We've had a busy few weeks recently, so I'll keep the text short and let you enjoy the photos from our travels. Autumn and Winter in California has arrived, which means some rain but temperatures still in the low 20s. If it wasn't for the leaves on the trees you'd think this was summer in the UK...I attended and helped out at the
Go Campaign Gala a few weeks ago, which was my first foray into a glamorous charity event. Really great fun and a lot of money was raised which is the most important thing.
San Francisco was great; it rained a lot but even with the rain it's a fantastic city. San Franciscans must have the strongest leg muscles in the world. We loved the hilly streets, but getting back to our hotel at night (The Fairmont atop of Nob Hill) after a few drinks was an entertaining struggle.
We had lots of fun at Universal Studios in Hollywood yesterday, discovering some of the secrets behind the movies and enjoying some great 3D rides at the
Terminator 2 experience and
King Kong ride during the studio tour. The studio tour was very slick. Sets included those from
Psycho and
War of The Worlds (where they used a real jumbo jet, by the way. Some of the sheen of Hollywood was rubbed away (like seeing where
Desperate Housewives is filmed, discovering that
Jaws and
Murder She Wrote shared the same set, and seeing the pillared entrance to 'Lyon Estates' from
Back to the Future, now marking the entrance to a trailer park) but it's gripping at the same time. For those of you who know about 'Skull Island' in
King Kong, the set they built (a small lake and even smaller replica ship, to build the CGI around), is fascinating. If you're into that sort of thing of course. Oh, and we went to
Jurassic Park, too! The dinosaurs were very friendly.
We topped off the weekend with a visit to our friends Darek and Iwona's apartment, taking in a great firework display and boatshow and marvelling at the Christmas decorations in people's front yards. Thanks for your hospitality guys, we had a great time!
