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Last Updated: 16/03/2009 10:15:04
Rudd On The Road Part 2
By Steve Rudd
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As I bustled onto an empty shuttle bus bound for Downtown LA, I reflected that the way I'd been granted access into the US this time around was a far-cry from the way in which I'd been 'processed' on my previous trip when I'd touched down at JFK airport in New York.
Back in 2006, on the cusp of a mad sixty day dash around the states via 'Greyhound' bus, the Customs official at JFK had wanted to know almost everything about me. He flung 101 questions in my direction and then some, desperate to ascertain precisely how much ready cash I had stuffed in my pockets, how much 'theoretical cash' I had loaded on my debit card, and where exactly I planned to be in the US on any random date he felt inclined to mention.
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The security checks made on visitors to the US are even more stringent circa 2009. It's just a good job I realised that travel authorisation is now required at least seventy-two hours in advance of people touching down on US soil. Such authorisation is meant to make the often arduous task of 'clearing Customs' somewhat easier.
In order to authorise oneself on-line, it's necessary to fill out the ESTA form which can be accessed via the US Embassy website. Fortunately, the form is extremely simple to fill in, yet it's best to have your flight details and passport number to hand before attempting to fill out the form, for such details are required by default.
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Armed with my brand new Biometric Passport that had been issued less than three weeks before I hit the skies, I still had to have my fingerprints and thumbprints scanned, before my roving right eye received the once-over.
Chugging towards the Downtown area of LA, I recalled how the city had burrowed its way beneath my skin the last time I'd visited... even if my first experience of downtown Los Angeles had presented itself in the gnarly form of Skid Row, a poverty-stricken area jammed between the main Greyhound bus station and Broadway.
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Oblivious to the economically-pulverised state of my surroundings, I trundled on, beneath the nagging weight of a backpack so huge that it couldn't fail to announce the fact that I was an out of towner who was out of my depth, intent on hitting Broadway before I melted into an inconsolable heap in the midday heat.
While Downtown LA is undeniably a world away from Hollywood, some eight miles distant, the streets darting off at tangents from its main Broadway thoroughfare are atmospherically steeped in history. Wildly decadent in nature, the entire district thrums to its invigorating street-life which throngs outside abandoned movie-houses and mercilessly cheap eateries.
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The recognition of locations used in movies comes as standard as the streets are prowled, yet one of the
most breathtaking locations of all is inside The Bradbury Building, an elegant old edifice
used as offices, yet which featured prominently in flicks such as Bladerunner and Wolf.
As on my previous visit, I could have spent all day long wandering and wondering, but a pressing engagement loomed on the horizon. Thus, I made haste, conspiring to meet it halfway.
To be continued ...Part 3
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Copyright \ufffd Steve Rudd 2009
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Places to Visit - Cusco, Peru - La Ultima Cena Con Cuy By Ruth
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The flight from Puerto Maldonado was uneventful. The flight attendant served coca tea, Inca Cola, and Cusqueno beer to interested passengers. The city of Cusco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire, sits in the Andes Mountains. The elevation is roughly 11,000 feet. The updrafts buffeted the plane a bit during landing.
At the airport, old women peddling bags of coca leaves crowded towards the passengers.
x
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Places to Visit - Rudd On The Road - Catching up with Steve Rudd as he hits America in style ... Part 1 By Steve Rudd
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The flight from London to LA was a long haul to say the least, yet it was made more tolerable by the company. I'd barely got settled when the guy beside me introduced himself as Jim Becket, a film director and documentary producer who lived in a place called Ojai, a little north of Los Angeles. He'd just returned from working in Athens where he'd sold the rights of his latest documentary to
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Places to Visit - Playing Chicken In Turkey Part 1 By Steve Rudd
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It wasn't the best welcome to Turkey. It was the dead of night, we'd just crossed the border, yet there I was, beside a Mancunian called Liam, being frog marched back to the tiny hut that issued visas. Upon crossing the border, us English lads had been issued the correct visa, but the official had inexplicably neglected to stamp the visas with our entry date.
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Places to Visit - Roaming Around Romania By Steve Rudd
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I was worried. It was four a.m., I was on a train bound for Bucharest, and somebody was tugging at my bed sheets from below. Coming around from a bout of deep sleep, I urged my weary eyes to focus. They were having none of it though, refusing point blank to reveal the person before me.
