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La Jolla Hermosa

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    • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
      1
      Day 1

      Arrived in La Jolla

      August 30, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      I was going to start this blog sitting peacefully in Sydney airport while waiting to board. But checking in was chaotic - actually just bag drop, but we waited for ages while people slowly got processed, repackaged overweight bags etc etc....but after that ordeal all was very smooth. Slept well (with help from serepax) and arrived in LAX at 6 am and this end was super efficient, got through and on to the bus to Union station and managed to get the 8.33 train to San Diego!

      So here we are. Lisi collected us from Solana Beach station. Amr has immediately gone off for a swim at the high school, which closes at 1pm, to loosen up. I am relaxing here, had some lunch and remembered I need to start this blog. It is still August 30 here, so the date is right!

      I may not write up each day religiously while here, but will try and get some photos up. In a week we get the train back to LA and spend 3 nights there before flying to London on Sept 9. We’ll spend 6 nights there and then go to Liverpool for 2 nights, then Buxton in the Peak District with Gill and Bob, then to Carlisle (all these journeys by train) where we meet Carole and John who are walking the Hadrian’s Wall walk with us. That is for 12 days (10 days of walking), then we train to Edinburgh where we can fly direct to Bergen (Oct 3). Then we start our Scandinavian experience - taking a Hurtigruten boat up the coast and into the fjords for 12 days. Amazing. Then we spend a day in Oslo, and 2 in Copenhagen before flying back to LA. Then to Sydney, arriving Oct 26. That is our plan in a nutshell. Details to follow as they unfold!!      Read more

    • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
      1
      Day 3

      Fun in San Diego

      September 1, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      It’s now Sunday morning. So I must record our doings before it all disappears into a muddle of times and days! We have been quite active since our arrival Friday morning. On Friday evening there was a party at the Beach Club - a reunion of all the 8 families (including Michael and Lisi) who went to Africa - Tanzania- for an amazing holiday in June. So of course we were included, we knew some of them from before. Probably good for us to be animated and socialise having arrived at 6 am that day, stopped us from falling asleep! Got to bed around midnight I think.

      Woke about 8 Saturday. This household still asleep as it often is on weekends, so Amr and I set off for a walk down to La Jolla village, had a coffee at a favourite coffee place, and I walked back (quite hot and sweaty - it was cloudy when we left but that all burnt off and it was sunny and hot...) while Amr stayed and had a haircut at his favourite barber, and a swim at the high school pool!

      A nice relaxed afternoon then we left at 5.30 to go to Bayside Summer Nights - San Diego Symphony’s equivalent of our Symphony under the stars - lovely event, perfect weather, and a Tchaikovsky spectacular programme! Lisi is a VIP of the symphony being on the board and donors etc, and she had organised a table for us near the stage where we ate dinner first, then sat back for the music!! Perfect. And it was an Australian conductor!!! Great night, great food, great music and I will show photos. To bed again around midnight, so we are getting well acclimatised.

      Now Sunday, and this afternoon Ben (cousin of Michael, Paul and Cathy), his wife Jeannine and their new baby are coming over, and also Peter F. That will be next report!      Read more

    • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
      1
      Day 5

      Now Tuesday afternoon

      September 3, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      Well it’s now Tuesday afternoon. Since I last wrote we had a lovely visit with Ben and Jeannine with baby Sam on Sunday. Very beautiful baby, now 3 months, and with such a great genetic mix - Ben is Anglo-Chinese, and Jeannine is Peruvian/Lebanese. So no wonder he is gorgeous! We had a late lunch and had the leftovers from the African feast (delicious and plentiful). Peter F was there too, so lovely family gathering. Afterwards we lazed and watched the US open.

      Monday was a public holiday here, so another lazy day. Amr and I walked down to the village quite early but already it was so HOT walking back up the hill. Relaxed afternoon. Michael played tennis in the morning, James had an engagement with friends, and we watched more tennis, read, ate yet more leftovers (I think there are still some left!!) and had a lovely day.

