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Los Angeles – Blaze Pizza (Pasadena)

[I originally posted this in July 2018 about a visit in January 2018, I’ve reposted it to fix some broken image links]

Just after I arrived in Pasadena it started to rain. The roads started flooding with the quantity of rain, so it seemed that an early lunch would be a rather good idea. This pizza restaurant, which is part of a national chain, seemed well reviewed and was on the way to my hotel. This restaurant is their outlet on East Colorado Boulevard, which is also on the historic route 66.

Firstly, the service was quite ridiculous insomuch as it was near perfect. There’s often talk from restaurants in the UK how they want their staff to engage with customers, to build up a rapport, to be conversational and welcoming. It rarely happens. Here, they had it down to a fine art.

I took a leaflet by the door to get an understanding of the different pizza options available. The process is similar to Subway, that you walk down a line and select the pizza and other items that you want, before paying at the end. I mentioned to the first staff member that it was my first visit, and she proceeded to offer a comprehensive introduction to how the process worked.

Then, after she had introduced herself and the concept, she then introduced me to the other staff members along the line. She was conversational and friendly, it is hard to imagine a friendlier introduction to a restaurant, but it never felt over the top or forced.

There’s an open and slightly industrial feel to the whole restaurant, which soon got much busier. The pizzas are cooked in just a few minutes and customers go and collect them from the counter.

Unlimited Dr. Pepper, a side salad and a pizza, all of which were at the temperature I expected, were neatly presented and tasted of an excellent quality. The pizza base was thin and crispy, the toppings were evenly spread and there was a depth of taste to both the pizza and the salad.

I think that covers most eventualities.

This was my first visit to a Blaze Pizza outlet and I discovered later on that Pasadena was the home of the chain, which might explain the near perfect customer service. It’s a shame that I don’t live closer (it’s hard to justify popping over to Pasadena for lunch) as I’d have this as my go to fast service restaurant….

August 13, 2025
Flights – London Heathrow to Los Angeles (American Airlines)

[I originally posted this in July 2018 about a flight in January 2018, but I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links]

For a little bit of variety in January 2018, I decided to use American Airlines to get to the United States from London rather than British Airways. They’re still part of Oneworld and I think that there’s some sort of revenue share on the flights, so it wasn’t total disloyalty to British Airways….

American Airlines depart from Terminal 3 at Heathrow and the transfer process from Terminal 5 was easy with numerous airport staff available to help. The welcome desk at American Airlines was exactly that, enormously welcoming and friendly. The staff member asked if I was taking an ex-EU flight (meaning Europe rather than European Union, it’s often a cheaper way to travel, my ticket was from Ireland) which I said I was, before she added that it was becoming increasingly common.

The aircraft felt modern with the economy cabin being clean and well presented. The IFE screen was of a reasonable size given the cabin and I particularly liked the easy to access power to ensure my devices were kept nice and charged. The selection of films and television seemed quite wide ranging with some modern films being available.

It’s not rare now on airlines, but this was the first time that I’ve encountered this on my flights. It was news being fed to the aircraft whilst we were in the air, so I heard about the resignation of a Cabinet Minister.

I was going to America, so I had to have a Dr. Pepper. By “had to have”, I meant that I consider it to be a national drink of the United States, although I suspect most Americans would pick something else.

The main meal of mashed potato on minced meat (that’s not its official name) didn’t look very pretty, but it tasted better than it looked. There was some salad, which seemed superfluous to me, as well as a pleasant cherry crumble cake. The roll tasted American, so it was rather sweet.

There was ice cream handed out during the flight.

I liked the packaging, it looked exciting 🙂

Inside the box was a fajita pepper wrap on one side, and a lemon sponge cake on the other side. Served alongside another Dr. Pepper, it was a perfectly acceptable breakfast.

I liked the entire flight, indeed more than I expected. The service was polite, efficient and fast throughout. I had an aisle seat in a bank of only two seats, which although at the back of the cabin didn’t cause me any problems with noise or disturbances.

There were sufficient washrooms for the number of customers and the environment seemed clean and comfortable. British Airways seem to have had real problems recently keeping their aircraft clean, and American seemed to be more on top of that issue. It all adds to making the flight a little more pleasant.

August 13, 2025
Wisbech – High Street Urban Renewal

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

It’s the first time that I’ve visited Wisbech for very many years, and some of the High Street is perhaps in need of some attention. Indeed, without that attention, there’s a risk bits of it might fall down.

