Let’s change it up, shall we dear reader. Instead of the usual bus journey along the roads of hell, we are heading stateside to the grand state of California. One week in the West Coast sunshine and a tiny bit of rain, with all the chaos of travelling and experiencing new places.
We jetted out on our Aer Lingus flight to San Francisco at the end of September. Our first long haul flight, all 11 hours of sitting in an uncomfortable, cramped seat in the economy rows. I had the unfortunate displeasure of having one of those “I’ll recline my seat back” wankers in front of me but not actually lean back in the chair, instead, just sit forward to view the screen on the chair in front types. That was fine, we are going on holiday I thought, it would be 11 more hours so I couldn’t lose the cool, just embrace that he was in his right regardless of what I thought. Overall the flight was boring like most flights, just sitting there staring at endless films and games until your eyes melt out of your skull and the tiredness burns a hole in your soul.
Eventually we touched down in San Francisco. But dear reader, this was not our final destination. We had a connecting flight to LAX in two hours, so a short layover to relax, have a bite to eat and explore the airport….That of course was the ideal but the reality was our flight was delayed by 4 hours so yippee…
….So we were essentially the red eye to LAX. We got a bite to eat, of course a burger because that’s what you do over here right? Anyway, roll on 22:00 and all aboard our 37 person flight and 50 mins later, touch down in LAX. The flight in was spectacular. The night lights of the city could be seen sprawling out seemingly endless in every direction. On a side note, our pilot was a hero. The man got us from SFO to LAX in what seemed no time whatsoever.
So there we were curbside LAX at the Shared Van zone booking our Uber. First time users, pretty much because Uber is banned in Ireland….F#ck you Ireland and f#ck you taxi regulator and your psv licence shite. Our guy pulls up in a mini van and we all clamber into it. Listening to the radio as we cruise down one of the freeways is like being in a real life GTA game, watching all these recognizable sites pass by. The ridiculously wide roads and endless traffic lights that seem to continue forever made me wonder how people put up with the constant stop starting, over and over for miles and miles, but I guess they are used to it. We eventually arrive at our accommodation for the next three days, right down on Venice beach. Day one complete.
The plan for the next today was pretty eventful and packed with things to do, but I’m going to concentrate on our adventures of using the LA mass transit system. We first decide we will walk the Venice boardwalk to Santa Monica to catch the Metro into Downtown. It seems the easiest and most efficient way of getting there. The walk was pretty interesting to say the least. Crackheads everywhere, the smell of stale urine and the typical bums you see in films line the boardwalk…Now I say boardwalk because its called that for whatever reason but in fact it’s a giant footpath along the side the beach. Boardwalks I thought meant wooden boards but anyway, you get what I mean. We arrive into Santa Monica and after searching for an age to get some breakfast, decide we will get something at our first destination, the “California Science Center”. Over to the ticket machines to get some tickets for the metro. We are using our trusty Revolut cards which seemed to fail us several times over there but we had cash thankfully. We purchased our daily TAP card which covers all LA metro services at a fantastic $7 plus $2 for the card which could be topped up if required.
]The metro ride was like any other tram service but had a few interesting characters on board. The day unbeknownst to us we chose to take said service was a cycle event in DTLA so it was filled with bikes and people with all sorts of helmets and bike gear and the train filled up fast…non eventful to be honest. Upon arrival at the California Science Museum we disembarked into what seemed like a ghost town except in the middle of LA. No cars or people just birds singing in the trees. Where the hell am I? All of a sudden faint music could be heard and a woman dressed in full running gear jogs past us with “Physical” by Olivia Newton John blaring from some part of her while talking motivation into herself. Off she went disappearing into the distance… okay so… I thought…
So off we went into the museum. We explored a little of all the various exhibits. The museum had many different sections such as the various climate zones with interactive screens and was very informative. You could also explore a replica mission control center and view items from the previous space program such as engine pieces, tires of the space shuttles and even a Soyuz capsule but all of that was nothing for what lay in a hanger just outside the museum and cost just $2 to see….That being of course, Endeavor, the space shuttle, and what a site it was.
