O.C. (the trip)
They've got cars big as bars, they've got rivers of gold. And so that Pogues song went. It talked about NYC, but i couldn't help but hum it in my head from the minute we landed in California. Everything seemed huge and overproportioned. It took me a while to get used to the new sizes, the natural richness as well as the artificial one. Of course this could be due to the fact that the first place we visited was Laguna Beach. Ah, that beach with sand and bright green grass. The expensive little crafty and designer shops. The true Orange County houses looking at you from over the hills. A hippy turned gay turned plain wealthy town.

On the other side of the scale, West Hollywood was not rich at all. Nor was it clean or (too) interesting. We did our tourist thing around the Chinese Theatre but i can't say any of that impressed me. This time, Lou Reed's 'Dirty Boulevard' was playing in my mind. _Side note: Another NYC reference!_ When i was pointed towards the entrance of the Kodak Theatre i had to look twice. A mall. A gold coloured mall. Unbelievable. I had trouble picturing anything glamour-related taking place there.

Rodeo Drive felt like a piece of a set in one of the Hollywood studios. There was something bittersweet about most of the places i visited in downtown L.A., except surely the Walt Disney Music Centre. That was worth every little corner, every shiny reflection. If you're anywhere near it, i recommend the tour.

The day we visited the Getty was probably the most remarkable one of the entire holiday. The lack of contents in the Museum is highly compensated by the magnificent building(s) and the astonishing landscape that wraps the experience up. Plus there is a train that takes you up the hill into the museum, giving you the chance to admire the beautiful views. Or, in Bruno's case, it gives you the opportunity to meet a cute baby girl his age called Charlie.

The tour around the Beach Cities was great. Driving around with a map from Dana Point to Long Beach, passing Newport, Huntington, etc. felt true California, except we didn't have the perfect weather. Side note 2: Sometimes unperfect weather suits travelling. And i love unperfectness. I also love changing directions, so we suddenly geared up towards the North and headed to neat Pasadena.

San Diego is colourful and alive. At least that's what they tell me about their night life. Bruno enjoyed walking around the broad sidewalks, i believe. Or maybe he simply enjoyed being richly wrapped in a white blue blanket. I enjoyed Urban Outfitters and the open terraces of bars.

I got a glimpse of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Santa Monica and Malibu from the car window one evening. We were big on window-touring. You are not human in California if you don't use a car seven times a day. Or if you don't shop like crazy. It's a big amusement park inside an even greater shopping mall. And it's fun, but tiring. It's good to be home, for a change. How have you been, boys and girls?