Time to complete the Bucket List

And we’re off! We are getting to grips with the routine now. Fuel switch on, choke out, turn engine on and immediately (yes immediately as the smooth talking Neil stressed to us) put the choke in. Lights switch turned two clicks to the right (lights on is the law) and foot on accelerator. Rev the engine, handbrake off and we are on our way. The cloud of exhaust fumes from three Trabies is something that will stay with us… in our hair, on our clothes, but hey, it’s all part of the trip.

Ah, and don’t forget the indicator. Turn it on. And DON’T forget to turn it off – no automation here in these 1970s and 1980s East German beauties.

Today we are heading to a major and historic town of Veliko Tarnova, but before we do we shall visit the monastery nearby on the outskirts of Troyan. It is the third largest monastery in Bulgaria and its buildings are full of charm.

The setting was beautiful amidst a valley beside the river Cherni Osam. It was founded in 1600 and reconstructed from 1830. The site comprises several religious buildings and accommodation for the monks. For those who might want to get an insight into the life of monks there are bookable rooms for travellers. Surrounding the buildings is much greenery including grass, trees, firs and flowering plants – all rather idealic. The buildings are exquisite on the outside and many of the paintings within are outstanding.

We then headed for a lunch stop, but oh ho, Sweet Pea was having none of that, grinding to a halt outside a little cafe in a small village along the way. Great, an excuse for a coffee. Alas not, the cafe was closed for the full two hours we were outside… just to make moves to open as we drove off.

Once again mechanic Toncho and Neil did their stuff and got Sweet Pea on the road again. But our time was not wasted. Here we observed many A4-sized posters. These announced the passing of local people, and appeared on local public notice boards and on the outside of the individual’s home. They are also posted again on anniversaries of the departed. These public notice boards appeared not to display any other information apart from the departed.

We headed on to the small town of Gostilitsa, known for its folklore events, many of which are recreated each year. This includes, on Grandma’s Day in March, women dressing as men and walking around the village until they come across a man who they will pick up (literally) and carry around in the air.

Our ice cream stop was a little more subdued – being a shop, formerly built by the Communists, but it was good to get a close-up of one of these buildings.

Then it was shake rattle ’n’ roll on to our next overnight destination along roads rather in need of resurfacing. We were on our way to Veliko Tărnovo.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

Our first day with the Trabants started with an induction of the finer points of driving a 2-stroke old East German car. This involved how to change the gears, turn on the petrol, use the choke, turn on the lights, not over heat the engine and coast downhill in neutral with the engine off.

Then we were off to find the vehicles. Parking in the centre of Sofia is very limited, so our cars were at a retail park on the outskirts. We have four fellow travellers from the UK, Neil our tour guide, and Toncho our hard-working mechanic and, as we were to find out, always in demand.

At the retail park we were introduced to our vehicles fondly known as Sweet Pea (green), Champagne Charlie (well, champagne colour of course), Blue Bayou (who was to be the spare), and Fudge, who we immediately renamed Fudge who would not Budge – because it didn’t, and ended up on the back of Toncho’s truck for the remainder of the trip.

All those willing had a hands-on attempt at firing up the little beauties and driving them around the retail car park before being unleashed onto the open road, a 2-hour stretch of dual carriageway heading north towards Balgarski Izvor for a meaty lunch.

However, less than an hour on the road, Sweet Pea, our green Trabant. Came to a grinding halt (literally). The newly replaced brakes had seized and we crept onto the side of the road. But help is always at hand on this trip thanks to the wonders of our newly-formed WhatsApp group. A few clicks of the button and Neil was heading back down the road for us, and Toncho in his truck was not far away. Indeed, while we waited for these two saviours of the open road, a Bulgarian guy and his wife offered to tow us, which we were to find is typical of Bulgarian hospitality.

Toncho worked his wonders and our brakes, and us, had cooled down enough to head on our way. Ah for the open road, this time turning off to the countryside with mountain views in the distance.

Hmmm, just when you think it is safe… Sweet Pea was having none of it. A rather sooty smell was occurring, and we found our brakes grinding to a halt again. We went through the same procedure: WhatsApp, Neil, Toncho, mechanical help, and back on the road.

