Off Topic Holidays

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Only just realised the hotel that the shooter went into while Trump was there the other night was the same one that Reagan actually had shots fired at him at, and more importantly was the same one me and Mrs Tash stayed at when we won a trip there from a competition on Viking FM! (The bullet holes were still in the wall)
Cracking trip, but if I’m honest the only thing I can remember about the hotel was that it was ****ing expensive so we didn’t eat and drink there as we were just kids who already had kids really at that age…so were skint. (Got spending money though which was good)
When we arrived there was a massive blizzard and it was about 18in deep snow, but being a hardy Hullensian I obviously wandered across the road to a beer off to get some cans for the room.
The bloke serving was amazed anyone had ventured outside and said something along the lines of it only being crazy Brits who would do that!
Amazing trip I must say, but feels like a different world cos we went everywhere, including right to the open doorway of the Oval Office, without encountering much security at all.
 
Has anyone been to LA and San Diego? If yes, did you have any safety problems? I was chatting to a couple of guys last night (Millwall game) who have been to LA and gave some pretty graphic reasons why to give LA a miss. I'd be planning to head to the Santa Monica and Venice Beach area, rather than Hollywood or downtown. Nobody I know has been to San Diego. Tar for any info.
 
Has anyone been to LA and San Diego? If yes, did you have any safety problems? I was chatting to a couple of guys last night (Millwall game) who have been to LA and gave some pretty graphic reasons why to give LA a miss. I'd be planning to head to the Santa Monica and Venice Beach area, rather than Hollywood or downtown. Nobody I know has been to San Diego. Tar for any info.
My daughter went to LA last year and did the places you want
No problems at all
Don’t stray into dodgy areas
San Diego supposed to be lovely place to go
Bit of a hidden gem compared to rest of california

And I’d recommend Laguna beach to the south of LA but of an arty chilled place
 
My daughter went to LA last year and did the places you want
No problems at all
Don’t stray into dodgy areas
San Diego supposed to be lovely place to go
Bit of a hidden gem compared to rest of california

And I’d recommend Laguna beach to the south of LA but of an arty chilled place
Cheers, much obliged.
 
Has anyone been to LA and San Diego? If yes, did you have any safety problems? I was chatting to a couple of guys last night (Millwall game) who have been to LA and gave some pretty graphic reasons why to give LA a miss. I'd be planning to head to the Santa Monica and Venice Beach area, rather than Hollywood or downtown. Nobody I know has been to San Diego. Tar for any info.
Both, but only fleetingly in San Diego on a day out from LA. Not much opinion as we only really passed through the outskirts and stopped briefly.
Long time ago mind you,(decades I think) and I suspect things may be different in LA.
We had a great time but even then I struggled with the vast wealth inequality there. Just one example being we walked out of Tiffany’s on Rodeo Drive (after significant effort convincing Mrs Tash that none of the jewellery was good enough for her…) and you could see people living in shopping trolleys down the road opposite.
Depressing.
Having said that I can’t say we even felt unsafe, but it was decades ago (tbf I did once feel the need to ask if it was ok for me to be going into some bogs cos there was blokes in suits and earpieces hanging around at the door and two other Italian chaps inside having a tete a tete, or whatever the Italian version is…I was granted the quickest piss I’ve ever had!)
I liked Santa Monica and Venice though, and the atmosphere and views from the Getty Center were stunning (as was the restaurant up there) and the coastal road is stunning (Pacific Coast Highway?)
Hollywood was fine for a wander on (we were staying at the Roosevelt on Hollywood Boulevard just opposite the Grauman Theatre were they have the Oscars) which was all very nice, but we were there for some gigs a few hundred yards away and again the difference was vast. 5 minute walk and it was tramps and hookers central.
Driving was fun too!
Enjoy though!
 
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As @Chazz Rheinhold says (he’s on a run of getting things right!) if you’re sensible and do a bit of research about where to go and where not to go you should be as safe as anywhere in the US.
I’m guessing Hollywood, Beverley Hills are fine, but Compton less so.
 
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Has anyone been to LA and San Diego? If yes, did you have any safety problems? I was chatting to a couple of guys last night (Millwall game) who have been to LA and gave some pretty graphic reasons why to give LA a miss. I'd be planning to head to the Santa Monica and Venice Beach area, rather than Hollywood or downtown. Nobody I know has been to San Diego. Tar for any info.
Was a few years ago but we found LA to be a dump. My then teenage lad still has nightmares about Venice beach, seeing a cop throwing a black guy over the police car bonnet while his partner stood with his gun pointing at him wasn’t the best impression.
In contrast we loved San Diego, took a bus tour round the city and saw all the very different areas.
 
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Has anyone been to LA and San Diego? If yes, did you have any safety problems? I was chatting to a couple of guys last night (Millwall game) who have been to LA and gave some pretty graphic reasons why to give LA a miss. I'd be planning to head to the Santa Monica and Venice Beach area, rather than Hollywood or downtown. Nobody I know has been to San Diego. Tar for any info.
Not been to San Diego but was in LA 10 years ago. It was a bit of a dump imo, grubby, overrun with cars, difficult to walk anywhere. No issues with safety but we stayed alert to it and weren't out late at night. Wouldn't fancy Hollywood after dark, we thought Laurel Canyon might be a bit chilled but it was full of cars, mostly stationary stuck in jams. Griffith observatory is worth a visit, you get to see the sheer scale of the place.
Santa Monica was ok, less of a sprawl than LA but, again, I wouldn't fancy Venice beach at night.
I'm glad I went but I wouldn't go back. The discrepancy between rich and poor is staggering and for me a bit hard to take.
The further north you go from LA along the coast the better it gets imo, but the place is still, well, full of loony Americans...
 
We’re currently in Japan, if anyone is thinking of going I can’t recommend highly enough. Den was good enough to provide some tips for Tokyo which really helped but everywhere we’ve visited around the country has been superb.
I've been to Tokyo, in 2013 I think. I stayed near that big railway station....An amazing place and the transport system for a large city is probably the best in the world. The Japanese have it sussed. Take a walk down Have-a-$hit Street for fashion trends.

PS...Re: my intended trip to LA....The Yanks on TripAdvisor tell me I've got nothing to worry about in Santa Monica/Venice Beach, and in San Diego. Well they would say that wouldn't they!
 
I've been to Tokyo, in 2013 I think. I stayed near that big railway station....An amazing place and the transport system for a large city is probably the best in the world. The Japanese have it sussed. Take a walk down Have-a-$hit Street for fashion trends.
We’ve found it all remarkably cheap, especially transport and food. Every city is different, and every area in Tokyo different. Will definitely come back.
 
We’ve found it all remarkably cheap, especially transport and food. Every city is different, and every area in Tokyo different. Will definitely come back.
Have you done the six way crossroads outside the railways station, in that place I can't recall the name of....Oddly, I never saw anyone bump into each other. A bit like the crossroads in Vietnam with no traffic lights.
 
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Have you done the six way crossroads outside the railways station, in that place I can't recall the name of....Oddly, I never saw anyone bump into each other. A bit like the crossroads in Vietnam with no traffic lights.
Yes in Shibuya. There’s a really posh cafe restaurant on one corner overlooking the crossing on three floors. We went in expecting it to be very expensive but two coffees and two very nice cakes cost £16.
 
Have you done the six way crossroads outside the railways station, in that place I can't recall the name of....Oddly, I never saw anyone bump into each other. A bit like the crossroads in Vietnam with no traffic lights.
You don't actually have to go to Japan, to use a crossing like that, they've had the same thing in Oxford Circus since 2009...

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