Conquering the West: a 10-Day Itinerary Through California, Arizona and Nevada

departure for San Francisco

We get up before dawn. Our British Airways flight to London leaves at 7:55. We're lucky enough to live in the province of Varese, so very close to Malpensa airport. So we quickly reach the booked car park, PARKINGO; we quickly take care of the payment formalities and the shuttle immediately takes us to terminal 1. We wait for the check-in to open and quickly do everything. The flight to London leaves on time. Unfortunately at London Heathrow, because of the misleading information received at the Malpensa check-in and because of our somewhat hasty nature, we make the mistake of going to the wrong gate. Luckily there's plenty of time to fix it, even though we have to, all out of breath, take a shuttle again and go through all the checks once more. Luckily we make it. So we board our flight to San Francisco.

The seats on the plane, as everyone knows, in economy class, are not very comfortable. However, the service of the flight attendants is very attentive. They serve us 2 meals on the flight (even though the choice of food is a bit unfortunate) and several times they serve us drinks. The flight, between one film and another, passes quickly and we arrive on time, in the afternoon, in San Francisco. The immigration checks are very quick and we encounter no problems. The baggage is delivered precisely and quickly. We reach the car rental point by a shuttle train. We easily find the Dollar desk but we immediately notice the long line in front of it (while all the other car rental desks were almost empty). How annoying! The employees are very slow. We wait at least 30 minutes before our turn and then the problems begin right away.

But why didn't we book with the always excellent Hertz like every year! Woe to us! Given that we didn't choose to book with Dollar ourselves but booked through e-noleggio.it which, for us, chose the Dollar offer. We had a lot of problems with E-noleggio because, at the time of booking confirmation, they always forgot to confirm something that was included in the booked package. We had to call at least 4 times to get all their mistakes corrected: - the first time they didn't confirm the satellite navigator included in the price. - The second time they confirmed a 2-door car instead of the 4-door car we had booked- The third time they didn't send us the final confirmation because they had lost the credit card details; - The fourth time I had to call back to confirm the credit card numbers again.

Then, at the Dollar desk, the employee did everything to squeeze more money out of us than the estimate. He insisted on getting us to take out useless insurance (which, among other things, was already included in the price); then he insisted on getting us to rent a bigger car, considering the car we had booked not suitable for us. After long discussions and after squeezing about 70 dollars out of us for something obligatory, which we didn't understand. Moreover, he gives us a satellite navigator without the Italian language. We notice it right away and have it replaced, but we're not lucky and the navigator will never work. We have to go back to the airport the next day to have it replaced. We reach our car, a very spartan Dodge Caliber (no electric windows and no central locking). The navigator can't locate the satellite.

We think it's a temporary coverage problem and, with some difficulty and using some maps in our possession, we manage to reach our Hotel Rodeway Inn, in the Civic Center area. The hotel is very squalid. It's a garage, all surrounded, on the upper floors, by a series of rooms. The elevator is scary. It looks like a freight elevator in perfect Bronx style. We decide, for our safety, to use it as little as possible. The Arab employee at the Reception is a perfect incompetent. The area where the hotel is located, Civic Center, which on the map seemed close to everything, is actually in a very squalid area that is close to nothing. The only positive thing is the Burger King next to the hotel. I'm so disappointed that I decide not to even have dinner and to go straight to sleep.

San Francisco

Because of the time difference we wake up early, around 6:30, as indeed every morning of the following days. However, the day looks nice. The sun is out from early morning: a rare thing in S. Francisco. We look for a typical place to have our first American breakfast. We find, right on Lombard Street, Mel's, a typical Diner, original 1950s with historic photos documenting it all and a Drive in. It feels like being at Arnold's in Happy Days. The menu is very rich and varied. Max chooses a classic breakfast with eggs and bacon and roast potatoes; I, instead, am curious to taste the famous Pancakes. A parenthesis to describe what pancakes are: they are a cross between our crepes and our fritters. They are smaller crepes but taller and fluffier. They can be paired with either sweet or savory. I choose the traditional American version with butter and the famous maple syrup.