We drove on several miles more to reach the small village of Balgarski Izvor and the rather large roadside restaurant where passing motorists and tradespeople ate, choosing from a grand selection of hot meats, bean soups, breads and salads all laid out in the open, almost market style, for customers to choose. We selected chicken fillets and tasty flatbread, and ate away while Toncho changed, what we found to be, a further issue of a flapping exhaust pipe. But we were to learn these incidents were just minor solvable issues in the hands of Toncho and Neil. All part of the experience.

Our destination was the Plaza Hotel in Troyan, which was once an hotel for the elite of the Communist Party. Troyan is named after the Roman Emperor Trajan. It was recognised as a town in 1868 and was initially an important craft centre for the region. Today it is famous for its pottery, and plum brandy (rakia). The population is around 18,500 in its centre. It is also the home of the historical site of the Troyan Monastery. We had travelled around 100 miles and had arrived pretty much unscathed.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

There’s nothing quite like a tour of a city to get one’s orientation, so we kicked off our first day in Sofia, not via a Big Bus Tour this time as the town and roads are not big enough. Instead there is a much publicised free walking tour. Past experience has shown that the free tours are often not up to much, so our expectations were not over ambitious. However, this popular two hour tour was very good.

We were taken around all the main sites – outside, not inside as there would not be enough time. We started at the Palace of Justice which makes a good meeting point. It has a central positioning and two large lion statues outside which cannot be missed. The grand building was constructed between 1929-1940 with the purpose of having in one site all the courts of the capital, which previously had been widely spread. Today it is considered to be a ‘temple of justice’.

We then headed past an archeological dig, unfortunately nobody was working on the site at the time. What we later discovered from a visit to the Sofia History Museum (housed within the thermal baths mentioned in an earlier post) was that this is just one of many archaeological digs in and around Sofia. As construction extends through the city with new gas pipes, Metro extensions and other major works, many ancient sites are being uncovered and with them discoveries of burials, building techniques, pottery, jewellery, and in some cases coin hoards. One wonders what they might discover in the future.

There were churches aplenty on this walking tour including the very large Bulgarian Orthodox Alexander Nevski Cathedral. When it was completed in 1912 it was the tallest Orthodox Church in the Balkans at 53 metres high, but in 1984 the Serbian Cathedral of St Sava in Beograd surpassed it at more than 70 metres high.

The Sofia cathedral is capable of housing 5,000 people. Its belfry has 12 bells weighing 23 tons in total. We were told these were never rung at the same time as it would shatter the eardrums of many. The dark cathedral interior is heavily decorated with icons and sculpture, with works in Italian marble and Brazilian onyx.

Another church, Sveta Nedelya, had a tragic history. It had a bomb attack in 1925 during the funeral of General Konstantinos Georgiev who had been killed in an earlier communist attack. The church bombing was carried out by the Bulgarian Communist Party. Its intended target was Tsar Boris III. He survived but 150 people, mainly from the political and military elite, were killed and hundreds were injured.

A further, rather attractive, church on the tour was the Rotunda St George built in the 4th century. It is considered to be the oldest building in Sofia and now belongs to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Three layers of frescoes have been discovered inside dating back to the 10th century. Today the building is dwarfed by the surrounding Communist-built offices (below).

Two other places our tour guide Milko recommended we take some time to visit were the Red Flat, and Sofia History Museum. We took his advice.

The Red Flat is an immersive ‘museum’. It is a one bedroom flat near the centre of Sofia which is set out as it would have been in Communist times. In fact it is quite hard to find. Tickets are purchased at a local shop, the shopkeeper instructing visitors to pass along a nearby street and ring a doorbell with a red sticker to gain access.

The flat interior was better furnished than one might expect. So many of the contents were familiar with our upbringing and that of our parents such as the Russian-made film camera, a chopper bike, photo albums with black and white images and a transistor radio.

