Happy Days, everything I'd imagined a proper diner would look like. 

Chicago pt1

Early start this morning. Was on the tourist trail from 7am to make the most of my time in the city.

First stop was Millennium Park where this work of art mesmerises everyone who sets eyes on it.

These water features are stunning too. When they are in full flow, the images of over 1000 Chicago residents appear on them 

I met up with Joe Hollencamp who is one of many volunteers who act as Chicago Greeters and we toured the fascinating cultural centre and saw some of the architecture of The Loop area

My next tour took me to two of the many 'village areas' of Chicago, Bucktown and Wicker Park. Until the early 1980's these were very run down areas of the city however, over time there has been a lot of investment in the area. Indeed some houses that were bought for $25,000 30 years ago are now worth over $1 million! 

The Chicago Food Planet tour took the group to 6 local businesses. One was George's Hot Dogs, which has been on the same site for 65 years

We also visited a pizzeria/brewery, deli and a fascinating Icecream shop called I Cream, where they claim they can create over 1 million flavour variations of their nitrogen acted ice creams

I also visited the famous Navy Pier which was buzzing with people enjoying their Labor Day weekend

It is a huge complex of eateries, entertainment venues and fairground rides. However, you also get some great views of the Chicago skyline 

USA bound

Early start this morning and my first sight of the united plane was from the business lounge at belfast international

I was allocated an Economy Plus seat, promising extra legroom and more Onboard tv channels.

I was astounded at what I found.  A good selection of favourite shows; Frasier, Everybody loves Raymond and diners, drive-ins and dives as well as many new release and classic movies. With the great entertainment and frequent refreshment and food offerings (included), the 7 hours on board quite literally flew by.

Despite hearing nightmare stories of long queues at immigration in newark, our flight struck lucky and arrived to an empty waiting area.

Within 30mins of disembarking, I'd been through immigration, collected my bag and was making my way to the United Club lounge to wait for my transfer to Chicago

This was a seriously impressive lounge. Great views of the airport, plenty of seating, and more importantly, power outlets to recharge my batteries (and those of the camera & ipad!)

On arrival in Chicago, the baggage was off-loaded quickly and the signage to the CTA blue line Tain was easy to follow. The $5 trip took me through the suburbs and to within a block of my hotel in the Loop area.

CZECHING OUT BOHEMIA

There’s nothing I like better than getting off the well-trodden tourist trail and finding places that aren’t too well known (as yet) to the international visitor.

On a recent trip to the Czech Republic I was able to journey to small towns like Most, Zatec, Plzen and Tabor as well as spend a little time in the capital city, Prague.

It has to be said that the Czech people are creative, and when I discovered that I would be visiting a Coal Mine near Most, I was bemused to say the least.  However, my bemusement soon turned to admiration when I saw the scale of the industry on a “Coal Safari” and how the Czech Coal Company has returned the land to the people of the town by creating housing, leisure  areas and community spaces. The Coal Safari guided tour, which takes place in a huge 4x4 vehicle, takes you to various parts of the enormous site and it is certainly something different to do on a short break.

Nearby, in the town of Zatec, we saw industry of a different kind.  Hops are this town’s main produce and the excellent Hop Museum explains the process of hop production and its importance not only to the town, but to the brewing industry in the country. 

Not surprisingly, the big name in Czech brewing is about an hour down the road from Zatec.  The Pilsner Urquell brand is known throughout the world and if there’s one thing you will learn on a trip to the town of Plzen, it is that Pilsner Urquell is the original pilsner style of beer.  The brewery tour is well worth a visit.  Visitors even get a chance to taste unpasteurised freshly brewed beer in the cellars.  My recent visit coincided with the annual 2-day party Pilsner Fest which featured 4 main stages of music acts and lots of beer on offer. Plzen itself is quite an historic town and well worth a wander.  The Main Square and Cathedral are only 5 minutes walk from the brewery and there’s plenty of good restaurants to sample some traditional Czech dishes too. There’s a great  accommodation choice in Plzen too.  I stayed at the Marriott, just beside the brewery.  The rooms were very comfortable and the breakfast is great!

The Czech Republic is known for its stunning ornate castles.  There are a few that are on every visitors itinerary and a few that haven’t really been discovered yet.  I visited one, Castle Orlik, which is a fascinating building with some stunning rooms and amazing views over an enormous man-made lake.

My favourite place on the trip was the town of Tabor in Southern Bohemia.  It has a stunning town square and I spent an hour late one night savouring the view from the terrace of a bar. The town hall and church are beautifully lit and it provides for a stunning scene.  The Hotel Nautilus is on the town square too.  Each room as been designed individually and it has a very traditional feel.  As with everywhere outside Prague, visitors from the UK & Ireland will find excellent value for money and the Nautilus offers fantastic accommodation for very little outlay.

The city of Prague is, obviously, the centre of the tourism industry.  The Old Town Square is a tourist magnet and the 14^th Century Astronomical Clock attracts a crowd almost every hour of the day. There are many ways to see the city and if you don’t want to tire yourself out, you could see the sights by Segway which, for the uninitiated, is a 2-wheeled self-balancing  personal transporter. I’d love to be able to say how the 3 hour Segway tour lets you see the best of Prague. However, despite being taught how to control the unit,   I lasted 10 minutes before crashing into a wall and no doubt someone somewhere will make a fortune if the video ever makes its way onto You’ve Been Framed.

There’s all manner of accommodation options in Prague, from budget hostels to 5* hotels.  I stayed in the Hotel Jalta, on Wenceslas Square, which was excellent.  The bedroom was very well appointed and mine had a balcony overlooking the square.  I also stayed at the nearby Fusion Hotel, which is a hybrid between an upmarket hostel and a hotel.  It has an arty, minimalist approach and attracts all agegroups.  It even has a revolving bar, which is designed to aid conversation and chances to talk to lots of people during your visit.

Overall, the Czech Republic is a country well worth visiting. While Prague is a tourist magnet, there are many places to visit within an hour’s radius of the city, which will be much easier on your wallet. One tip is to shop where the locals shop and use public transport where possible as it is very efficient and very cheap.

You can find out lots more about the country by ‘czeching out” (sorry, had to be done) www.czechtourism.com