The pancakes are very filling since the standard portion is usually 3 pancakes. They can also be enjoyed with chocolate, banana or berries.

We spend about 30 dollars but we are more than satisfied and decide to come back the next day too. On the way out we notice that the navigator still doesn't work. So we decide, again using road maps, to drive along the famous RUSSIAN HILL, on Lombard Street. The road, rather short, all downhill and with hairpin bends, doesn't impress us that much. From there, we head towards the Golden Gate. We glimpse the island of Alcatraz and drive across the bridge.

We reach right after the town of Sausalito, which we like very much with its colorful floating houses and houses on stilts. We photograph many of them because each one is different from the other. After that, another unpleasant surprise: a mysterious warning light comes on on the car dashboard. We consult the instruction booklet and understand that it's the tire pressure. So we have to go to a gas station to inflate the tires. We would have to repeat this operation as many as 4 times during the whole trip; Damn Dollar and its lousy service! We then return towards San Francisco, paying this time the toll on the way into the city (the toll is paid in only one direction), and reach Fisherman's Wharf and in particular the beautiful Pier 39. We park the car in the covered parking lot of the Fisherman Wharf for the modest sum of 7 dollars/hour and head to the Pier 39 opposite.

Here we are immediately overwhelmed by the colors and the liveliness of the place. We start entering every little shop and buy the first souvenirs. We have lunch with the famous crab sandwich, Clam Chowder. It's a hollowed-out bread loaf filled with crab soup: to be eaten strictly seated at a table.

We admire the sea lions lying in the sun and then make the decision to go back to the airport to have the navigator replaced. With great difficulty we reach the airport car drop-off point and they quickly give us a perfectly working Garmin navigator. Now we are more relaxed and everything is simpler. Max wants to go to Amoeba, a famous record store where you can buy CDs that are absolutely impossible to find in Italy. We buy about 5 or 6 CDs and then return to the Hotel. We're tired so we have dinner at the nearby Burger King and then off to bed.

Monterey, San Simeon

We get up early, leave the very ugly hotel for good (which however has the advantage of having free parking) and head again to Mel's for breakfast. This time I get my order wrong. I decide to order a slice of warm apple pie but I'm served one completely covered in cheese (cheese cheese, not sweet cheese!). In the end we order some pancakes again. We leave San Francisco to reach Monterey. Monterey is a pretty little town all in Spanish style NO NO with a Fisherman's Wharf similar to that of San Francisco but, obviously, much smaller. The walk is pleasant and, on the pier, we have lunch again with the crab sandwich. This time, we decide to order one between 2.

After lunch we set off towards San Simeon, along the Big Sur coastal road. It's a scenic road, where you can admire high cliffs overlooking the sea. There are many rest areas where you can admire the landscape and take photos. You also pass through the typically mountainous area of Big Sur. Nothing to say: beautiful landscapes. The road is truly scenic. It reminded us of some Irish and Scottish landscapes seen on our previous trips. We then reach the Silver Surf Motel in San Simeon, in an area where there is a high concentration of Motels of every chain. In San Simeon there is absolutely nothing to visit but it is the starting point for the visit to the Hearst Castle which is a few miles from there. The hotel is really nice: all in blue wood with lots of greenery and a fountain. The rooms are comfortable, with as many as 2 beds.

Too bad that motel rooms never have a hairdryer and we forgot ours at home. The hotel has an indoor pool and a very hot whirlpool tub. We go to the pool room and enjoy the peace of being completely alone in the room. We have dinner in a restaurant next to the hotel, eating excellent king prawns and a very good craft beer.