What was surprising was the well-equipped kitchen with front-loading washing machine. I am sure many homes in the UK would not have had this luxury. To accompany our self-guided tour of the flat we had an audio recording of 48 ‘stops’ around the interior. It was suggested upon entry that we really did immerse ourselves in the experience, opening cupboards, sitting on the seats, reading the magazines. We didn’t take advantage by lying on the beds.

Within the well laid out Sofia History Museum with its labelling in Bulgarian and English was a temporary exhibition of 40 gardens in and around the capital. Such detail about gardens was most unusual for a museum anywhere in the world. It took each garden in turn via a poster display and listed its landscapes and designers, plantings, sources of some of its rarer plants, and showed architectural plans with some photographs of the resulting structures. Some of the gardens were large, others were green spaces within the city.

Something that also caught my eye was in a garden in the town centre where they had a display of the works of female architects in Bulgaria during the 20th and 21st centuries. This was pleasing to see and the displayed architects were numerous. Information highlighted the difficulties women faced in the profession and how some investors were reluctant to place projects with female architects. However, in time their skills, aesthetic views and achievements were recognised, and some were also appointed to high positions on architectural courses in universities.

So rather than not enough to do in Sofia as my initial thoughts, the walking tour and the visit to the museum proved there is lots to do in the capital to occupy days if not weeks.

Now the excitement begins. We have met our four fellow travellers and we leave in the morning for Troyan after having an initiation into driving the Trabies. But one thing to point out. My map shown in the prologue had our direction wrong. Instead of travelling anti-clockwise we are journeying clockwise. I had asked the smooth-talking Neil if he would change direction in order to make my map correct and not confuse my following friends, but it is not to be. So off to Troyan it is.

Copyright: words and pictures Sue Barnard 2022

When we were booking this trip to Bulgaria, we thought we could go slightly further afield, on our non-Trabant driving days, and pop across the border into Serbia and visit the historic town of Nis, the birthplace of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. Tripadvisor offered a day roundtrip which looked just the ticket.

The morning of the trip dawned and as we were having breakfast in our hotel in Sofia, the local travel agent called to say the trip was cancelled. The reason being that it was taking 2 to 3 hours to get across the border, each way. Apparently, there were a lot of Turkish travellers on the way home to Turkey for their holidays and they were using the crossing along with the usual lorry traffic. Daniel, the local travel agent, said that if we wanted, he was taking a small group to Skopje, Macedonia, that day and we could join this tour. So after 20 seconds of debate we agreed to go to Skojpe, the capital of what is now called The Republic of North Macedonia.

Before becoming an independent country in 1991, The Republic of North Macedonia has been under the influence of the Romans, Serbs, Bulgarians, Ottoman Empire and for much of the 20th Century was part of Yugoslavia. Hence, from independence it was called The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia until its name change in 2018 to North Macedonia to settle a dispute with Greece over appropriation of symbols and figures that Greece considers Greek culture such as the Vergina Sun (on the old Macedonian flag) and Alexander the Great.

It was a good 4 hour drive to Skopje from Sofia and we crossed the border with the formalities taking about 10 minutes each way. In Skojpe we met our local guide who would show us around the town for a couple of hours. Skopje had a devastating earthquake in July 1963 that had reshaped the development of the town so the area around the River Vardar has been rebulit with many impressive buildings and statues of the likes of Alexander the Great. Some of the new riverside buildings were being used by Government departments and commercial businesses.

One of the parts of Skojpe that had not been devastated by the earthquake and cleared for rebuilding was the Old Souk area which contained many small shops selling all types of essentials for the locals, with some tourist shops for those things you never knew you needed. Mixed amongst the shops were some old bath houses (some were now used as museums) and caravanserai dating back to 15th century. A caravanserai is a travellers inn where the animals were put on the ground level overnight and the riders housed on the first floor. They were located a day’s ride from each other to not over-tax the animals, so roughly 30 miles apart along the trade route.

Probably the most famous resident of Skopje was Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now Saint Teresa of Calcutta. She was born in Skopje to Albanian parents in 1910 and after 18 years in Skopje she moved to Ireland and then to India where she spent most of the rest of her life until she died in 1997 at the age of 87. A museum dedicated to her life is in the centre of Skopje and it displays the Nobel Peace Prize certificate.