There has been some funding provided to the town to develop a strategy to restore some of the buildings on the High Street and also to appoint a Townscape Heritage Officer. The above signage notes that they’re not trying to do too much, primarily limited by the level of funding that they have.

For buildings so close to the town’s central market, I was surprised to see these in such a poor state of repair. If the project to restore the High Street is successful, hopefully these can be restored and brought back into use for housing or retail.

The ideal has to be that Wisbech becomes a town that is wealthy enough to support two Greggs. Then they’ll know that they’ve made it.

August 13, 2025
Wisbech – Dann’s Clock

[I originally posted this in July 2018 and have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

The full story of Dann’s clock is far better told at http://www.wisbech-society.co.uk/bridge-street-clock.html and it’s an interesting story of how a piece of Wisbech’s history was so nearly lost. It was originally erected in the 1860s as a public service for those who didn’t have their own watch (or smartphone).

It took its name from when James Dann owned his clock, watch-maker, optician and jeweller shop (he seems multi-talented) at 10, Bridge Street in the town. He was clearly proud of his illuminated clock as it was commented on in much of the advertising that he placed in the local media at the time.

In 1869 the local press reported of the council meeting where the clock was discussed by the local elected representatives. The council had agreed to pay for one lamp’s worth of illuminating Mr Dann’s clock at night, because this was seen as a public service to avoid people being attacked when it was dark. Mr Dann was very pleased with this, but he discovered that his lamp was using 21,000 feet of gas (I’m entirely unclear what sort of measurement that is) and he wanted the council to pay for two lamps. I liked how the meeting reported that one alderman queried that they had paid for one, and he “didn’t know how that it was” that they now had to pay for two.

Back in its rightful place, although if I’m being honest, I only noticed it was even there because of the sign on the wall. It cost over £2,000 to bring the clock back to Wisbech and that was donated by local people and businesses, and it feels like money that has been well-spent. The clock would have lost so much of its meaning in any other setting.

The sign on the wall which brought my attention to the clock. I like reading signs relating to history, especially lengthy ones like this.

August 13, 2025
Wisbech – Wisbech Park

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

The land on which the town’s main park now resides was originally owned by the Church Commissioners, who rented it for grazing and market gardening. I know this as the council has helpfully placed signs up around the park giving a history of the site.

The park opened in 1869 and the Town Corporation purchased the land at a cost of £2,000. This thrilled the local population who had to pay a penny on their rates for thirty years to fund the purchase, and over 100 ratepayers complained about the cost.

There was apparently a bowling green here, before they planted a grass maze on it. Note the size of the park is nineteen acres, but seemingly they couldn’t think where to put a grass maze other than on a bowling green. Bored by that idea, they’ve now turned the area into an orchard. The aim is that residents can wander through the apple trees and pick themselves an apple. It’s a shame Greggs can’t do something similar with chicken bakes…

Further information about the apple project.

This is the Richard Young memorial, which is at the northern end of the park. He was a Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire between 1865 and 1868, and he was also the Mayor of the town from 1858 until 1863. Hansard reports that Richard Young made one verbal contribution during his time in the House of Commons. This is the report of his comments:

“Richard Young, who had returned to the House, said, he had thought his presence unnecessary”.

It’s not exactly Disraeli is it?

Here’s the inscription on the memorial.

The bandstand was opened in 1908 at a cost of just under £100. It was restored in 2017 at a cost of over £60,000, which sounds rather expensive to me, but some was spent on a new thief-proof roof. I’m not sure that anyone had pinched the previous one though.

A view over the park.

The sign notes that this area of the park was “a magnet for anti-social behaviour”, so work was completed by volunteers (and some perhaps slightly less than volunteering members of the community payback scheme) and it is a much nicer area now. They’ve also created an “insect hotel” which I hope doesn’t encourage any snakes to move in.

August 13, 2025
Wisbech – Wisbech and Fenland Museum

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

This museum claims that they believe this is one of the oldest museums in the country which is still located within its original purpose-built building, and the Wisbech and Fenland Museum opened in 1847. Indeed, the museum seems overly large for the size of the town and it’s no doubt a testament to the volunteers that it has survived for over a century and a half.