Santa Barbara

After the ritual phone calls from the room phone we head out to have breakfast at the same place where we had dinner. To make phone calls we almost always use the room phone or, sometimes, my strictly triband cell phone (Max's doesn't work because he discovered it's simply dual band), using the Telecom New Culumbus card purchased in Italy. Normally, calls made through international cards from hotels are free. Only in one case do they charge us a couple of dollars to a credit card. These are international phone cards with which you can call at really low prices (about 1 euro for each call made to Italy). Unfortunately, as the days go by, the available credit on the 12-euro card runs out. We have to find a solution to buy a new international phone card. As for the cell phone charger, I notice that it works regularly even with the American voltage.

Thank goodness! At breakfast I decide to have a Bagel, which is always mentioned in the American novels I read. However, the bagel will turn out to be a disappointment, since it's a simple little bread ring served with cream-cheese-type cheese. We then quickly head to the Hearst Castle visitor center where we present our confirmation email for the tickets booked and paid for a long time ago from Italy. You can't go to the Hearst Castle without having booked your visit slot a long time in advance and strictly respecting the assigned time. Since we are well ahead of time, fortunately they add us to an earlier group. A couple of words to define Hearst Castle: it's an attempt to build an eclectic castle of the European model in the United States. The construction, however, is very recent and out of time as a genre, since it dates back to the first decades of the 1900s. The owner, Mr.

Hearst, was a crazy and megalomaniac rich man who tried to concentrate as many assets as possible in a vast estate of acres and acres, not bothering to combine different styles, different eras, creating a decidedly kitsch and, at times, tasteless ensemble. To give you an idea, you can see furnishings taken from European churches used to furnish a dining room, complete with altar candlesticks placed on the tables. Better to admire the beautiful outdoor gardens, the fountains and the fantastic and scenic pools (one outdoor and one indoor). The guide rambles on a lot, so the visit is long and boring. Therefore, at the conclusion of all this, we advise against visiting the Hearst Castle to those who, like us, regularly visit castles and historic residences in Europe, as they would certainly be disappointed by this mishmash of styles and eras, without any historical/artistic value.

We leave the castle and make a quick stop at Morro Bay. However, here there is absolutely nothing worth seeing: it's a small fishing harbor characterized by an enormous rock jutting out of the sea.

We then immediately get in the car, heading to Santa Barbara where we will spend the night. For lunch we stop in a village that looks like it came out of a Far West movie. There's even an old, typical hotel that we can't tell whether it's abandoned or operating. Here, we fill up with gas and have lunch with long Subway sandwiches, prepared in front of us, where you can freely choose the filling. We then reach Santa Barbara, a typical Californian town all palm trees and colors. The city is very cheerful, very well kept, with lots of shops and venues. We visit the courthouse and the Spanish-style buildings, following the route recommended by the Mondadori Guide. Then we drive towards the sea, where we walk the entire long wooden pier, going in and out of the various little souvenir shops for tourists.

We have dinner at Eladio's, a nice restaurant facing the sea, right in front of the pier. The restaurant also has a beautiful little courtyard but it's too cold to have dinner outdoors in the evening. We end the dinner with a fantastic and tall cake, all red and white, called Red Velvet, whose existence I already knew about since it's mentioned in a book I read recently (Divorce Party). Fantastic. Try it, if you find it! We spend the night at Motel 6, a short distance from the center. Unfortunately we don't use the outdoor pool because, that day, the temperatures aren't very high. However, the Motel 6 chain turns out to be well kept. The rooms are modernly furnished and the staff at the reception extremely kind and competent.

Las Vegas

Today we have a lot of road to cover. Las Vegas is quite far. We have breakfast with donuts and American coffee at Jeannine's American Bakery, next to the Motel 6, and set off right after. Between Santa Barbara and Las Vegas, we pass through Littlerock where we find a curious store of western-style items, Silly Tilly's MercantileSilly Tilly's Mercantile, entirely dedicated to the world of horses. We do some shopping considering that my daughter is a horse enthusiast; we take a few photos and then set off again. For lunch we notice, in Victorville, the advertisement for a typical original 1950s Diner, Peggy Sue's 50's DinerPeggy Sue's 50's Diner Of course we decide to stop. Here we find "original 1950s waitresses" complete with uniform and very good food. Excellent cherry pie served with vanilla ice cream. The drawings on the bathroom walls are truly curious and deserve a photo too.

