The Journey Continues...

As expected, Miriam got through customs super quickly (being an American citizen), while Robyn stood in the queue with all the other suspected terrorists for about 20 minutes. Short, simple instructions (with pictures for the illiterate) were given to all suspected terrorists: left forefinger on the scanner, right forefinger on the scanner, look at the camera. Baggage found, and deposited in a corner as instructed to be delivered to our next flight, we spent some time deliberating over what to do for the next 8 hours. We finally decided a trip to the beach sounded enticing. We made our way to the bus terminal and ended up waiting in the sunshine for an hour before one arrived (and found American buses do not provide change for any amount of money!). Apparently we had "Tourist" tattooed on our foreheads as several people offered us kind advice before we had even opened our mouths.

Having arrived at the lovely suburb of Manhattan Beach, we made our way down, past the cliché roller bladers and rows of volleyball nets, to the golden sand. Amazingly, despite there being no clouds in sight, the beach was abandoned. After a nice horizontal snooze and a walk along the pier, we explored a few of the shops. Gourmet chocolates were incredibly expensive, and bagels were incredibly cheap! We returned to the airport in plenty of time, and read our books instead of making use of the variety of amusements Robyn had brought along.

Our second flight was similarly uneventful but with more hours of sleep for Robyn and lovely views of the lights of America for Miriam. We amused our seatmate by our interesting conversation, Robyn's obvious delight in food (particularly of the sweet variety), and our seemingly frequent requests for our bags from the overhead lockers.