Finals: Dinners, Cha for Tea, Signal Hill and Sunsets.

So it was our final week of the semester and Steph and Sera's final week in Long Beach. This meant filling our time with activities that needed to be done before we parted ways for Christmas!

Firstly, I went to California Pizza Kitchen downtown with Steph, Sera and their floor mates which was a lot of fun! Having spent the majority of my time last semester in their room, I like to think I became a part of their floor too!

After saying goodbye on the Wednesday afternoon to my fellow English who were flying home, I had one more day until I left. This meant one last day in Long Beach with Steph and Sera! On the Wednesday night we went out for dinner with Tori to a Greek restaurant on 2nd Street which has really great food. All too quickly it was time for the Aussies to say goodbye to Tori (little did they know they'd be seeing each other again). I teared up and it wasn't even me saying goodbye yet.

The next day we had a bad start with rain (for the 4th time in my whole semester) and problems renting a car. Long story short, we had to go open an American debit account, and our day improved from there when a lovely guy helped us at Chase (a bank). Then after finally picking up the car, and filling it with our suitcases, we were on our way.

Our first stop was Cha for Tea… of course! This seems to be one of Long Beach's most popular student spots so it had to be done one last time! Here's a snapchat screenshot of us looking quite exhausted:

We then drove to Signal Hill as Steph and Sera had not yet been and I had told them over and over that they had to go before they left Long Beach. It has great views of not only LB but you can also see Downtown LA and even the Hollywood sign in the distance. Although the weather wasn't too great we still had good views and fun taking photos. I'm glad we went there, I feel its something you have to do when in Long Beach.

CSULB's campus is in the background, see the blue pyramid:

We then decided to go get ice cream at Seal Beach and watch the sunset:

Steph and Sera then took me to LAX for my flight home and while they waited with me we were pleased to see the male Canadian water polo team checking in, who looked great in their uniforms. They were a welcome distraction. When the time came for me to go through security and say goodbye for Christmas, let me tell you, I was so glad I still had Hawaii to look forward to with these girls!

Hike to the Hollywood Sign

On our last Saturday in Long Beach before Christmas we took a trip to LA to hike up to the Hollywood sign. It was Steph and Sera's final weekend in California so this was something we just had to do. After talking about it for the whole semester, we finally got out and did it, and it was a great trip! It was a really hot day; it did not feel like December at all, and Christmas definitely did not feel like it was little more than a week away!

It was quite a difficult hike due to the heat, but we made it to the top and the view was amazing! It is one of those very iconic things you never expect to do and it felt so surreal.

Our first glimpse of the Hollywood sign:

 Hiking:

Horses, right next to the edge.. scary stuff:

About halfway up: 

The now-famous stick had been found, held by Steph:

Steph and Sonnee decided to follow some guys' lead by taking a short cut up a very steep mountain side. The eery-looking wooden cross did not deter them. With the help of the stick they made their way up while the rest of us were on edge, worrying that they would fall, like good friends.

They made it to the top, and named their climb Mount Copperopolis, after the legendary town we had previously visited. They have not shut up about it since..

 View of the Griffith Observatory and Downtown LA:

Barrier separating us from the sign, sad its not the olden days where you could go sit on it:

The sign and Downtown LA:

 Me and Sera:

Group photo at the top, we made it.. even if we do all look exhausted:

Downtown LA behind:

 On the way back down Steph and Sonnee wanted a celebratory photo at the top of their hill, with their stick... notice the warning barrier...

We saw coyotes:

And again at the bottom of their hill, where they left the stick for the next brave hikers ;)

Great day, great people, great end to the semester! We made our mark on the railings up there, we go down in Hollywood history!

One more post from before Christmas, my (first) last day in Long Beach with Steph and Sera, will be up soon too! Then I will try to keep on track...

