March 15 - 22
So while Michigan still had tonnes of snow, I had an exciting adventure in front of me.. One week of warm weather and sunshine in sunny California. It was a trip organized by my exchange program.
Day 1:
My first flight was at 10 am out of Saginaw to Detroit. There I had a couple hours until my flight to L.A.
In L.A. I met other exchange students that just arrived, and we drove to our hotel (Holiday Inn). Without traffic it would probably take 30 min. but of course it took us more than an hour..
In the evening we had a mandatory orientation.
Day 2:
We started our second day with a beautiful view of the Hollywood Sign. After a couple minutes we made our way to the Universal Studios! That was totally awesome. We spent the whole day there. There were different rides, but also Backstage Tours. For dinner we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe.
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| Studio Tour |
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| Swiss People |
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| Big minion |
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| Studio Tour |
Day 3:
On the 3rd day we visited different attractions in L.A. We started the day with a tour through Madame Tussauds. Then we had some free time to check out the Walk of Fame and eat Lunch. Beverly Hills was the next stop on our program. We actually just took some pictures with the sign, cause we couldn't really go shopping there.. lol
At least we stopped at starbucks, so we could say that we bought something on Rodeo Drive.
Our last stop for that day was Santa Monica Beach. Finally we saw the ocean. It was beautiful, but the water was pretty cold. We had some free time, to either go swimming or check out some stores. We ate dinner at Buca di Beppo. It was really good.
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| Enjoying the Sun |
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| Sunset |
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| Hotel Pool |
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| Hotel Pool |
Day 4:
Disneyland!! We had all matching shirts, so it was easier to keep track of each other. It was a fun day. The last one we had in L.A.
The park is divided into two parts: Disneyland and California Adventure. The rides in California Adventure were associated with different parts of California.
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| a little bit of Switzerland |
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| World of Color Show |
Day 5:
7 hour trip from L.A. to San Francisco. We stopped a couple times to use the restrooms or get food. When we arrived in San Francisco it was already late afternoon. We had some time at Pier 39 and ate in a restaurant called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. It was good! It was a nice relaxing day especially for our feet, which still hurt from the day before.. :)
The hotel (Hilton) had a game room that we were allowed to use.
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| almost in San Francisco |
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| Bay Bridge |
Day 6:
We started the day by visiting the sea lions at Pier 39. Later we were riding cable cars and had time to go shopping. In the afternooon we had a tour guide on our bus, who told us some information about San Francisco. We stopped at different places, such as the De Young Museum, a nice View Point, somewhere near Baker Beach and at our final destination; China Town. we ate dinner at a restaurant in China Town. They just kept serving food, food, and more food (really good food).
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| Sea Lions |
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| The whole group at Fishermans Warf |
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| Cable Cars |
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| View Point |
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| City Hall |
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| near Baker Beach |
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| De Young Museum |
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| China Town |
Day 7:
That was actually the last day before I was heading back to Michigan. We had some big attractions in front of us. The first one of the day was Alcatraz. An Island with the safest prison on earth on it. The prison got closed, as people thought that money should be invested in education rather than in prison. There was a former prisoner, who we got the chance to talk to. We got an audio tour through the cell house.
We had lunch and shopping time at Pier 39. And as you may assume, we spent the afternoon with a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge! It was totally awesome! In the evening we had a party with our own DJ. We also had to pack of course..
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| Bay Bridge |
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| Alcatraz |
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| Cell House |
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| Golden Gate Bridge |
Day 8:
Time to go home. I left the Hotel at 5 am. My first flight was at 7.30 to L.A. I was flying with a couple other students. From there I had to fly to Minneapolis, where I had to wait for my flight to Flint. So I arrived totally exhausted at home at like 11pm. You can imagine how I felt. I went straigth to bed.
It was a great experience and I really love California. It is truly wonderful. If you have the opportunity to visit this wonderful state, you should definitely go for it.
Yours,
Seraina <3
