Surf City

We have landed in Huntington Beach. Aka Surf City. Immediately on arrival we abandoned the Chevy with all its air-conditioned comforts for an afternoon scrabbling on miniature towels on the beach. This is a bigger deal than it sounds. We Kempners don’t do beaches very well. Well, we like the idea of them as an … Continue reading →

A Spiritual Side to Beverly Hills

The Caffe del Arte, Beverly Hills There are a couple of tried-and-tested ways to get under the skin of a place when you have relatively limited time available. Our favoured approach is to do all the stuff we do at home as much as possible: except do it in the unfamiliar/exotic location. A good starting … Continue reading →

On US size: geography and food

LA was big. The scale of it is almost beyond comprehension. We touched the surface in our 4 days there before moving onto one of the South. LA beaches, Huntington, which is where we are now, and will be for the next 2 days.. It was easier once we realized that there was simply no … Continue reading →

Architectural Arrogance

I knew there was a very good reason to not read guidebooks. I knew it. Because they tell you as much about what you don’t want to know as what you do. We decided to brunch it in downtown LA today. I was flushed with success at navigating back from Warner Studios yesterday at rush … Continue reading →

Street Walking Beverly Hills

The only pedestrians down and out in BH mid-morning were of the Kempner variety Couldn’t see the seven dwarves anywhere The only jogger in town at that hour I’m very non-discriminatory in my obsessive interest in suburban edgelands. An ultra-wealthy enclave is just as worthy of close examination as a light industrial estate or the … Continue reading →

Advice for Travellers on Viewing LA at Night

1. Get proper directions to Mulholland Drive, not half-baked instructions from a helpful Italian waiter. 2. Or get a decent map/street plan. 3. Travel in any vehicle substantially smaller than a Suburban Chevrolet. 4. Do not miss turning for Mulholland Drive and think you can then easily escape the slip road to the Highway. 5. … Continue reading →

Salt and a Mole

I’ve met a man. He is a self-produced rapper and his name is Salt. It happened on venice beach, just a normal day. He told me I was funny, and we shared some laughs over a dalmatian that was the size of a horse. He kept calling me Babygirl, and at one point, hypnotised by … Continue reading →

My loss of autonomy

Back again, darling. S’been a while, I’m aware, but to get back into things, I’m going to make this relatively short and sweet. The crux of the matter this time is my loss of autonomy and general inability to do or think anything for myself when on holiday with the family, and in particular, when … Continue reading →

Beverly Hills Fantasy-Reality

We’re now in LA. A very big (BIG) place. So BIG that no-one is to be seen walking at all. It’s not the heat so much, though it IS quite hot, more the immense scale. Rodeo Drive is a short drive….but for us a 20 minute walk…… from the Beverley Hilton (where Whitney Houston died) … Continue reading →