The final stop on our day trip to Macedonia was to visit the Matka Canyon where the Treska River has been dammed and the Matka Lake formed above it. The drive up the mountain to the dam was very tight and not for the nervous motorist. There are some interested Vreio caves that can be visited by a short boat ride from the dam and it is a very popular destination for locals on their days off. We were told that there are also some underwater caves that possibly could be the deepest in the world, although this has not been confirmed.

After the boat trip and caves we drove the 4 hours back to Sofia arriving at 10 pm. A long day but worth the trip.

Copyright: words and photos John Cruse 2022

Welcome to Sofia, or Serdika/Serdica as it was known in the 6th century. We are spending a few days in the capital before we head off for our Trabant tour around the country.

It is a surprisingly small city and a glance at the town map indicated just 15 main attractions. Initial thoughts had me wondering whether there would be enough to engage us during our four free days. However, small proved to be beautiful as we found out during a two-hour guided walking tour which immersed us in the history of this city. We also discovered that the most interesting sites are all within walking distance of our centrally-located hotel.

Similar to Bath in Somerset, this area grew up because of one important resource – thermal springs. These were located at the crossroads of important roadways linking Western Europe with Asia Minor and the Middle East, and the Baltic Sea with the Aegean Sea.

Those thermal springs are still important today. Free drinking water can be found in the town centre – if you like your water hot, around 37 degrees. It flows 24 hours a day through drinking fountains, rising from deep within the earth.

Sofia’s history can be traced back 7,000 years. Evidence of pre-history settlers have been found around the area dating to the 6th and 5th centuries BC. The Thracians, a tribal group, are considered in some sources to have been ‘barbaric and warlike’, but in more recent research were thought to have a fairly advanced culture with an emphasis on poetry, music and artistry (including tattooing). The people followed a polytheistic religion focusing on multiple deities. They had their own Thracian language which was considered to have continued into the 6th century AD spoken by monks, then died out completely.

But the Thracians were not to stay. The Romans moved in to make their own impact on the area. It was they who built the first thermal baths and such facilities in various forms continued until 1986, when taking baths at home was the norm. Today, a site that contained a thermal bath still remains, now being the Sofia History Museum.

The citizens of Sofia did not have it easy. Following the decline of the Roman Empire the area has been invaded by the Huns, Visigoths, Avars, Slavs, Byzantines and Ottomans, to name just some. It is this situation that makes gaining a grasp of the history an onslaught to the senses. Just as one familiarises oneself with one group, another group pops into the frame.

For many, the more recent history may be a little less testing, that of Communism which was part of Bulgarian life from 1946 until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. There are some, both young and older, who hark back to the ‘glory days’ of Communism even today saying there was no unemployment, no profit, and holidays (with their colleagues, mind you) were included, others do not think likewise.

Today, Bulgaria is part of the EU and fairly settled, although speaking to individuals they offer their own political views. The country has, of course, been hit by the pandemic affecting its economy, employment and tourism, but judging by the numbers of tourists and locals around the town centre things are evidently picking up. McDonalds, Costa and Starbucks have several sites around the centre of Sofia. So too is industry and commerce gaining ground. The country is not rich in mineral resources, but investors in new technology are moving in, including Google and Microsoft.

The population, however, is in decline, which is cause for concern (tax income, job vacancies, and empty properties are factors, to name a few). During Communist times the country’s population was 9 million. Today it is 7 million, caused by a mix of younger people leaving the country and a desire for fewer children. Smoking, poor diets, alcohol consumption and lack of exercise are factors in almost half of deaths in Bulgaria. The adult and adolescent smoking rates are the highest in the EU. Covid deaths have also been a factor. Life expectancy in Bulgaria is considered to be the lowest in Europe at 73.6 years, according to a 2021 European Commission health report. In the UK it is 81 years.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

Driving a Trabant is a unique experience. So say the organisers of our next trip… to Bulgaria.

Captured by the smooth talk of our organiser Neil at the Destinations Show pre-Covid, we decided that this trip, taking us around Bulgaria, would be quite a different experience.