      Today, a normal Tuesday. Kids at school, Michael at work. I went down with Amr and swam laps in the high school pool. Haven’t done that for a long time, but it was good, and a lovely cool thing to do, but by the time we’d walked back we were sweltering again!! Will try to confine the walking to dusk I think. Hopefully the heat will have left London when we get there in a week’s time! Not a lot to say, but all is good.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
      Day 7

      Last Entry from San Diego

      August 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      This will be the last posting from La Jolla. It is Wednesday afternoon, and tomorrow morning we are picked up at 7.30 am (by the famous Andrew) to be driven to Solana Beach station, to get the train to Los Angeles, then the bus to LAX and our flight to Madrid!!! We have already got emails from Lufthansa to check in on line, so it is becoming a reality!

      I last wrote on Monday after our amazing dinner on Sunday evening. Tuesday - yesterday - after the morning walking etc, we had a very nice lunch with Anita and Brian, who took us to a restaurant at Del Mar, lovely coastal town between here and Solana Beach. Had light and delicious crab cakes, as last night we went again out for a great dinner with Michael and Lisi - at Bistro du Marché in La Jolla - yum French food. So nice. Kids did not come as homework time was needed - this term Cami does tennis 4 afternoons - so that is late for starting homework, of which there seems to be a lot. So we had another really good time with M and L...this has been a very good week for us all getting together in a relaxed state - or relaxed for us - Michael has work things, and Lisi does her usual chauffeuring of Cami and James, but this is their normal life.

      So this morning after kid drop off at school, Lisi took Nico to his groomers and the car to the car place to see about the nail in the tire, and Amr went for his usual walk and swim. I had earlier walked Nico (our last walk - Nico is very fond of his granny!), then walked down to the village in time to meet Amr, Lisi and Peter Farrell who had flown in from Houston for a dinner tonight! He goes back tomorrow.....anyway, the 4 of us had a great Mexican lunch and a nice chat.

      Then Amr and I went to see another movie!! This time Operation Finale - about the capture of Eichmann in Argentina- very well done, with Ben Kingsley...excellent...then we walked up back home in the hot sun..good walking practice....and now cooling off, doing our last proper wash of all our clothes. The weather app is frightening me with predicted temperatures in Madrid and Pamplona of over 30° for the next week or so...but when I think of it, the main heat is in the later afternoon when we have finished walking, and the mornings when we start are much more moderate. It is probably not unlike last time we did it, as it is almost exactly the same dates, but then we just didn’t look the weather up on the iPad! So here’s hoping. Next post will be from Madrid!      Read more

    • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
      Day 1

      Settling into La Jolla

      August 23, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      Thank you people for answering my email link and sending messages! I wasn’t sure that I would write again just yet, but am inspired to communicate, even though feeling quite jet lagged for once. The problem was that the flight left early morning Sydney time, so we flew all day and landed at LAX at 11.30 pm Sydney time, but 6.30 am California time...so we really didn’t get a proper sleep on the plane, but are a bit wiped out now...we’ll cope. Also, I have to put in one funny (now) thing...I think it’s funny, but it was frustrating then, and Amr probably doesn’t think it’s funny at all...but when we checked into the flight yesterday Amr had a problem (he’d had the problem trying to checkin online too)...but it turned out that his ESTA visa waiver had expired...he hadn’t checked, and was SURE it was still valid....so it can be done at the airport thank goodness, and all was well...just a hassle! Just so glad it wasn’t me that was the flake!

      Anyway, here we are. We got the bus from airport to Union Station, and got an Amtrak train down to Solana Beach where Lisi picks us up, but poor thing she was delayed by an accident on the I-5 ....caused total stoppage of the freeway....at first we thought it was a Panamanian time situation, but no....a real situation! Happy that Nico their sweet but fiercely noisy and protective dog has again remembered us, sniffed and was totally docile on our arrival, and is now sitting beside me on a chair just like the old days.

      So we have unpacked a bit, Lisi had to rush to the school for some event, and will reappear with James at about 3.30, Cami will be at tennis till later, Michael is in Carlsbad till tomorrow for a sales meeting week, and Amr has gone for a walk down to the town to have a haircut at his favourite Vietnamese barber here, and to have a swim!! I think that is very heroic...I am happy just keeping awake and sitting writing this with Nico.