'Is there a problem?' I asked, hoping that a response might bowl my way in English.
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Places to Visit - Gibraltar and La Linea, Spain By Mo
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Recently I went on a week long trip to Gibraltar and La LÍnea, Spain staying with my mum and dad in their La Linea flat. My twin sister and her boyfriend were also at the flat on holiday for a week and had rented a small car booked online for only 60 quid for the week. I think that included car insurance too so a pretty good deal.
They all met me at Gibraltar airport and we walked across the border with Spain
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Places to Visit - The London, Bath and Bristol Chronicles By Steve Rudd
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I knew I should have taken the train. Being stuck behind a combine harvester is never fun in a car. In a coach, it's murder. The battalion of towering power-line supports that stoically marched across the dead level Lincolnshire landscape didn't help. From their indifferent vantage point, they simply taunted.
'Technology is overtaking everything,' said the woman in front,
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Places to Visit - Kate Langan's Travel Journal - Thailand
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Tonight we ate at a Thai Taverna, there was a baby elephant going by so Becky took my photo. We are staying in Phuket also as we have found a really nice basic room that's really cheap. It's clean and got 4 stone walls - not like the wood hut! I loved the wood hut but was bitten to death by the mozzies. No mozzies here - yey! And I'm not a huge fan of the cockroaches!
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Places to Visit - The Three Peaks Of Yorkshire Challenge 10th June 2006 By Steve Rudd
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'Good morning gentlemen - rise and shine!' As I slowly came to my senses I couldn't
help but glance at my watch. I'd been warned the previous night that we would be
woken up at 4:15am sharp, and barely a second later.
Unfortunately, that really was the case, and as exhausted as I was, there
was a mammoth 25 mile walk ahead...
It's a shame that I'd only managed
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Places to Visit - A Weekend in Amsterdam By Dave F
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Amsterdam is a city of freedom which instantly appeals on a lot of levels.
What's the point of a holiday if you don't have the freedom to go and do what you want, when you want?
If, like me, you want to wander aimlessly from coffee shop to coffee shop getting as
stoned as humanly possible whilst ogling half-naked women through dirty windows
and snacking heavily along the way,
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Places to Visit - Christmas in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka By Dave F
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I hate Christmas for too many reasons to mention and the chance to get away from it
all this year it was an opportunity too good to pass up. Knowing someone with a
house in Sri Lanka which stands empty for 9 months every year definitely has its benefits.
I'm travelling with a mate and his daughter who've been here several times before
so I get some insight
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Places to Visit - Skiing In Bulgaria - Part Two By Steve Rudd
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Giant Christmas trees loomed as far as the eye could see below, as I marvelled
at the extraordinary engineering it must take to make a gondola a reality.
After the thirty-minute ride to the top we were immediately greeted by a
stunning panorama of the surrounding countryside which was beautiful beyond words.
So pristine and so serene.
Well, serene if you can discount the
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Places to Visit - Skiing In Bulgaria - Part One By Steve Rudd
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I could have thought of worst places to be, seeing in the New Year, as the last
second of 2005 ticked over into 2006. Happy New Year indeed.
For the best part of the past ten years myself and my friends have contented
ourselves with heading into the town centre of Driffield every December 31st
for one of the few nights of the year when it genuinely hustles and bustles.
To drink
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Places to Visit - Walking The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path - Part One By Steve Rudd
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Get out of the city and into the country, sooner rather than later.
A great many people genuinely have no idea how scenically diverse and breathtaking some
swathes of countryside are in the UK, and such a fact is a great shame,
because while they might be spending all their spare time in dirty and cramped
urban environments, there's often fresh air and inspirational
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Places to Visit - Thailand By Rich Mills
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Expressing the experience of being here in Thailand is difficult to put into words.
The sensorial experience is so mind blowing that you begin to feel overloaded.
However it is the smallest of things that grab your attention, and stick in the mind.
We are waiting for a taxi to take us down to the ferry, so that we can go
over to the small island of Koh Maak.
This is where we will get the full
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Places to Visit - Ostend Weekend By John Allbones
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I needed a break. Well, you just do sometimes don't you?