Attached to the restaurant is a gift shop entirely dedicated to the 1950s. Here, Elvis Presley reigns supreme. We get gas, always self-service because here the figure of the gas station attendant doesn't exist and you also always have to pay in advance. Unfortunately we notice that, even today, in the afternoon hours, Max's Mastercard doesn't work. Every afternoon the same story! The Mastercard only starts working again in the evening hours. Luckily I have my Visa which works perfectly. As soon as we get back to Italy Max will go straight to the bank to cancel the Mastercard and replace it with a Visa. BOYCOTT MASTERCARD! On our return, we asked for explanations and they told us that this was done only for security reasons and that the matter would be unblocked with a phone call from the merchant.

What nonsense, as if the gas station attendant had time to call Mastercard! Here's the most important piece of advice in this whole account: don't set off without at least 2 credit cards. Don't rely for any reason on a single card. You'd risk finding yourself in serious difficulty. We had 3 credit cards, a modest amount of dollars and a reserve in Euros, so we were always, from this point of view, quite relaxed.During all our car journeys, we can't help but notice and photograph the fabulous American trucks and the splendid Harley Davidsons that we come across just about everywhere. In the early afternoon we arrive in Las Vegas and are immediately overwhelmed by the chaos of this city on the edge of madness. The initial impression is that of having landed in a circle of hell.

But even this has its charm and Las Vegas absolutely deserves to be seen for the simple sake of saying "I've been there." In Las Vegas we queue up to hand over the car at the Valet Parking. The valet will give us a reference number and take our car who knows where, only to return it promptly upon handing back the little number and a tip. After that we wait in a long line for check-in at the Excalibur Hotel, booked and paid for in advance directly from the hotel's website. Here the prices, as indeed in all the other hotels where we stayed, are quite low. We spent about $70, that is 50 euros for the double room. There are a great many counters open for registration and, in an instant, our turn comes. Although the hotel has about 4000 rooms, we quickly reach ours on the 19th floor thanks to the super-fast elevators. The temperature in Las Vegas is crazy.

It feels like you always have a hot hairdryer pointed at you. However, in the hotels there is always air conditioning and so you're perfectly comfortable, indeed, sometimes you really need to cover up. We immediately decide to take a dip in the pool and then to explore our hotel far and wide. We have dinner at the Excalibur self-service buffet, very cheap (less than 20 dollars per person), where you can find everything and eat until you burst.

Hotel Excalibur - Las Vegas After dinner we decide to take the car again to drive the whole Strip (a couple of miles in all) and see the other hotels. The Strip is completely jammed with cars; you're always stuck in traffic but that way you get to admire the chaos out there as well as the imagination and madness of the Americans. We try to park halfway down the Strip, near the Bellagio hotel, but we absolutely can't find a spot even though every hotel has a multi-storey garage. We do find a spot, however, in the Venetian hotel's parking lot and we visit the most spectacular and the most insane of all Las Vegas hotels. We stroll along the canals complete with gondolas, St. Mark's Square, the Rialto Bridge, many shops; all under a blue sky even though it's night.

Pure madness! Finally, after a long line of cars along the Strip, we manage to get back to the Excalibur and, at the end of the evening, we have our very own ranking of the most beautiful hotels in Las Vegas: Venetian, Bellagio, Paris and Caesar Palace.The view from our room over the Strip and the Luxor hotel is breathtaking. I decide to sleep with the curtains open so as not to deprive myself of the view of illuminated Las Vegas!

