Day 1 - we arrive in the USA

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What a big day. After staying in Melbourne for the weekend to spend as much time as possible with Mel and Brayden before going away we rose to our multiple alarms at 4am, got dressed and checked out of the hotel.

We travelled to the Melbourne airport getting breakfast along the way, arriving at the airport at 6am to meet with the tour group.

Checked in at 6:30am then into the international lounge for a couple of hours.
The flight left a little late at around 10am as there was a tail wind anticipated and we could not arrive into LA before 6:30 am.

We travelled on a Qantas A380 - a very impressive aircraft to say the least. Food, beverage and service was very good all the way (exceeded my expectations!!!). 

Several movies and games later we arrived into LA at 6:10am and after a police escort along the Tarmac we arrived at our destination. We had to sit until 6:30am when the airport could open before exiting the aircraft. We then came to a standstill whilst we crawled through Customs and Border protection over the next couple of hours.. Things we're particularly tight since the recent aircraft issues around the world ( a bit frustrating but prefer them to be picky and be safe then the alternative!!). 

We were then transferred in black SUV's to our West Hollywood hotel - The Ramada Plaza.
With everyone quite tired from the trip we all made our own plans for the day with a bit of food and sightseeing for most. We soon learnt however that we were in the Alternative part of town..refer to the colouful photo below. 

Dinner was at a local Italian restaurant where we enjoyed pasta and pizza. Very nice food. Followed by beers at a local sports bar where the college basketball finals were being telecast. The locals are very passionate (as were some of our group who immersed themselves in the local culture!!!)
10pm and time for bed - have been awake for near 2 days!!!!





Comments

  1. MelfieldApril 9, 2014 at 8:21 AM

    Sounds like you should be exhausted! Great to hear the happenings. Can't wait for the next post and to hear about the tour around Hollywood.. Miss you xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shelly, Jono, Harrison and AimeeApril 15, 2014 at 7:27 PM

    Wow! How exciting!
    A380 sounds great! I am sure you are seeing a lot of new sights! Haha
    Glad to finally have this working again- so I can actually comment!

    ReplyDelete

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