The Last Leg

It's 10.30am on Wednesday morning and I am all snuggled up in bed at our very first Airbnb in our new home town of Calgary.
We flew over the most magnificent mountains all still covered in snow on the way in and I'm currently kicking myself that I didn't take a picture.

We took a very fancy sedan "limo" driver over to our Airbnb which is literally just outside the city. It's been the most expensive taxi to date here in Northern America (CAN$54) but we couldn't order an UBER because T.Mobile doesn't have a roaming package option and there weren't any yellow taxi's available.

Our Airbnb is this tiny little thing of a house, directly opposite a fly over that leads into the city. We've got a Starbucks and an organic grocery store just around the corner & most places seem to be in walking distance (although, we did walk into the city last night to get McDonald's and it felt like the longest walk in existence). We took an UBER home from Maccas (thank you free WiFi) because after the last 4 full on days we had in LA we were too tired to walk all the way back home.


We wanted to spend our last couple of days in LA being as touristy as possible so that's what we did. Friday we woke up early and Candice took us down to Universal Studios. We had an absolute blast riding the attractions and the Studio tour was absolutely amazing. Getting to see the back lot and get a behind the scenes look at how things are made (like rain & floods), right down to forest scenes in Jurassic park that was filmed on a stretch no bigger than 2 meters. We had lunch at The Simpson's Springfield, down at Cletus' Chicken Shack when we first arrived as we hadn't had any breakfast. I got a giant Grape Fanta from the dispenser and I was beyond pleased. My favourite attraction by far (as can be expected) was "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter". You enter through Hogsmead, with the towers of Hogwarts in the distance. I quite honestly nearly sobbed while sitting in The Three Broomticks over my raspberry iced tea purely out of joy. If anyone grew up with and loves Harry Potter as much as I do then you'd completely understand. I purchased a wand (deatheaters), a necklace (Slytherin) and an oversized T-Shirt with the Dark Mark on it. Before we knew it, it was 5pm and time for us to book an UBER and head home.
When we got home, we relaxed on the couch, caught up on TV shows, made homemade quesadilla's for dinner and went to bed.

Saturday morning was yet another early rise as Candice offered to

drop us off at Santa Monica Pier before her yoga class. The day was already turning out to be absolutely beautiful. We walked a couple of blocks down from the pier and found this bar/cafe with a really cool vibe. Our table had Prince printed on it so I knew were were in the right place. I ordered Cinnabun Blueberry cream cheese stuffed French Toast which tasted just as amazing as it sounds and Kieran ordered Eggs Benedict. It's actually been relatively difficult to find places over here that do the European breakfasts that we're used to. Most places that we've come across so far don't even do your standard Bacon and Eggs. There is a lot more of a Mexican influence in everything, which makes sense since Mexico isn't that far away. 

Santa Monica Pier was amazing. We got there just before 9am so the

crowds hadn't really started yet. There was a guy preaching over a loud speaker about becoming a born again Christian and making Santa Monica great again and a Korean pop group filming a music video just over the stall next to that. There were shops and stalls selling hats and sunglasses, carnival food and your typical Santa Monica tourist memorabilia. We wandered around the extent of the pier and then decided to grab some tickets for the Pacific Park so we could go on the Ferris Wheel, Roller Coaster and Sea Dragon. After that we headed into the Old Carousal house to grab soda (I got Cherry flavour) and headed back out to see what else there was to see. The crowds were getting a bit thicker at this point but through the throngs of people Kieran and I notice this skinny African American man, probably pushing into his late sixties, setting up speakers and dressed entirely in sparkling white; from the collar of his long coat, right down to the heels of his boots. We settled into watch him and he paid Kieran a dollar for us to film him on his GoPro. He sang a James Brown number and danced with the kids. After we gave him back his dollar and grabbed a selfie. He told me he though Kieran and I were a beautiful married couple and that we should stay in love, which we both thought was hilarious (Kieran is very much Gay and I am very much single). We wandered off the pier on the beach end and stumbled across an adorable family rock band who were absolutely brilliant. We decided to hire bikes and bike down to Venice beach which was probably the highlight of the day. There were so many beautiful dogs and beautiful males and the weather was actually perfect. I would've loved to have stopped off at Venice to have a wander through the streets because it all looked so interesting - but that's for another visit.

Our Celebrity sighting has now gone up to 2 as we were biking back towards Santa Monica these guys emerge on the small dune to our right carrying their surfboards. Kieran is cycling just up ahead of me at this point and I look at this one kid and my brain registers that he looks quite familiar. By the time I've caught up with Kieran we both say in unison, "I'm pretty sure that was Cody Simpson". Of all the places to see the little Australian Surfer/Singer I was definitely not expecting on the beach in Venice. 