Williams and Flagstaff

our hotel. In the lobby we notice a vending machine for international phone cards at $10. We buy one but waste our money uselessly because the card will never work, claiming that the credit is used up before we even make any call. Damn the Excalibur! We then decide to send a text to a friend in Italy asking her to buy us a new Columbus Telecom card and send us the Pin. Shortly after we receive everything. My friend is phenomenal! We leave Las Vegas driving alongside an artificial lake (Lake Mead), a dam (Hoover Dam) and a hydroelectric plant that serves solely to supply electricity to the city of Las Vegas (and it really needs a lot!). By lunchtime we're in Williams, a characteristic village on the famous Route 66. Here it's really America, America.... the America of TV series, the America of the movie Cars.

All the shops are dedicated to Route 66 and to Indian, or rather Native American, crafts. At the "Native American" shop we buy Indian bracelets for all my friends. Max buys a black leather biker vest and obviously at this moment too his card doesn't work. It does work, however, at the restaurant, Cruisers Cafè 66, with outdoor seating and a live musician who creates a particular atmosphere that, even today, remains our most vivid memory. The bill is quite steep for a couple of steaks since it automatically includes a generous tip (18% of the total) on the receipt. It rarely happened that a tip was automatically charged on receipts and, in fact, we didn't leave large tips, apart from the Las Vegas valets.In Williams we're lucky enough to see an exhibition of American vintage cars.

They're truly insane.....By now, even in the United States you don't see cars like this anymore since they've been replaced by modern SUVs and the ever-present pick-ups. Max doesn't miss the opportunity and photographs them all. We then head for Flagstaff where we'll spend the night. Our Hotel Montevista, booked directly from the hotel's website, is a historic building from the early 1900s, almost a monument and symbol of the city. It boasts illustrious guests past and present and a series of ghost stories that, according to legend and eyewitness accounts, wander through the rooms of the hotel. The rooms bear the name of the actor who stayed there on the door. No one has ever stayed in ours: of course, it's too small and uncomfortable. The double bed is little more than a one-and-a-half, and we're cramped. The furnishings are original to the period and therefore rather uncomfortable.

Moreover, we don't meet any ghosts.... The hotel's website provides a list of the room numbers where a ghost is hosted along with the relevant legend and, indeed, our room is not on the list. On the other hand, we sleep very little because the hotel has a lounge-bar, with people making a racket outside (and therefore below our windows) until morning. Furthermore, the railway passes very close by, with trains going through all night long, blowing their horns for all they're worth every time they cross the city. We don't like Flagstaff much. However, on the outskirts of the city, we visit a very interesting residence, RIORDAN MANSION. It's a large house entirely in wood dating back to the late 1800s, built by a family of timber industrialists who furnished the roughly 40 visitable rooms with original furnishings.

We enjoy the visit very much and Flagstaff would deserve a visit for this alone. We have dinner at the Downtown Diner, a typical American diner a bit run-down and not exactly clean but where you eat very well at truly low prices (the absolute lowest of our trip). After dinner we go to a typical venue where live country music is played, which we read about in a previous travel account. The venue is called the Museum Club, founded in 1931 and located just outside Flagstaff, on Route 66. Movie-like atmosphere, country musicians with cowboy hats, an entrance fee of $5 even though the choice of cocktails is then very limited. The cowgirl waitress will come back several times informing us that we have to change our order because such-and-such ingredient has run out. Here people dance a kind of country/slow dance.....

But is that how you dance country? After a while we decide we've had enough and go back to the hotel where we can't find a spot in the small reserved parking lot and are forced to park some distance away. Moreover, we sleep very little for the aforementioned reasons.

GRAND CANYON AND SCOTTSDALE

For breakfast we decide to go back to the Downtown Diner where we order the best pancakes of our trip: fabulous chocolate pancakes with plenty of American coffee diluted with milk. You only pay for the coffee the first time. Subsequent glasses are free. We then set off for the Grand Canyon crossing the outskirts of Flagstaff with charming little residential houses that we photograph. The landscape along the road between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, with beautiful vegetation, is unparalleled. We arrive at the south entrance of the Grand Canyon without queuing at the entrance because, that day, we don't know why (perhaps because it's Ferragosto) there's no charge. What a stroke of luck. We stop at the first viewpoint, Mother Point, where we take our first photos. Although we've seen many photos of the Grand Canyon, the impact of seeing it live is always thrilling.

