Rachel's Next Adventure

I took my fiancé to London for a weekend for his birthday. We went the month before as his birthday was over Easter and I can't take time off work then. We paid our first visit to London Zoo. It was a surprisingly hot day for March, tshirt weather at times! We took the long walk through the park to get to the tube station. We also went bowling, it was on our list of 50 things to do in 2014 as we'd not been bowling for quite some time. We visited the Namco arcade near the London Eye, and we had planned to visit the Sea Life Centre but we didn't get time. We were going to go on the London Eye, but it was a foggy day so it didn't seem worth the trip. We had quite a few meals at Shake Shack in Covent Garden. Our new favourite little place to grab a quick bite in London. We also went to Harrods, its the first time either of us have been here, and we left it quite late so we only had time to have a quick look around. ...

We stayed at the Dixie Hollywood Hotel on Hollywood Blvd. Its quite a cheap hotel, but in a pretty good location, right next to a metro stop, and opposite a supermarket. The room had a nice design, but the windows were splattered with paint and the floor was sticky. It wasn't the cleanest hotel we've stayed at. We were also put on the bottom floor, and they hadn't supplied a window net to stop passersby seeing our belongings through the window. We did go to the desk and ask about this, to be told "We don't have enough for every room". Hmm, OK then. That night I went to take a bath, after asking the hotel via twitter before booking if they had a bath, or if it was shower only. They did tell me they had showers and baths in all rooms. The tub wasn't as deep as a baby bath, and there wasn't even a plug to allow you to fill the bath! So we went back, and asked for a plug "Oh, we don't have those". Hmm. Pers...

This is my minion, he is yet another refill cup! I got quite a collection of them on this trip! He was really difficult to drink out of though. My favourite part of Universal was The Simpsons area. I don't really have a lot to write about Universal Studios, it was easy enough to get to on the Metro, but I don't think the park is worth a full day. Though, there were a lot of rides I wasn't really interested in going on. The studio tour was great. The Jurassic Park ride soaked me. And the restraint was practically right up to my face so I was pretty worried i'd come off the ride bleeding! Front of Line Pass The Front of line pass is definitely worth the money for the time it'll save you from queueing, especially for the tram tour! If you're going to visit for more than one day, its probably not worth your money though.  Follow this blog on BlogLovin'

One of the main places I needed to visit on Hollywood Blvd was Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store. Its right next door to the El Capitan Theater, so its in a prime location for visiting. We grabbed a quick something to eat, before getting some of their ice cream! I wasn't really hungry so probably should have held back on visiting here but it was the only time I could squeeze it in! The food was ok, the ice-cream was better. My fiancé got a huge ice-cream that came with an exclusive trading pin. I'm pretty sure I took a photo, but I can't find it right now. After we ate we bought a few things in the studio store, these sundae glasses and my t-shirt were my favourite things we bought here, although the t-shirt was too big and they didn't get a smaller size in during our stay. Follow this blog on BlogLovin'

A trip to LA wouldn't be complete without a trip up Hollywood Blvd. The walk of fame started a few minutes walk away from our hotel so we walked up the street from the hotel to get to the main area. We viewed the Hollywood sign from the Hollywood and Highland Center, although there were amazing views of it on the walk to/from our hotel. These stairs were great, they actually made sound when you walked on them. It was pretty unexpected, the faces people pulled when they realised and then started playing on the stairs was great. I did quite a bit of shopping on Hollywood Blvd, my favourite shop being Sweet! Sweet! is definitely worth a visit, its an absolutely huge candy store, it also sells candy merchandise like Laffy Taffy tshirts etc. This is quite a short post, I don't want to waffle on too much about shopping! Follow this blog on BlogLovin'

While we visited Disneyland Resort and our two trips to San Diego attractions we were staying at the Fairfield Inn in Anaheim. Its the perfect location for Disneyland Resort, at less than a 10minute walk to the gates. Its next door to a McDonalds for late night/early morning food if the Pizza Hut in the hotel is closed or not what you're after. The hotel also sells cereals and snacks. View from our room. This hotel was in a great location, and the room was ideal and spacious. We had an amazing view from outside of our room, and the hotel also had a pool, but we didn't use this. The small shop on the bottom floor was great and had everything you could need from medicines and snacks to drinks and swimming outfits. The hotel also offered free fruit drinks at the exit, and had a stand of leaflets from nearby restaurants and attractions which offered discounts (for example, 10% off at the McDonalds next door). I only had one problem with this hotel, ...

Like the last post, if you visit San Diego Zoo, make one of these refill cups your first purchase! The Giant Pandas were the main draw in the zoo, with quite a long queue to get in to see them. Once you got to the front of the queue, you'd be stopped to have a photo taken in front of a green screen. We bought ours but i'm not sure where it is so can't post a photo here right now, but the photo was lovely, they edit a baby panda into your arms! A red panda! This was the first time i'd ever seen a red panda in real life, although it was asleep as we passed it - it lives in the Giant Panda queue - i'm still so glad I got to see one. I absolutely love koalas so Koalafornia was my favourite part of the zoo. There was quite a lot of the cute little things, all sleeping in trees. There were mist machines keeping them cool while they slept.  San Diego Zoo is a must visit, although its not a relaxing slow day like SeaWorld, and I d...