After the museum of this boys dreams, it was back onto the Metro into Downtown to explore a bit more. Up to the top of the US Bank to view the city from above and what a sight it was. A city sprawled out in every direction as far as the eye can see. Here we sat and enjoyed a drink and watched over the city on a beautiful clear day.
We then made our way back to the Metro Red Line to go to Hollywood like a good ole’ tourist. The Subway showing it’s age compared to the newer light rail services heading west, but it did the job and was well worth it. The train rumbled along with us sitting trying to avoid the crazy busking guy and the strange man dressed head to toe in black glaring down the train car at us looking like he was waiting for Predator to tear through the roof, or maybe Dennis Hopper might jump on board, anything could have happened on the Subway car but regardless it got us to where we wanted to go and the next day it got us to Universal Studios (Well worth a visit, plus the Red Line Metro takes you to a shuttle bus). We also purchased our gate tickets for Universal in advance online and saved money so recommend doing this too.
After that following day well spent at Universal Studios we opted for the best burger place ever “In and Out Burger” and a bonus being there was no queue at all. Score…And my God, the wait was worth it, in fact, I am counting down the days until I next get to consume the tastiest burger ever.
After our meal of kings, we walked back to the metro to begin the long journey back to Venice Beach… LA is ridiculously big, bigger in size and population than several countries. So after our nearly 2 hour journey back, we arrived back in Santa Monica and decided to explore the Pier at night. We didn’t get long but got a good feel for the place. Exploring Santa Monica and the famous 3rd Street Promenade was incredible and I finally got to try a tasty food truck hotdog and yes, please, it was gorgeous.
The next day, we decided for whatever reason to get the bus, sure why not, I love buses…. I have to admit though, I loved the little pull cord at the windows, but it wasn’t until San Francisco that I got to pull one. The bus was meh. All I was thinking about was that scene in Superbad when the characters are riding the bus with funky music in the background. Nothing funky about our journey, although many of the buses were natural gas run so little or no fumes, so there was that. The bus went with the traffic not really segregated at all and was no real match to the rail alternatives but LA has very few metro lines for a city of it’s size, so most rely on the bus or car.
We took an extra long UBER journey up to Griffith Observatory and took in the sights. You could sit for hours on the hill side staring over the city and watching all the helicopters whizz by like flying cars. Of course the Hollywood sign was just behind us too and of course we took many pictures of it because that’s what you do. Once the doors opened to the observatory we had a wander around and explored the many halls and exhibits it had to offer. Well worth a visit and even better it’s free. On the down side there is a single toilet for the whole place and the queue can be reminiscent of a long queue into a famous nightclub in the late nineties. So bring a nappy!!
As this was our last day in LA, we decided to make the most of it and jumped in another UBER (with a legend of a driver) who drove us across the city to Marina Del Rey near the Venice Canals. We had our first Chick-Fil-A….which was very yummy but of course a member of our group really wanted to hit up IHOP (you know who you are). As I was stuffed, I opted for the smallest thing I could find, which turned out to be massive regardless. After spending time exploring the Venice Canals and beach we made our way back to the hostel to pick up our things and away to LAX with us.
Overall, I found the transport that we used got us to the places that we needed with the exception of LAX, but UBER made up for that and they are building a link to LAX at the moment. We used UBER to pretty much go everywhere that the Metro didn’t take us and it was quick, safe and efficient. You always hear that you need to rent a car in LA but by using the city’s Metro services and UBER you can pretty much go anywhere at anytime.
Make sure if you are planning a trip to read up on the various offers like Metro TAP cards and book attractions in advance to save money and get around with ease.
With that, we boarded a flight to San Francisco to continue our West Coast adventure. But of course it wouldn’t be one of my crazy adventures without some kind of “happening” let’s call it. For on our flight was a crazy woman who decided to pace up and down the aisle of the plane clutching her grocery bags and moving between different seats as the flight attendants screamed at her to sit down…Ahhhh I love humans on public transport. For a more detailed trip report check out my other halfs post here.
Some useful links
Disclaimer: I have not been sponsored in any way for this post. Above are my own honest opinions.
Up next Part 2 San Francisco
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