It's magnificent: the colors, in the morning, range from pink to brown. Having never seen other canyons we have no terms of comparison but what we see pleases us. The Colorado River, however, is just a little blue trickle visible in the distance We then go to the Visitor Center and afterwards to Grand Canyon Village where, finally, I find a post office where I can buy stamps for my postcards. Watch out: no shop sells stamps. To buy them you absolutely have to queue at the post office! Even mailing the postcards is difficult... entrust them to the hotels and hope.... Ours all arrived. Right after that we drive along Desert View in our car, stopping at the various scenic viewpoints until we reach the last point, Desert View, characterized by an Indian tower, now used as a souvenir shop. We have lunch at the Desert View fast food and then head for Scottsdale where we'll spend the night.

In Scottsdale there's nothing to visit, it's just a stopover on the way to the Grand Canyon. Scottsdale is merely a modern and tidy town dedicated to golf. Among other things, the temperature here is mind-boggling... like in Las Vegas for that matter: the only hot stops of our trip. In Scottsdale we stay at the best motel of our trip. It's the Days Inn Fashion Square. We have no idea what the other Days Inns are like (although we've always noticed them in optimal positions) but this one in Scottsdale is fantastic. Nothing is missing: gigantic room, gigantic bathroom, gigantic bed, pool and beautiful hot tub open until 11 pm, which we use in solitude. Moreover, this is the only hotel that offers, included in the modest price, a full breakfast with donuts, bagels and other things. All the other motels limit themselves to offering simple coffee and, at most, a few packaged snacks.

The hotel is located right next to Fashion Square, an elegant shopping center with one floor dedicated to shops of the most famous brands and a floor entirely dedicated to restaurants and fast food. We decide to have dinner at the shopping center's tables with some calzoni bought from Sbarro's (which passes itself off as an Italian restaurant) and with a fabulous carrot cake from American Bakery.

SAN DIEGO

In the morning, we take advantage of the good breakfast offered by the Days Inn motel (even though a coach full of Italians monopolizes the breakfast room. What luck!) and set off in the direction of San Diego. The journey isn't short, so we have to leave early. We leave Arizona reluctantly (which we liked a lot) to return to the California coast. Along the way, crossing semi-desert areas, we can't help but admire the landscape dotted with gigantic cacti. We didn't think they were so big! In the morning, we take advantage of the good breakfast offered by the Days Inn motel (even though a coach full of Italians monopolizes the breakfast room. What luck!) and set off in the direction of San Diego. The journey isn't short, so we have to leave early. We leave Arizona reluctantly (which we liked a lot) to return to the California coast.

Along the way, crossing semi-desert areas, we can't help but admire the landscape dotted with gigantic cacti. We didn't think they were so big! At the end of the visit it's as if we've taken a short trip to Mexico. For dinner we decide to go to Seaport Village, a charming and new village overlooking the sea with well-kept venues, nice shops, even a pretty little pond and a splendid seaside promenade. Here everything is very well kept. We decide to have dinner at a restaurant with outdoor tables right on the seafront, Edgewater Grill. I order a mediocre but edible Margherita pizza; Max opts for a Jambalaya, a kind of soup with fish, chicken and sausages, all together. It's a typical New Orleans dish. Right after that we notice a beautiful Harley Davidson store where Max, a motorcyclist who loves that sort of thing, buys a cap.