The Queen Mary

So before I get to writing about Hawaii and Seattle I wanted to make sure I posted about the end of last semester as I'm trying not to miss out any adventures we've had. In the two weeks before we went our separate ways for Christmas we tried to fit in as much as we could amongst all our finals. On the second to last weekend some of us went to visit the Queen Mary, one of Long Beach's main attractions.

Before doing a tour we had time to explore the ship ourselves, so we went on deck and up to the bridge. We had great weather for the day out, which was a nice surprise after seeing a bad report for that day. Weather like that never gets old, even after living in it for 4 months! It was kind of cold but I don't mind if its sunny!

Titanic-esque pose:

On the bridge:

Exploring:

Downtown Long Beach:

As the Queen Mary is supposedly haunted we did a tour of the ship, on which we were told "true" stories of the ship's ghostly history. The old swimming pool is one of the places that is thought to be most haunted, especially by a little girl. It wasn't too scary, we survived! The ship was also used in the war for carrying thousands of soldiers so there were a lot of deaths onboard as a result of wounds, disease and other unrelated illnesses. It would have been very crowded, in fact the swimming pool was even filled with bunk beds for the soldiers.

We went further into the depths of the ship and saw the engine rooms. We were told some more spooky stories about people who had died down there, and of a person on a tour who had once captured a photo of what appeared to be smoke approaching the tour guide. Steph made the guide recreate the situation by encouraging him to stand in the spot to see if anything happened while we clicked away with our cameras. Of course nothing happened!

When we finished the tour it was dark and a few of us decided to stay and look around some more. It was great to see the ship's lights at night and also to see the view of downtown Long Beach.

Relaxing on deck:

We were surprised to find out that the Titanic was smaller than the Queen Mary as it seemed small, and you imagine Titanic to have been so much bigger, probably because of how it is shown in the movie! The ship is definitely worth a visit when in Long Beach!

On my recent trip to Seattle I think I was told that some relatives had travelled from England to America on the Queen Mary which has made my trip there even more interesting, and it seems like such a coincidence that I chose to come to Long Beach now.

My next blog post is about our hike up to the Hollywood sign!

Roadtrip 2: My First Thanksgiving, San Francisco and Yosemite.

So I'm home for Christmas after an amazing first semester in the USA. I can't believe how fast it has gone, but I've done so much, had the time of my life and made some of the most amazing friends!

So I'm still catching up due to how busy I was at the end of the semester with uni work and finals; here it goes:

For the Thanksgiving Holiday I went on a road trip up to Northern California to spend Thanksgiving with an American friend Kim, whose family very kindly hosted five of us. We also took the opportunity to see San Francisco and then to visit Yosemite National Park while there.

On the first day of our trip, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and took photos!

We then went down to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 which is a really cool place by the water with little shops and restaurants, and it overlooks Alcatraz. I really liked the atmosphere of this part as it has a small town feel in a big city. This was the first thing that made me think that if I were to live in the USA I'd choose San Francisco.

Sonnee, Sara and I with Alcatraz in the background:

Pier 39:

We then drove to Kim's house and had a lovely dinner with her family and a dip in the hot tub! Afterwards we went on a midnight walk and saw the stars :)

The next day was Thanksgiving and after a relaxing morning we drove to Kim's Aunt and Uncle's for Thanksgiving dinner, which I have to say was one of the best meals I've had the whole semester. The drive there showed us a very different California than what we've been used to in Long Beach with countryside. I felt like I was on the east coast as it was so different, let alone in the same state. Its great that California itself has so many different landscapes to explore!

On our way we passed through Sacramento, the Capitol of California:

Thanksgiving sunset in the American countryside:

After our dinner overlooking this view we played darts which was really fun and then had an entertaining drive home singing our hearts out! Our first Thanksgiving in the USA was great; I think I might celebrate it every year now, just to eat delicious food! Thanks to Kim's family!

On the next day, we got up very early and went into San Fran to try to fit as much into one day as we could. We had a beautiful day for it, there was no fog, just amazing blue skies and sunshine.