      This is a very mundane entry, and may not write every day while here, but you never know....but just recording our arrival. While at the station we bought the return tickets back to LA for next Thursday when we fly out to Madrid!! Will take a photo of Nico as he looks very cute and clean and groomed (Wednesday is his day!), but no one else here to take photos of. This will come.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
      Day 2

      First Full Day

      August 24, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      After having rolling eyes and fighting sleep all day yesterday, went to bed around 10 pm. Lisi had prepared dinner the day before which was lovely, Michael was still at the meeting, Cami and James had appeared but were deep into homework etc...I actually had a good sleep, didn’t even wake when apparently a smoke alarm upstairs in Cami’s old bedroom went off with great noise....Amr went up and saved the day by pressing the off button with James’ toothbrush (only way he could reach up to it!) but thank god I was oblivious...

      Kids had left for school by the time I got up, and Amr was having coffee and breakfast. He hurt his wrist yesterday slipping on some deceptively slimy road...has bought a wrist brace at the pharmacy to immobilise it...luckily not his stick -holding hand, nor his walking legs! So soon Amr left to have his haircut, which was successful this time, and had his annual chat with him. Lisi had to do some meeting at the school, so all peaceful. Then they all returned, and Michael too!! Finally we see him! His work was finished and he had the afternoon to be with us...excellent, so we all 4 went down to a favourite watering hole and had a drink, mini meal (we’d already had a sandwich for lunch) and a lovely relaxing proper catch up. Now back and kids about to arrive. M and L out tonight - already had tickets from long ago for Phantom, and our friends, their neighbours, Anita and Brian are coming over for dinner and games. All good.      Read more

    • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
      Day 4

      Saturday in La Jolla

      August 26, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      It’s now Sunday morning, but will write up Saturday - we had a very good day. This household wakes at about noon on weekends, but of course Amr and I woke earlier, and set off at about 9 for our walks...he down to the pool at the high school where he has a swim, and I headed up for my usual walk to Mt Soledad. Very glad we went early as already it was hot and humid - had forgotten how humid La Jolla can be....then on arrival back, everyone had emerged, and I took Nico for his morning walk - our tradition!

      So we all relaxed quietly for a while. The day plans were a party at the Beach Club for the son of friends who was leaving to go to boarding school. We were invited, as we knew them and in fact we visited with them in Sydney and took them to Tapa Vino! It turned out that Moo and Lisi couldn’t go as they had double booked accidentally and were committed to a special fundraising event, but we went with Cami and James and had a great rime.

      Lisi had to go to the mall to get a present for the party that afternoon, so Cami and Amr took up the mall opportunity and Michael and I stayed home and had a good bonding session....M and L dropped us at the Beach Club on the way to their event, and collected us after...worked well. The party was actually lots of fun...we knew quite a few people, and it wasn’t huge - probably about 20 or less adults, and the kids (mostly teenagers now)....and the beach is always a beautiful spot for a party. Amr only got one photo of James before it got too dark, and when we got home at about 11, he and Michael had a bonding cigar and i caught that moment. Soon I will get some more family photos....      Read more

    • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
      Day 5

      Cruising in San Diego

      August 27, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Another catchup of what is happening here. I think I last wrote yesterday morning - now Monday afternoon. I haven’t mentioned that on Saturday Michael and Lisi found that 2 of their cars were out of action!! M went to drive his Ferrari for the first time since being away...about 4 weeks, and it was dead. Actually the man is here now and is charging the battery, think that is all it needs, but of course being so dead the key would not unlock anything so it was hard to get to it! A first world problem. Then the car washer found that there was a nail in a tire of the Range Rover! So the Audi was IT for the weekend...but today M drove the Audi to work, and Lisi has used the Range Rover, which seems so far to be coping with its nail and not losing air, for essential driving - school pickup etc...it is booked in for Thursday I think!

