Being obliging B&B guests, we enjoyed a delicious and leisurely breakfast provided by our hosts, even though we were about to embark on a 3½ hour walking tour of Farmer’s Market and 3^rd Street. Our lovely hosts insisted we take our time over breakfast, and then further insisted on dropping us off at Farmer’s Market, despite it being only a 15-minute walk away. There in plenty of time for our tour, where the agenda was … more food! We seemed to have an eating focus during our short stay in LA, we may detail in an anecdote another time.

After walking and eating, we took the bus to Santa Monica/Wiltshire, followed by a 1.2 mile “stroll” to visit the Holmby Park Lawn Bowling Club. A few players were having a roll and we chatted with old-timer Cecil and the US Henselite distributor. Will save the details for a lawn bowls anecdote later!

Back on to public transport with our day trip tickets. Quite a long drive along Wiltshire to Downtown. With all the walking and still a little jet-lagged, Tom kept nodding off – nearly headbutted the lady sitting in front once! Noticed our stop after we went past, so walked back to the Tourist Information – closed on Saturdays. It was already after 4pm by now, so should have expected it to be closed.

Checked the map at the nearby subway for a bus to the Olympic Stadium. Caught the Dash F – not the same bus company as our day tickets, but cheap anyway, especially with Tom asking for seniors rates … 50 cents! Headed off to Exposition Park. Arrived just before 5pm, but the Olympic Stadium ‘Memorial Coliseum’ was closed today anyway!

The Memorial Coliseum hosted two Summer Olympics (1932 and 1984) with a third coming up in 2028. We took a few photos outside to add to the collection of Olympic Stadiums. Despite not going into the venue, we’re counting it as a tick! Maybe travel will be back on the agenda for 2028?

Back to 2011 … As we queued for the metro bus back to downtown, we wished we had some more Spanish vocabulary, to understand the conversations around. Tom, being the helpful gentleman than he is, took a baby from its struggling mother’s arms as she hesitantly stepped towards the bus doors. Tom temporarily had a Hispanic baby! Heads snapped towards us with accusing eyes. No madam, we are not stealing your baby, we see that you are struggling to get two toddlers, a baby, a stroller and yourself onto the bus. Shall I help you? ¿Te ayudo?

A mediocre meal at ‘Dublin’ in downtown, and a new contender for the worst toilet in LA – even nastier than the toilets earlier at Expo Park.  Soon we were back on another bus home. Seemed we were the only Caucasians on board for most of the trip, until a couple of drunk Aussies boarded close to La Brear. Lots of Hispanic folk on this very crowded local bus – more Spanish than English being spoken. We definitely should’ve learnt some basic Spanish before this trip! Is that our stop? ¿Esa es nuestra parada de autobús?

Home in the early evening, ready to pack as we were heading to Las Vegas the next day. Electricity went off for a little while (seems a regular occurrence), so abandoned packing and enjoyed wine, cheese and chocolate in the dark with our fellow B&B guests. Very enjoyable! ¡Muy agradable!