BrandonoBrien.com

Brandon O'Brien

Travel and Adventure Journal

I wanted a place to journal all my travels and adventures around the world. I always enjoy going back and reflecting on my past travels and getting to relive them through my words and photos.

You're reading posts I wrote on November 22 throughout the years. Return home.

A Day in L.A. Before New Zealand

Friday, November 22, 2019 @ 11:50 PM in 2019 New Zealand

Since Sam and I booked a separate flight to LA from the one leaving LA to New Zealand, we wanted to make sure we landed in LA with plenty of time in case of any delays or issues. Our flight landed first thing in the morning (6:20am) in LA, so after getting out of the airport we set off toward Manhattan beach where we ate a huge breakfast at Uncle Bill's Pancake House. After that, we set out to walk along the beachfront for most of the morning. Unfortunately it we weren't able to drop our bags off at the airport so we had to carry our luggage with us while on the beach.

We made it all the way down to the Redondo Beach Pier where we had a snack at the Shrimp Lover before starting our walk back north. We aimlessly walked around until Mike and Anne were done with working and met up with them at the Hermosa Creek Brewing company for some beer before dinner. For dinner, we ate at Palmilla Cocina y Tequila where we had some nice Mexican food.

Our flight didn't leave until almost midnight, but we figured we'd go ahead and hang out at the airport since we had no where else to be. We finally boarded our flight and got settled in for the long haul direct into Auckland!

Teaser photos:

Walking around in LA
Walking around in LA
On the flight (with a couple randos in the background)
On the flight (with a couple randos in the background)

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Tags: new zeland, los angeles

Posted from: United States

A working day

Friday, November 22, 2013 @ 10:06 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 149

Not much to report today. I dedicated most of today to catching up on some work. I knocked out a few updates to ClearCheckbook and got a new development environment set up for the CCB Android app.

I did run out to go to the grocery store and the mercado central again. I was in the mood for some fajitas so I bought some peppers and an onion and some tortillas. I still had some chicken left over from last night so I used that as well as some asada spices I bought at the grocery. When I was cooking them up for dinner a guy from Mexico let me use some of his chipotle sauce which added some much needed heat to the fajitas.

I didn't go up the big tower today but I still plan on doing that before I leave. It's getting cold enough outside where you can't really just sit in a park or public area and relax. It's a bit of a shame because Valencia has some really nice plazas which would be great for hanging out if it was warmer. I feel like the motivation and energy I had at the beginning of the trip to go out and explore every day has definitely subsided a bit, although that's not really bad either since I feel like I'm getting to know each city I'm at now a lot more than I had other places.

Everyone I've talked to has been saying how cold Madrid has been. I'm dreading going up there in the middle of December. I feel like I'm going to freeze since I don't really have much as far as cold weather gear goes. I guess I'll have to double up my light jacket and rain jacket to act as a make-shift winter coat.

Tags: daily journal, spain, valencia

Posted from: Spain