      So yesterday was a relaxed time after walking....very pleasant...and then last night Michael took us to a lovely restaurant- in San Diego! In Little Italy. We realised that in all the years we have come here, we haven’t actually eaten out in the city itself...often in La Jolla and nearby. So that was fun and different, and an absolutely gorgeous meal, and of course amazing wines. Kids now old enough to stay home alone...

      Today we walked - have to keep in practice - Amr went via the pool as usual, and I did a circuit aimed to meet together, and with Lisi, at the cinema in LJ, and we watched Papillon. Excellent...and at 11 am on a Monday we were the only people in the cinema, sitting in super comfy chairs!! Then after we went to a taco joint and had delicious lunch...that will be my meal for the day. Both M and L are out tonight, so we will have toast or leftovers....perfect. Will put a few photos, and hope I haven’t missed anything vital!      Read more

    • TravelerUSA, UK and Norway
      Day 7

      Last Day in La Jolla

      September 5, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      It’s still hot, and even hotter in Los Angeles if you can believe the weather app! Now Thursday afternoon. Yesterday I didn’t do the hot walk! I did walk Nico early in the morning, but decided not to battle the heat. Lisi took us out to a lovely lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant (a hip and happening chain, and I think there may be one in Sydney) - Din Tai Fung - with Anita and Brian as well. Delicious food. Rather like Queen Chow - yum cha food that you order from a menu...yum. So that was great, and we didn’t feel like another meal. We picked at nibbles, and Michael had leftover fish curry for dinner.

      Cami and James left Wednesday morning for a school retreat for 3 days. Not a religious thing, similar to our school camps - a bonding experience at the beginning of the school year. So we said goodbye to them on Tuesday night - James left at the crack of dawn, though we did glimpse Cami in the morning as she left at the normal civilised time - her camp was not as long a journey away as James’. So it is a quiet household, and Lisi doesn’t have to be the chauffeur driving kids to school and activities!

      Today I again went with Amr to the high school and swam laps. Good, and we had arranged with Lisi to go afterwards to a cafe where she’d meet us (thus avoiding the hot uphill walk home), and we planned to go to a favourite Taco Bar for lunch, then off to Whole Foods to get green peppercorns which were not available at any other places we tried. It was the last chance, and we did find them. But a mysterious lack in the shops, even in the fancy food places, is that we cannot find taramasalata anywhere!! You’d think there were enough Greeks in the US that they would make and sell it!!

      So tonight is last dinner - Michael requested chicken with green peppercorns - he always does - and cauliflower cheese. He will be coming home soon. Tomorrow morning we take the Amtrak Surfliner back up the coast to Los Angeles where we spend 3 nights before flying to London on Monday.

      Next episode from LA.      Read more

    • TravelerEscape to USA, France and UK
      13
      Day 8

      A Week Away

      August 6, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Suddenly we realise we’ve been here for a week! Still enjoying and grateful for our freedom, reading what is going on in Oz with what looks like continuing lockdowns - hope you are not going too crazy.

      We’ve had a lovely week….after the social whirl of last weekend, we have quietly been pottering and exercising…we have been checking if we need testing before our flight to Europe, and it seems as if we don’t which makes us very happy, as one clinic that we approached charged US$299 each!! We could have shopped round and found less I’m sure, but it looks as if fully vaccinated it will be fine. (And I believe there are testing places at the airport if an emergency)…anyway, here’s hoping.

      Have been doing a bit of cooking, but last night we went to a fab meat and whisky restaurant - Huntress. Lisi had seen it mentioned online and decided to try it…a great success. We shared an enormous tomahawk beef, and Lisi and I started with an amazing Penang curry lobster soup…wow, just delicious. And tonight we are going to the Country Club for dinner…pretty fantastic life.

      Special events during the week were Jess’s 20th birthday and we had a lovely FaceTime with her. Can’t believe it….And another special event was Peter and Louise became grandmother and step grandfather…Louise’s daughter Emily had a baby girl. Will include a photo of her communing with Emily’s sister Isabella in London!

      Cami is now on her way back to San Diego…arrives late tonight so won’t see her till tomorrow. So she will appear in next post.

      Just writing again to keep it going…nothing dramatic, all good.      Read more

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    La Jolla Hermosa

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