The constant day to day drudge of the nine to five erodes your spirit until a
change of scene is all you crave. Nothing fancy, just a few days will do.
Preferably abroad, it just seems more of a break when you're on foreign soil.
I managed to grab a late deal on a long weekend in Ostend.
So desperate was I to get away,
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Places to Visit - Eight Feet and Two Weeks On Crete Part 2 by Steve Rudd
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One of the best ways of exploring the huge island of Crete is by car: in your own time, at
your own speed and in your own style.
Without the stress and cost of embarking on guided tours.
Head into any of Crete's major cities such as
Hania, Rethymno or Iraklion and you'll be bombarded by rent-a-vehicle establishments, all
of which are fiercely trying to
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Places to Visit - Eight Feet and Two Weeks On Crete Part One by Steve Rudd
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While I might be a massive fan of Michael Palin's epic travels, and while I do aspire to
follow him in many of his footsteps, up until now I've only ever been abroad three times.
The first time was in 2000, when I was lucky enough to accompany a work colleague for a month in Nepal.
The second time was for a holiday with some friends, last year, to the gorgeous
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Places to Visit - Greetings From Amsterdam Part One
By Steve Rudd
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As the blazing red sunset slowly but surely cast Hull into shadow, the P&O ferry was ready,
and so were the passengers.
I'd never travelled by ferry across to the Netherlands, and thus was naturally overwhelmed
by the sheer scale of the ferry and the wealth of entertainment on board, what with
two cinemas, a kids play area, a restaurant and casino
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Places to Visit - On The Pennine Way Part Two By Steve Rudd
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After surviving the nightmare of Kinder Scout's mountainous bulk and getting back on track,
the next 'hill' of worth en-route along the Pennine Way is called Bleaklow.
Just like its predecessor, it could quite potentially be the death of you if
you're not careful in negotiating the peaty wastes as you go up and over and
onwards towards the tiny hamlet of
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Places to Visit - On The Pennine Way Part One By Steve Rudd
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Why on earth would anyone want to go walking on their week off work? That's the question that most people would routinely ask anybody who would do exactly that, as though walking - and long distance walking in particular - is something simply not to be indulged in.
I always argue that there is very little more
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Places to Visit - Down South By Steve Rudd
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Brighton has always been one hell of a popular place, but until one freezing cold
day in February of this year I had never before spent anytime whatsoever there
in my twenty-four years in this forever-overwhelming world.
I thought it was high time I paid the place a visit, and seeing as though
I was down in London anyway - and a return National Express coach ticket
down
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Places to Visit - Up North By Steve Rudd
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So, you look forward all week - at work - to your one or two days off... right? And what do you do on such days off? Housework, no doubt. Do you ever think you should do something more worthwhile with your sacred time off? Like travel, for instance.
County Durham isn't that far a trip from East Yorkshire, and if
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Places to Visit - To Hampstead Heath and Beyond ...
By Steve Rudd
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So, you live in London and wish to escape the hustle and bustle of the inner city scene.
Where can you turn to? Why, the plethora of beautiful parks of course - and there are few
places nicer than Hampstead Heath, in North London, for some quality peace and quiet.
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Places to Visit - On the Moors By Steve Rudd
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So much for me confiding to people that I thought we were collectively out of the woods
and that Spring was just around the corner.
Clearly I spoke too soon and paid for such a misdemeanour yesterday
(13th February 2005) when I ventured up onto the
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Places to Visit - Dinostar - THIS IS HISTORY By Daniel Laney
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In the last two months Hull has welcomed a new addition to its ever growing tourist trade.
Dinostar, which opened on Easter Sunday of this year, should hopefully
be welcomed with open arms by families and budding historians alike and with it
being a quick
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Places to Visit - Our Samhain Visit to Avebury by Janie Spencer
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Before we start on our journey, let me give you a bit of background on Avebury.
It is a beautiful stone circle, so big that you can in fact fit a village inside it, as you can see from this overhead map!
As well as being a tourist spot, it is both a home and a gathering
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Places to Visit - Burton Constable Hall.
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Burton Constable Hall has collected several ghosts and stories from its 450 year history, the most frequently seen ghost being that of Nurse Dowdall, a much loved nanny to the children of the household during the 19th century.
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