Return to LA

On waking on Wednesday, our last in San Francisco we didn’t feel great about our 9pm departure. We called the airlines and managed to eventually have it changed to 4:40pm, a much more palatable time all round. The girls spent the morning successfully buying jeans while Benj and I took it easy. Our great driver friend (if ever you need an SF guide, Roger Watson is your man) picked us up half an hour early to show us some new sights on the way to the airport. He took us to the Height-Ashbury area, famous for flower power during the 60s, showed us some beautiful architecture on the house and then took us up to Twin Peaks where we had lunch and enjoyed the stunning view. We had a truly memorable time in San Francisco all enjoyed in perfect weather.

We’ve decided we love American Airlines (as against Delta and United). Check-in was a breeze and for once we weren’t searched. Felt like luxury. At the gate lounge they even managed to get us seats together up front. Being on the right side of the plane we were able to enjoy views of the Big Sur and Hearst Castle on the way South as the sun set on the horizon.

We were met at LAX by the rental car rep who took our baggage and handed the car over to us. It was the same car we’d had when we first arrived in LA. Despite it being peak hour, we had a relatively easy and quick ride to the Luxe in Beverly Hills. It felt like we were coming home. The staff at the Luxe all remembered us and welcomed us with open arms, even knowing our names. They are mostly Mexicans and are very friendly. There were toffee apples and chocolates to greet us in the same rooms we’d used the first time. We called the Hackners to say hi and Errol suggested a neat area for a kosher dinner on Pico. So off we went and we found this great little meat place and had delicious burgers and chicken teriyaki dishes amongst all the yarmulkas and sheitals. We also nited that there was a kosher sushi restaurant right next door.

On Thursday we had breakfast at a neat little restaurant on Little Santa Monica called Café Panini. Great food and great service. We ate outside and it was so hot Gabz realised her one arm got sunburnt during the meal. The weather really has been freakish! We then headed off to the beach…

The girls did some shopping on the 3rd Street Promenade and then joined Benj and I at the Santa Monica Pier. It’s an old fun pier with rides and arcade games which we really enjoyed. On the beach under the Pier people the locals were sunbathing in the balmy conditions and some were even swimming. There were some great buskers singing (Nat has become our change collector…each night she rounds up all the change we have from the day so she has it ready for the buskers and homeless people)…the quality of some of them really is outstanding.
While at the Pier I rang my ex partner and old mate Chris Lee to wish him Happy Birthday. Most years Chris and I share a birthday for 19 hours, but not this year with us in the US. While chatting we discussed the Hudson plane miracle and Chris told me that his eldest son, Alex, had witnessed the whole thing from his apartment on the river and rushed to the water’s edge to help the passengers. Kinda weird to think that Chris himself had in his own words ‘rubbed shoulders’ with the 9-11 terrorists at Newark on that fateful morning in 2001.

We watched a beautiful sunset at Santa Monica and then headed east to the sushi joint on Pico. We picked up a big plate of sushi and headed to the Hackners for a casual dinner. It was great to see them all again and catch up on the past month’s happenings.

On Friday morning after breakfast at Nate n Als (Larry King was a no show this time) we drove east to Hollywood Boulevard to tick off one of our outstanding items being the ‘Walk with the Stars’. It’s a lovely viby area and apart from seeing which ‘stars’ we could recognise on the sidewalk we also got to pose for pictures with various cartoon characters including Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob, Darth Vader, Barney and Big Bird. We checked out the Kodak Theatre where the Academy Awards are held and bought a few souvenirs before heading for Century City.

Century City is a beautiful outdoor Westfield Shopping Centre where we had lunch and did some last minute shopping. We then headed back east to Beverley Hills. The Hackners hosted us for a delightful and interesting Shabbos dinner. The whole family was there as well as Daniel Rosenberg, a New York cousin of theirs in the movie industry. Daniel’s recent credits include RIGHTEOUS KILL starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino (I was suitably impressed as they are my two favourite actors, and in 2006, he Executive Produced INSIDE MAN starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster and directed by Spike Lee. Not bad either eh. Made for an interesting evening to hear his stories from within the industry. Times are tough in the industry right now and despite these credits he is struggling to find work right now. The conversation also switched during the evening to Bernie Madoff. The effect he has had on so many people is staggering. Everyone literally shakes their head when his name is mentioned. He has devastated so many lives over here and destroyed numerous charities which had invested all their assets with him. The guy was chairman of NASDAQ and hence was trusted by everyone. A real modern day tragedy.

Thanks Hackners for a wonderful evening! and The food was delicious as always and thanks for the cake and candles to celebrate my birthday. Thanks also to family and friends for the cards, calls, emails and SMS’s received throughout the day which were all much appreciated.

So just the one day left on the mainland before we head for Hawaii for some R&R. Helene has a friend coming up from San Diego to meet with us tomorrow which she is very excited about.