You can get around in LA by public transport – I’ve had several holidays there and have never hired a car as I don’t drive!

Visit Santa Monica (by bus).

The La Brea Tar Pits can be reached by bus and a walk along Wilshire Boulevard.

The Beverly Center is not too hard to reach by bus and has some decent food stands in there (especially jacket potatoes!)

Go to Little Toyko for superb Japanese food.

I wouldn’t recommend underground travel in LA on account of the fact that it’s an earthquake zone.

i agree there…. it looks like a strong bit of kit!!

RicKT

I read that Pendos are three times stronger than the safety standards specify. All trains should be built to this strength if it can save more lives.

Terrible news. It said something about it probably being caused by the points. When I heard about the accident I thought about the one at Potters Bar, and that was caused by the points as well.

Those Pendos are certainly well built, looking at some of the pictures there appeared to be very little structural damage to the carriages and that would have prevented this being a much worse incident.

My sympathy and condolences to those involved and their families.

I used to live in a haunted house – we would see hands on their own, hear dead dogs bark (even our next door neighbour heard this!) hear people running up and down stairs, hear drawers opening and closing in empty rooms, that was weird.

In 2004 when we were in Brugge we saw a ghost cat at the hotel window – we didn’t know it was a ghost and let it in, thinking it was the cat which belonged to the hotel. When we told the owners of the hotel they said that the only tabby cat they knew of was dead and no one else had ever seen a tabby cat in the hotel!

My great grandmother once saw a ghost dog beside a canal in Barnsley.

I agree with EVERY word that you have said.

Thank you Tom.

My own local hospital is in the sh*t right now, most operations cancelled and people turned away from A&E. Hearing about the problems in the NHS, and seeing how the government wastes taxpayers money makes me 😡

It’s time Blair and his cronies got their priorities right.

If money can be made available for drug addicts, then why not for cancer drugs which many people are denied on the NHS?

If we can afford to pay drug addicts then why can’t we afford to keep hospital wards open?

Why are we cancelling operations and sacking hospital staff when we can throw away money on junkies?

I know where I would rather see my taxes going!

Hornchurch – I agree with your comments. It is easier to communicate in English in the Flanders region, the Walloon region is alot harder. We had a nightmare experience in a place in Mons after we dealt with someone who claimed he spoke and understood English.

Spitfire Pilot – those lights were beautiful, I first noticed them as we were on the way to the hotel in the taxi and decided I must get a photo. We went for a walk as soon as we had dropped off the small amount of luggage that was actually delivered to us (BA ****-up!) and I took the photos.

Here in Scarborough the lights look very tacky but they were much nicer in Brugge.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your beautiful cat, I know how big a part they play in your life. Our little mad thing is almost three years old but we couldn’t imagine life without her as she is such a big part of things.

We lost our dog unexpectedly last year, we had made no decision to lose him, it was made for us after he had two fits and ended up paralysed. The vet told us it was a brain tumour so we had no option but to do the kindest thing.

I know exactly how you are feeling.