With just a few days to go we have been advised that the Trabies, as they are fondly referred to by our organisers, are all ship-shaped. The entire fleet (around seven) has been through the workshop, given some upgrades, and the crew’s truck which will support our every need along the way has had a makeover.

To prepare for the Trabant unique experience we shall have some 30-45 minutes instruction, after which we should start feeling like we have ‘got it’ – the smooth-talking Neil’s words, not mine. After that, we are told, ‘we can wind down the window, perch our elbow on the doorframe, lean back and enjoy the countryside’. And we are hoping we will be able to enjoy the food and drink. Prices are extremely inexpensive compared to the UK (…and boy, the US as we found out a few weeks ago). Alcohol can generally range from 1 Euro (only for the brave) to around 10 Euros. Good quality is around that midway point. Amongst the cheapest alcohol is the local brew, Rakia. This local moonshine is home brewed, around 1 Euro a bottle, and can be a headbanger… literally. We have been warned!

Food focuses on kebabs, koftes, flatbreads and pizza. Chicken and pork is the norm, with beef and lamb being more difficult to find. Salad with white cheese is popular. A main meal is expected to be around 5 Euros – not that we will be spending Euros, as the Bulgarian lev (meaning lion) is the local currency. A lev is made up of 100 stotinki. Currently 1 lev is worth 43 UK pence.

We are also looking forward to some of the traditions of the Balkan people, one of which being that of nods and shakes. Opposite to our traditions, local people may be seen shaking their heads for ‘yes’ and nodding for ‘no’. It seems also they can be a nation of few words. Rather than, perhaps what we would refer to as being reserved and polite when asking for the bill in the UK ‘Could I please have, in your own time’, etc. They might use just one word – ‘bill’. No, they are not being rude, they are just being efficient with their words.

The weather is expected to be hot, warm, colder at higher altitudes, and possibly wet. Hence, we shall be preparing for everything… we hope. We are looking forward to travelling with our small group of unknown friends and back-up crew and will be reporting back along the way – wi-fi willing.

Copyright: Words and image Sue Barnard 2022

Well that was some feat, 2891 miles in three weeks. Would I do it again? No, but we rarely return to a holiday destination unless it offers more to see – the Hoover Dam being a case in point where we had not been able to view the internal workings on a previous trip.

Highlights had to be those areas which emphasised the Route 66 connections. Top of the list would be Winslow, Arizona, with its Standin’ on the Corner Park making full reference to the Eagles’ song Take it Easy, and its two memorabilia shops opposite which played Eagles’ songs all day and every day to the delight of its customers, but must have been an irritant for the shop staff. Williams, Arizona, also made good use of the Route 66 theme, and we understand from a sheriff this was a very safe town to visit.

There were many good experiences along the way, especially engaging with people we met including the Amish in Arthur (Illinois) and the lovely guide who took us back to his home to speak with his wife and share their passion for horses; a sitar player whom we met at breakfast in Los Angeles who shared his positive experiences of his hometown of Chicago – known for its high crime rate; such helpful and knowledgeable staff in the various museums and visitors centres who were only too keen to share their knowledge with interested travellers; and the many people who offered to take photos of us together.

The ghost towns, of course, were a sad sight, but as one museum curator told us, Route 66 was destined to fail from the start. The reason that it was constructed was to join remote communities and thereby improve trade. It became so successful that those using it were later calling for Interstate roads to be built which could by-pass the towns they did not wish to call in on.

We learned that many of those Route 66 support companies such as petrol stations, shops and motels went out of business very quickly, although we didn’t hear of, presumably, those with an entrepreneurial bent who would have seen the benefits of moving themselves nearer the edge of the new Interstate roads to trade with the vastly increased passing trade.

Certainly today those Interstates are heavily used, which brings me to one area I was not so keen on – the extremely heavy traffic especially heading in and out of the major towns like Chicago and Los Angeles; the crazy drivers over and undertaking at speed without signalling; the convoys of articulated lorries; the high winds and blinding rain. Far nicer was the chance to get off to the old Mother Road in the places it did run. This is where some businesses did a good job at attracting tourists and the inquisitive.