After our 40ish minute cycle to Venice beach and back we were starting feel a bit hungry. Laura had suggested Pier Burger as she said it was the best burgers she's had when she was in LA, and since it was pushing close to about 4PM and the lunch crowd had cleared so we decided to check it out. We were standing it line looking at the menu board when my eye caught on the sign that read "we use 100% Peanut oil". My heart dropped as I'm deathly allergic to nuts so it meant I couldn't eat anything on the menu. I told Kieran he could still order and we'd find something for me after since I wasn't all that hungry but that point anyway. Once Kieran finished his food we decided to head to the Swingers Diner since it was close to the Metro we needed to catch home. I ordered a Chicken sandwich which was amazing because by that point I was starving and managed to finish the entire thing (which is a feat because anyone who knows me will know I NEVER finish all of my food)! After that we popped intot he grocery store across the road to grab some snacks and something to eat for dinner then headed for the Metro which took us a couple of blocks down from my cousin's house. Dave picked us up as he was heading home from a Graduation and we got settled in for the night at home. 

Sunday was meant to be our lazy day - and it was. I did a load of washing, read my book, napped on the couch and generally just lazed around. It was incredible. As outgoing of a person as I am I also really enjoy my space and my quiet time and it was really nice to not have to do anything for a couple of hours. We decided we were going to hit up the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign later on in the day as it would be less hot. The Observatory was really cool and the views were amazing. We didn't manage to make it to the Hollywood sign as the hike was about 2 hours and after 2 full days of being on my feet there was no way I was going to make that trek even if you paid me! On our way back down to the car from our little hike we came across a cute baby rattle snake slowly making his way across our path. If Candice hadn't pointed him out I honestly would have stepped right on him as I was too busy talking. Since it was too far to hike to the Hollywood sign we drove around the Hollywood hills instead to see how close we could get. Which wasn't very close but it was still cool to ride around and look at the houses around the area. On the way back we stopped in an area called Los Feliz to grab some sushi for dinner and then headed to an ice cream place a couple of blocks down the road. This is when the night took a turn for the worse. 

Remember that life threatening nut allergy I was talking about? Well, Candice, Kieran and I were sitting there, enjoying our ice cream. I'd ordered a Salted Caramel Chip and the guy behind the counter assured me there were no nuts - he even used a brand new scoop to make sure. But alas - some cross contamination still happened and about halfway through I ate something that tasted a lot like peanuts. It's a very difficult reaction to explain but it's like, as soon as it touched my tongue my entire body went into high alert. My heart starts racing faster, I start getting hot flushes and then I start to feel my throat, tongue and pallet tingling. I sat for a bit just to make sure it wasn't just an over reaction but when the tingling started I new I need to get to a hospital. I went inside and very calmly asked for some salt water to throw up which can delay the reaction. My cousin started looking for pharmacies that sold Epi pens as I hadn't had time to get one. We called and searched for about half an hour but no one sold them over the counter. I then called my insurance company to make sure that they covered the claim and once they confirmed that they did I went into the emergency room at the Children's Hospital of LA for medication and observation. They gave me some oral pills and told me to let them know if the reaction got any worse - they didn't want to have to give me epinephrine as the observation time would be longer and the bill higher. After a couple of hours I didn't look like I was getting any worse so they discharged me with a prescription for an Epi Pen and I was back on the road with Candice and Dave to get home.

As can be expected I was even MORE exhausted so I got straight into bed and went to sleep.

Monday was another early rise as we were heading into Warner Bros

Studios. We booked an UBER at about 10am which dropped us off right outside the studios - our tour started at 11.30. It was another early morning without any breakfast but thankfully there was a Starbucks on the premises so I bought a Bacon, Egg and Cheese bun and a coffee and we settled in to wait for our tour to start. I feel like having a love for all things film made this tour so much more awesome for me. We got to walk through the front lot and walk down the famous Hennesy Street where so many of my favourite films and TV shows were shot - We stood in front of the orphanage from Annie just to name one! Got sorted by the Sorting Hat (Into RAVENCLAW!?) and then ordered something to eat from Central Perk.
Monday night was our last night there but I was so exhausted, so while Kieran and Candice went out for a couple of drinks I had a shower, got into bed and read my book. I was so cozy and content and I was completely out for the count by 10pm. I couldn't think of a better way to end my last day in LA.