At this point, the sightseeing was over and all that remained was to get home. One of the reasons for choosing Paris as the end point of our intercontinental tickets
Category: Big Trip Diary Entry
California, Here We Come! (2021): Days 16-18: And now, a long weekend in Paris!
Final Accommodation On Friday morning we relocated to central Paris for a three-night stay at the perfectly decent Holiday Inn Paris Montmartre. With just 54 rooms, it is one of
California, Here We Come! (2021): Days 14&15: Miami Interlude and Return to Europe
A few hours in downtown Miami I woke up after what felt like a short night, due to the combined effect of the 3hr time change the previous evening and
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 13: Transcon in (Some) Style
St Andrew’s Day brought the first steps in our homeward journey, initially with a short hop back down the west coast to LA, then with a transcontinental flight to Miami,
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 12: Gallery day
After breakfast this morning, there was some business to attend to: before embarking on our eastbound return journey to Europe the following day, it was essential to do more laundry.
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 11: Sausalito, the Castro and North Beach revisited
Trip to Sausalito Today’s breakfast was at a nearby Blue Bottle Café, and this was followed by our usual shower routine before the day got underway in earnest. One notable
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 10: San Francisco on Foot
Today began at a leisurely pace: we had a very light Starbucks breakfast and returned to base for showers. The first real event was our 1130 reservation for dim sum
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 9: Arrival in San Francisco
Emeryville – San Francisco Today’s objective was delightfully simple: to relocate across the bay to San Francisco and get settled in for the longest and most luxurious hotel stay of
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 8: An Amtrak Thanksgiving
Los Angeles – Emeryville It was Thanksgiving Day – and our big Amtrak day! It began with a little bit of early-morning stress, but we eventually succeeded in finding a
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 7: From San Diego to Los Angeles
Morning walk in San Diego Once again, it was the same early-morning start for Bruce. After breakfast and showers, we took a morning walk in glorious sunshine, through downtown and
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 6: Walking in San Diego
Gaslamp Quarter to Balboa Park Bruce again had his early-starting half-day at work. As previously, he popped out at 9am to pick up some breakfast for both of us, this
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 5: Day Trip to Carlsbad
Downtown San Diego Bruce was working Boston-time half-days until Thanksgiving, which meant 0530-0900 Pacific – clearly an alarm was essential! At the end of his stint we had a Starbucks
California, Here We Come! (2021): Days 3&4: Our Outbound Flying-Fest
London-Helsinki on Finnair Once again, we followed the recently established pattern of no pre-departure breakfast, due to our proximity to the airport. Catching the Piccadilly Line to the airport, we
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 2: And now, erm … back to the UK!
Schiphol-Heathrow Today started by following a similar approach to that used on Thursday: we left the hotel without eating, intending to have some form of breakfast in the lounge. In
California, Here We Come! (2021): Day 1: Quick Visit to Amsterdam
Heathrow-Schiphol The trip was now underway in earnest, and you join me as Bruce & I enter the so-called ‘First’ lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5, which in reality is for
California, Here We Come! (2021): Diary Prologue
As the first travelling day of this trip was purely a positioning exercise to London Heathrow, with no sightseeing component at all, I thought of it as ‘Day Zero’ rather
England Grand Tour (2021): Day 20: Going Home
With today being the final day of the trip for me, we decided to go out for a slightly more substantial breakfast than usual. The venue was Boston Tea Party
England Grand Tour (2021): Days 18-19: Return to Bristol & A day in Bath
Day 18: Monday Today was probably the most low-key day of the trip. We drove from Borehamwood back to Bristol Airport, returned the rental car and completed the journey to