While towns like Winslow and Williams could add a lot to the tourist experience, for smaller areas it was more difficult. This is where the owners of the huge rocking chair, Giganticus Headicus, and Cadillac Ranch were able to capitalise with their ‘attractions’.

But we would not have got to see many of these off the beaten track sites if it was not for SatNav and Apple Maps. Both of these were essential. Although we had maps and directions these were in parts not detailed enough, or with the directions, too detailed. The SatNav gave us the main course, but even up to date maps cannot cater for recent changes and roadworks. Apple Maps can help here, but cannot be relied on in areas where a signal does not exist.

To bring our journey to a close we would like to thank all those who have followed our stories along the way, which makes this all worthwhile. There have been funny comments made, some of which we would like to share. Brother Dave for example, when John referred to all those items of memorabilia we saw and never knew we wanted, said he felt the same when seeing our photo of the rather attractive Dodge Viper sports car.

In true Eagles style, John’s long time friend from primary school, Maurice, said he was concerned John might be driving with Seven Women on his Mind. I advised him that one is more than enough.

Eric, our Australian friend who we met many years ago while touring Vietnam, was quick off the mark asking John if the trip was just Another Tequila Sunrise for The New Kid in Town, and did we manage to stay in the Hotel California, Such a Lovely Place? Well no, as we didn’t like the conditions that we could Check Out at Any Time, but could Never Leave. Instead we booked into the Andaz, West Hollywood, where The Doors stayed in 1966 until Jim Morrison was evicted for hanging off the 10th floor balcony; Led Zeppelin occupied several floors during which time their tour manager Richard Cole was said to have ridden his motorbike along the hotel corridors; Axl Rose lit a BBQ on his balcony, set off the fire alarm and threw steaks to passers by; and Little Richard moved in for 20 years. Only in America.

But luckily I did not turn into a Witchy Woman despite that frightful traffic and John is no longer standing on any corner salivating over a flatbed Ford.

Until our next trip, we say goodbye and thank you for watching. Meanwhile we will be Taking it Easy.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

We had an uneventful 300 mile drive from Kingman to West Hollywood. There was not much to stop and see on the way although the town of Barstow that we passed through was mentioned in John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath.

We decided, on our first full day in Los Angeles, to drive the last 12 or so miles from West Hollywood to Santa Monica Pier which is the official end of Route 66. The traffic in Los Angeles was heavy most of the day so a short 12 miles took 30 minutes and we witnessed some dreadful driving particularly on the Interstate. So, after just over 2,800 miles, we reached the end of Route 66 although we had had a couple of detours to Monument Valley and the Hoover Dam which increased the usually quoted mileage of 2,448 for Route 66.

The tribute to Robert Waldmire is outside of a memorabilia shop at the end of the Santa Monica Pier. Robert (Bob) Waldmire was an American artist who is well know for his artwork of Route 66 and won the National Historic Route 66 Federation’s John Steinbeck award in 2004 for his contributions to the preservation of Route 66.

Sanata Monica had a nice long beach which must be very popular in the summer months and on public holidays and it featured its own version of “Muscle Beach” which they claimed was the original. There were no muscle men there the day we visited and it looked to me more like something a local council in the UK would set up in a local park that would equally not be used.

We asked a policeman, who happened to be at the end of the Pier, if there were any other “End of Trail” Route 66 signs and he thought there may be one in Santa Monica Boulevard so we took a walk around the downtown area.

Santa Monica seemed a pleasant part of the Los Angeles sprawl and had many restaurants and bars including an “English pub” which, in the usual American style, looked nothing like UK style pub. It has a homeless problem too, although it is not as visible as in Hollywood. As we could not find any other End of Trail signs we returned to West Hollywood and the delights Sue has already reported on.

Route 66 was completed and whereas we had driven 2,800 miles in less than 3 weeks, the driving had not been challenging for me but enjoyable. We had only spent just over £300 on petrol (or “gas” as they say) which was at a record high in the US, as it is in the UK, but was still only roughly 60% or less of what we pay in the UK.

Our epilogue will follow with some observations made along our road trip.