I, on the other hand, notice a charming bookstore with an attached café. I think it's an original idea that hasn't yet caught on in Italy but that I often read about in American films and novels. Being a librarian, I like it very much and we take the opportunity to eat a slice of Cheesecake. We decide to visit the Gaslamp Quarter but we can't find parking and so we only drive along the very lively main street, full of venues and shops.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – LOS ANGELES

Today's journey is short. We decide to make a brief stop at the village of LA JOLLA, a seaside resort with charming little houses. Here, we have breakfast at one of the Ihop restaurants and they serve us a gigantic plate of chocolate pancakes topped with whipped cream. We can't even finish the 4 pancakes each and we're full until evening, skipping lunch entirely. The next stop is the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. The Missions (monasteries) are found just about everywhere in California. Almost every city has its Mission. Following the directions in our Mondadori guidebook, we decide to visit just one, specifically the one indicated as the largest and most beautiful: San Juan Capistrano, halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles. The Mission is truly beautiful, especially the splendid gardens, cloisters and fountains characterized by a colorful explosion of fantastic flowers.

After the visit we head for Los Angeles, which we decide to visit only partially since we're not very interested in the city and its stereotypes. We first head for Venice Beach which we find rather bleak. Not even the Venice neighborhood excites us and we find no similarity to our Venice, except for an ordinary canal lined with modern colored houses. Santa Monica Beach is better, more well-kept and lively. This very beach is where the TV series Baywatch was set and we photograph the classic lifeguard towers. We notice, among other things, that the lifeguards actually wear the classic regulation red swimsuit and also that orange device, which they carry under their arm every time they make a rescue. Santa Monica Beach is wide, complete with a bike path and numerous exercise machines.

The focal point is a huge wooden pier that houses shops, a Bubba Gump (Forrest Gump's restaurant), street artists and even a complete amusement park. This is definitely the last stop of our trip. From here, we go directly to our last hotel: Hotel Adventurer, just minutes from Los Angeles airport, LAX. We discover that it's not the usual hotel but rather a kind of tourist village frequented for vacations in Los Angeles by those who want to spend little (very cheap because the structure is a bit old). The room price also includes small buffet refreshments at set times (if anything is left). The heated outdoor pool is very pleasant, especially since the temperature in the late afternoon isn't very high.

We decide to have dinner at the hotel restaurant which offers a varied menu but we're very disappointed because the service is extremely slow and the waitress totally incompetent and not very bright.

BACK HOME

We decide to avoid the hotel restaurant for breakfast and look for something in the surroundings. We find a small café with a wide choice of donuts. However, we realize that right next to the hotel there's a JACK IN THE BOX fast food place, definitely better than the café we chose, but by then it's too late.

The hotel is just minutes, indeed seconds, from the rental car return point. We return the car to Dollar, reporting the problem of the tire that was always flat, and after a quick check they direct us to the shuttle for the terminal. Los Angeles airport, although very large, is very logistically orderly and organized. The shuttle drops us right in front of the British check-in entrance. Return flights were on time, both in Los Angeles and London. On the plane I can't sleep at all and so we watch a couple of films and an episode of Friends. Meals on board sometimes good, sometimes not, but it doesn't matter. At Malpensa we wait quite a while for the baggage delivery. SEA services leave something to be desired; luckily the shuttle to Parkingo is very fast.

In short: vacation over. Now some days at the seaside await us, in the Marche, to rest even though, in fact, it wasn't a very tiring trip.

Here's a brief summary of the costs:

ROUND-TRIP FLIGHT BRITISH AIRWAYS: €950.00 per person

CAR RENTAL DOLLAR: €300.00 for 10 days

VIAGGI SICURI TRAVEL INSURANCE: about €100.00, total for 2 people

ROOMS: about €50.00, on average per night for the room alone (breakfast almost never included)

GAS PRICE: about €0.50 per liter (about $3.00 per gallon), however the cars consume a lot.

BREAKFAST FOR 2: about €15 or 20 total.

COST OF LUNCH OR DINNER FOR 2: about €40.00.

PARKINGO PARKING: €50.00 for 10 days. Uncovered parking.

TOTAL COST OF THE TRIP, 10 DAYS: €2000.00 per person.

Dani and Max

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, VISIT OUR WEBSITE: