“Good idea”, Says I. “Where shall we go?”
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The sort of pics my Babe thinks of around Christmas.. This out of focus dreamy look with circles of light come from using a lens that can … defocus the scene…

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The patio seen from the bed |
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The super comfy high, four poster bed |
In our LA trip, we had kept one day for Universal Studios, of course, yours truly had booked the entry passes in advance, and figured out where to park etc..
Like all holidays, we set out late morning, and predictably got stuck in a traffic jam enroute to Universal Studios.. Now our destination, (henceforth called U/S) the studio is actually 7-8 miles out of LA in Universal city, with about 70% outside the city limits to save taxes .. A 415 acres property divided into an upper lot and lower lot.. First parking.. We decided to park in the preferred parking lot, that was 20$ compared to the regular 10$, as the preferred parking is closer to the U/S..
As we were visiting around Christmas, they had the place decorated, and were promoting a movie called the Grinch, with a giant Grinchmas tree and real snow around it.. Kids really loved it..
After walking around for some time, we saw their Waterworld set.. Pretty nice, but probably nothing to compare to the Shamu show in Sea World.. Both places had seats in the first two rows in the Splash zone.. I liked the near authentic feel of the set, the fires, blanks shooting etc..
We then strolled down U/S, got the obligatory photos with Dracula, Jaws, and some kiddy cartoon character..
We then went for the Shrek 4d experience.. With rocking theatre seats in rhyme with Prince Charming’s horses hooves, and water droplets coming on your face in time with Shrek’s spit!!
After that we tried out some doughnuts.. Basically U/S seemed like a kids playground.. Sweets, rides, and colours, and favourite cartoon characters.. We then went for the last ride of the day, that took you through recreated sets of the Mummy, Jurassic park, some disaster movies (!) Including a huge plane crash, flooding scenes, etc..
Overall a day full of events.!!
Come evening, we made our way to the Little Door, a purposefully nondescript fronted restaurant – without a sign, or anything to say what it was.. Just a little door in a wall, that opened to a beautiful patio, with a good fine dining ambience. We sat at the bar and looked at the menu, figured out the choice for DW as a vegetarian was meager, and so sashayed over to the Little Next Door.. a more informal cafe style seating… With the help of our maitre, I had a Grilled Marinated Daurade Fillet, while DW had a French Onion Soup, and we shared a Grilled Vegetables with goat cheese, pinenuts and basil. I can’t somehow get rid of the pronunciation of Do’haaade, that the maitre used to describe the fish… pretty good, especially with pesto liberally rubbed into the fish.
Let me tell you at this point that I am a big foody! Whenever, DW drags me into a “Mall” or a supermarket, I quietly saunter towards the food-groceries section and dive into a delectable soiree.. where I want to buy everything off the shelf! Babes, calls it the “Kid in a candy store” syndrome that I suffer from! Hence, food is always given priority in my trip planning…after all..Beauty, whether man-made or natural, can’t be appreciated on a less than satisfied tummy!!
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Hollywood walk of fame! |
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Kaya Toast |
…http://www.mashtimalone.com/.
decided to drive over to santa monica..to enjoy the sunset at the boulevard… took couple of wrong turns exiting LA…n reached there..just after sunset..even the n got the hang of the place.. took some pictures..did some more shopping…n headed back…
back to the B & B!
later in the evening, strolled down to the “The Original Farmer’s Market” (an LA landmark), which was a few blocks from the B & B.
“The Grove” is a mega shopping complex, adjacent to the farmers market and was bustling with tourists, shoppers and locals alike.. we let ourselves be carried away with the fun n frolic…and ended up doing tons of Christmas shopping! All in all, a very productive day…according to DW!!!
I liked the foodie trip,specially the Kaya toast,Kelly's choco,and the Deli!!
Raghu