Copyright: Words and photos John Cruse 2022

If Santa Fe was considered fake, then Hollywood may be considered fickle. We took a trip to the Walk of Fame where more than 2,400 stars are sited along the pavements (or sidewalks as they are known in the US) of 18 blocks along Hollywood Boulevard. Most of the stars are inlaid with the names of ‘celebrities’ from the entertainment industry, many of whom we had not heard of and some were fictitious, including Minnie Mouse and Snow White. Rather ironic was that along this celebratory walk of perceived ‘stars’ were several tents put up by the homeless, of which there were many in this town of obvious wealth.

Our hotel was positioned for easier access to Santa Monica (the end of Route 66), Hollywood and the airport and was on the outskirts of Beverly Hills where $10 million won’t buy you much of a pad – we were told people needed tens of millions. Even for that, many of the houses were squeezed aside each other.

We didn’t last the course of the complete Walk of Fame. Once you had seen one star you had seen the lot, especially in the high heat of the day. We stumbled upon another Big Bus Tour and thought a ride would give us a potted history and a view of parts of Hollywood we would not reach by foot.

Something rather concerned me at the start of the tour – the playing of a lot of ‘musak’ through the bus headphones, repeated over and over again and continuing throughout the two hour trip, valuable time which could be filled with information. Still, I was looking forward to some of the sights and some history.

We saw very nice parts of Beverly Hills, many of the roads having different species of trees, such as palms along one road and Jacaranda along another. Beverly Hills dissuades onlookers; likes to keep itself tidy; and insists that all residents place their trash bins down a back alley and out of site.

We passed many movie, TV and recording studios, such as Paramount where visitors could take a tour, and the Troubadour Club where Elton John, James Taylor and Neil Young made their US debuts, Guns ’n’ Roses were signed up on the spot having been kicked off the stage by the owners, and Janis Joplin partied before being found dead the next day of a heroin overdose. The Eagles song ‘Sad Cafe’ is said to be written about the club.

Bonhams, the auction house, was pointed out where many items from Michael Jackson’s estate were sold after his death, but evidently not the sequinned glove. O J Simpson also sold items to pay towards his multi-million court judgement, we were told.

We also passed the attractive Petersen Automotive Museum building (photo below). We would have liked to visit but our time in Los Angeles was short. The museum contains more than 250 iconic, rare and historic cars, hot rods, trucks and motorcycles going back 120 years.

Then lots of restaurants and shops were pointed out for onlookers to visit who just cannot get enough of the celebs. Mixed within all this were more tents of the homeless along the pavements – paved with gold for some, but not for others.

Popular food outlets were highlighted, such as the Sprinkles cake brand where those desperate for sweet things can satisfy their desire 24 hours a day. For something more savoury there is Pink’s Hot Dog Store, a family company set up by Paul and Betty Pink in 1939 to sell chilli dogs from a push cart. Today, it sells more than 2,000 hot dogs and 200 hamburgers a day.

Then we passed the cemetery for the celebs, named Hollywood Forever, where those unlucky not to see a celeb or two on their journey can go hunting for the tombstones of others! Everything is covered in this trip.

Or is it? Where is that history I was expecting? Yes it was included in the recorded commentary… all 2 minutes of it. So with a bit of further research I will fill in this void. Hollywood’s origins date back to 1853 when the first adobe building was erected. Over the next 20 years a thriving agricultural community developed. By 1883, prohibitionist, politician and real-estate developer Harvey Henry Wilcox moved in and purchased 150 acres of land with the intention of ranching.

Things didn’t quite go to plan and he made arrangements to sell off plots for housing, perceiving a community based on his sober religious principles. I wonder if he is turning in his grave at Hollywood Forever. But it was H J Whitley, referred to as the ‘Father of Hollywood’, who changed the prospects of the area. He was responsible for bringing electricity, gas and the telephone to Hollywood at the beginning of the 20th century, and also opened the Hollywood Hotel, today called the Dolby Theatre which hosts the yearly Oscars ceremony.

