As is usual for these larger time changes, after a long flight, the sleep patterns are all over the place. So watching an ancient episode of ‘Married With Children’ in the middle of the night isn’t at all unusual. Paula had a cuppa and a biscuit before we wandered outside, to catch the BBB (Big Blue Bus) to Santa Monica. As the Starbucks isn’t working, $5 for a Nespresso from the temporary coffee cart was easy to ignore.
We paid the full fare of $1.25, not realising that for the over 62’s with ID, it is only 50c, but still very cheap for the 40 minute ride. We hadn’t been on a Wednesday before and we found streets closed for their weekly farmers’ market. Although there were plenty of stalls, this was a fairly genuine farmers’ market, but as most were selling just fruit and vegetables, (which also looked horrendously expensive, organic or not), there was nothing to interest us.
We wandered down 3rd street and as I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink, Starbucks beckoned. A very tasty bite and a decent coffee, but my name had been changed from Ray to Rye!
Suitably fortified, we then wandered to the Santa Monica Pier, surely, one of the most visited piers anywhere in the world. This is where the cross country Route 66 does end.
By now, it was getting rather warm so we sat for a while in the shade watching the equally famous carousel. Oh how times have changed. No music and the kids on the prancing horses (and 1 prancing pig!) wearing safety belts. A carousel without a fairground organ is like a fairground hot dog without onions.
We then headed for the new food court at the southern end of 3rd street for a refreshing lemonade, before catching the bus back.
Since our last call in December, the bus stops seem to have changed, as the bus no longer has a stop just before the hotel, as it loops behind it but that suited us as we needed to grab a drink and a yoghurt from the shop at the service station. A hefty $3.25 for a small yoghurt was eye wateringly expensive but we added a lemonade and a couple of bananas. As far as we know, there isn’t a supermarket close by.
Despite the high prices in the hotel, we decided we’d eat there as the only local alternatives are a Burger King, Carl’s Junior and Denny’s. Paula had a turkey burger and I had a (hot) chicken sandwich. Total bill, $33 plus tax plus tip, so not what you’d call good value for money. It certainly makes eating out in the UK look cheap.
We still crashed fairly early, after watching the sun go down as a continuous stream of aircraft landed on the shorter, northern runway.
We set the alarm for 7am and we want to catch the Ho-Ho bus, black route at 8:34am tomorrow. More of that on the next soporific instalment.
We are now back in NZ…
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