Firstly we went to Golden Gate Park, where we had a wander around and admired the fact that it was so peaceful in the middle of a city.

We then went to see the famous "Painted Ladies" houses in Alamo Square which has an amazing view of the city.

We saw the Mrs. Doubtfire House on Steiner St., which was surprisingly small but exciting to see nonetheless, and there was again an amazing view down the street.

And this is me saying, "Look Sonnee, Robin Williams stood here!"

Next up was the Pacific Heights neighbourhood where we sat and ate our lunch. This again had amazing San Fran style houses and views.

We then drove down Lombard Street, which is the windy road which has eight tight turns in the space of one block. This is the view from the top!

Next, on our way to park the car down at Pier 39, we went down a street with a really cool view of Alcatraz, which was pretty much the only place we didn't seem to visit, but I can do that another time!

Fisherman's Wharf:

We got a San Fran cable car from by the bay, and while we waited we had this stunning view!

Me and Steph on the cable car, ready to go! 

Up the hill:

Down the hill:

We got off at Union square which was our next stop.

Next up was the Financial district, where the Transamerica Pyramid is:

We walked from here to the Beat Museum, which I really wanted to visit having read On The Road, a novel by beat writer Jack Kerouac. I loved learning more about it as I find this era of American literature and history really interesting.

A glimpse inside the museum:

The car used in On The Road:

A really cool mural and street art nearby:

We then walked through Chinatown back to Union square and caught the cable car to Pier 39 to get the car. We drove to Haight Ashbury where we had dinner; this was the place to be in the sixties and it still has a lot of its hippie history.

Afterwards we visited Pier 39 again to look at some of the shops and then went to Telegraph Hill/ Coit Tower to see the view of the city at night.

The next morning we started our drive to Yosemite National Park, but along the way we found (what we considered to be) a national treasure, Copperopolis. This was a tiny town which didn't seem to have any one to serve except passing visitors like us, as it was in the middle of nowhere, yet it had two restaurants, an ice cream parlour, a nail salon, a pet shop and a few other shops. People were dressed traditionally and there were horse-drawn carriages doing rides around the square, it was a new town built to look old. It didn't seem to belong in California at all. It was the kind of thing that we thought could only be found in America, and this coupled with the name, led to us realising that many jokes could be made out of the town. And thus, Copperopolis has become a legend amongst my friends.

Copperopolis Town Hall:

Having had lunch in Copperopolis we spent a bit longer there than planned and so didn't have time to see much of Yosemite that day. But we did arrive before dark and were able to take photos at the sign. We also found out when we arrived to our campsite that there was an outdoor ice rink, and so our plans were made for the night!

Our campsite:

Our little tent:

We went ice skating where I had a couple of hilarious falls and then we made smores on the campfire.

The next morning we walked to Mirror Lake, which disappointingly didn't have any water in, but at least we got to walk in it!

Our different reactions to there being no water:

On our way back to the campsite we found this! This was more of a mirror lake than actual Mirror Lake:

After some breakfast we went to see Yosemite Falls. There wasn't much water flowing, due to the time of year, but it was there! The lack of it made it more of an adventure for us and more exciting as we climbed the rocks up towards the base of the waterfall.

After going to see Bridalveil Falls we started our drive back down to Southern California. However, we stopped along the way to see this, which is Tunnel View, one of the most famous at Yosemite and definitely one of the most beautiful. What an amazing end to our Thanksgiving week!

This was a really long post and very late, but I hope you enjoyed catching up on my travels. My experiences have all felt quite surreal while in the US but sitting writing this in England makes it all feel more real and makes me appreciate it that much more! This trip was one of the best experiences of the semester and thanks to Kim and her family we had a great Thanksgiving! Also a shoutout to Steph for driving us around the whole time, thank you. :)

My next post will be about visiting the Queen Mary back in Long Beach! Hopefully it will be up soon now I've got this big one out of the way!

Hope anyone reading had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year!