By 1908, film companies started to show interest in the location attracted by its varied terrain, mild climate, and a big labour market. By 1913, 20 film businesses had established themselves in Hollywood. Two years later it had become the centre of the American film industry. Big names included Paramount, Columbia, Warner Brothers, Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Twentieth Century Fox.

After WWII many of the film producers moved out, and these valuable large sites were taken over later by the TV industry. But it wasn’t always a win-win situation for these companies. There have been numerous strikes including in 1941 the Disney Animators’ strike; in 1945 the Set Decorators’ strike lasting six months; the Actors’ strikes in the 1960s; Directors’ strike in 1987 lasting just 3 hours and 5 minutes (they know how to be effective); and more recently (2007-8) the hundred days strike of the Writers Guild of America which wanted a bigger share of the profits made by the larger studios. Unfortunately, such shutdowns had a knock on effect for supporting industries, such as florists, prop houses and transportation firms, who could not ride the storm.

All of this is indicative of just how much Hollywood depends on the movie and TV producers and how much the movie and TV producers depend on Hollywood. But it is not just America that depends on it – the need stretches internationally. Just a chance short discussion in the lift with a gentleman when we got back to our hotel reflected that. Recognising our UK accents he told us he was from Bromley. “I’m here on business,” he said. “I work in film production.” It seems many parts of the world need Hollywood as much as Hollywood needs them.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

The reason for our stopover in Kingman was to make a visit to the Hoover Dam which was only 75 miles away. A short drive in US terms. We had been there when we visited Las Vegas in 2018 but did not had enough time to vist the Dam museum or go on the powerplant tour.

A bit of trivia before the history: who is the Dam currently named after and what was its original name? The options for who the Dam is currently named after are; 1. J Edgar Hoover; 2. Herbert Hoover and 3. Henry the Hoover. No clues for the original name but it relates to a city close by.

The Hoover Dam was built in the Black Canyon on the Colorado River between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and straddles the state line between Nevada and Arizona. It was inaugrated on the 30 September 1935 by President Franklin D Rooseveldt.

Since about 1900, the US Government had been invesigating whether Black Canyon, Boulder Canyon or other spots along the Colorado river had the potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. The US Congress authorised the project in 1928 and a consortium of six companies won the bid to build the Dam and with great imagination called themselves “Six Companies, Inc.”

The Museum gave a good overview of the construction of the Dam and the challenges that such a big project gave, as nothing had been done on this scale before. New building techniques had to be trialled. For instance, to aid the non-stop construction they built with concrete in block sections which also hastened the drying of the wet concrete.

Workers from all over America and beyond came to try and get employment during the Great Depression although only circa 6,000 were working on the Dam at any one time. Boulder City which is near the Dam was built to house the workers as the site was remote in the 1930s. Some of the jobs were extremely dangerous and there were fatalities from various causes: falls from the canyon side, explosions, carbon monoxide poisoning and pneumonia, to name a few.

These days we are used to hearing how major infrastructure projects are over budget and running late but Six Companies turned the Dam over to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.

Once the Dam was built, the body of water above the Dam took six to seven years to reach its final height and was named Lake Mead. It is the largest reservoir in the United States by volume when full although, due to the current drought in the southwestern United States, is dangerously low near to the level where it would not give enough water to turn the turbines for electricity generation.

The Dam’s generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona and California. As the road over the Dam was being used heavily, a bridge has been built nearby to take the Interstate 93 traffic. The roadway on the bridge is nearly 900 feet above the Colorado River.

The Dam is operated by the US Bureau of Reclamation and is 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long. At the base it is 660 feet wide but only 45 feet wide at the top. It cost apparently USD 49 million to build.

One interesting consequence of the water levels of Lake Mead dropping so low is that 2 bodies have recently been found which police believe could have been in the lake since the 1970s or 80s.

If you are in Kingman or Las Vegas the Dam is worth a visit, but if you go on the organised tours from Las Vegas you don’t get much time at the Dam, so self-drive is best.

The answers to the trivia questions above is firstly, Herbert Hoover (unfortunately not Henry the Hoover) and secondly, The Boulder Dam.

Copyright: words and photos John Cruse 2022