The museum was first founded in 1835 when 31 members of the local community came together to form a literary and antiquary society. It now has over 50,000 items in its collections, although I’m not entirely sure where they store them all.

In an age where museums seem too willing to dispose of items, I was glad to read that the museum says “we do not have the resources to carry out a rationalisation project and consequently it is not a priority”. So, nothing will be flogged off. Sometimes having insufficient money can be for the best.

There is an entrance room, which has a small shop, and then there is a room with various items of porcelain, postcards and information about different aspects of the history of the town. This room was formerly the museum’s lecture room, and then there is the two storey main gallery which has the bulk of the items on display. This is rather a tight space, but it feels authentic and they do fit a lot into the area. There must also be a library in the building, although I believe that this was closed on the day of my visit.

What is left is a very Victorian feeling museum which offers a friendly welcome and a rather eclectic range of exhibits. Unfortunately, what I consider to be one of their most interesting exhibits, which is the original text of Great Expectations, wasn’t on display on the Saturday when I visited. The museum had been given the manuscript in 1868 by Reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend, a friend of Dickens.

I mentioned above that it is fortunate that the museum isn’t currently to dispose of items. It hasn’t always been so though, as the museum trustees tried to flog off their most precious asset, the Dickens manuscript, in 1947. It results in an inquiry from the Charity Commissioners which the trustees tried to ignore, despite being told not to sell it. The will donating the item to the museum specifically said that the trustees couldn’t sell it, and it’s not clear why they ultimately didn’t, perhaps the legalities proved too much to bear. The sale would have raised around £10,000, but fortunately the trustees didn’t prevail in their plans.

I’m sad to say that I hadn’t previously heard of Thomas Clarkson, who is another important part of the museum. Clarkson was an anti-slave campaigner who lived from 1760 until 1846 and he was a student of Wisbech Grammar School. The museum tells the story of Clarkson’s endeavours, including how he spoke to 20,000 sailors and travelled 35,000 miles to find out more about the slave trade.

William Wilberforce is the much better known historical figure who fought against slavery, and there’s a fascinating museum dedicated to his life in Hull. However, the museum explains that it was Clarkson who provided Wilberforce with details and facts about the slave trade which became crucial to his speeches.

A carved oak chair from the 1870s, sculpted by Marshall George Strapps. He took up carving when working as a toll-keeper, and later in his life he collected tolls on the town’s Leverington Road. He is also buried in the town, at Leverington Road Cemetery.

My favourite exhibit in the museum was the 1657 manuscript map of Wisbech Hundred. The museum explains that the land had recently been carved up now that it was newly drained, and this map records that.

Also in the museum is a collection of birds, or what Dylan would call “dead animals” (actually I think I called it that, but he’s used the term many times since). It’s a rather Victorian style of displaying wildlife, but now it has been created it would seem wrong to destroy it.

Every provincial museum should have items which visitors can relate to, and this museum didn’t let me down. Lots of household items, although I’m obviously too young to remember any of them.

Some bottles from Elgood’s Brewery, which is a local business which first opened in 1795, and is still based on the town.

When Cadbury’s made proper chocolate….

There is also a collection of coins, which is quite an interesting little exhibit, although they only had a limited amount of space to display them. They have numerous Roman and Greek coins, most of which have been found in the local area.

Overall, I thought that this was a delightful little museum and it’s marvellous that it has survived for so long. There is no entrance charge, although donations are gratefully received, and there are numerous events which are put on by the museum.

August 13, 2025
Seville – Renfe Train Journey from Seville to Madrid

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

As I was in Seville for a few days, I thought that I’d take the opportunity to travel onto Spain’s capital, as I had never visited before. The ticket purchase was easy enough, via Renfe’s web-site, although the prices weren’t that cheap. An advance purchase ticket cost around £39, although it’s more expensive on the day of travel.

I made a slight mistake in how I booked the tickets, which is that I opted to go from Seville San Bernardo railway station, instead of Seville Santa Justa railway station. This didn’t matter, and I don’t think it impacted the price, but it meant that I had a three minute connecting journey and it’d have been just as easy for me to walk to Santa Justa. The photo above is of Seville San Bernardo which is a relatively large station, although it’s much smaller than Santa Justa.

On entering San Bernardo I was rather confused, although this isn’t a rare situation for me to be in. One advantage of the British rail network is that when there are automated gates, there are always staff present to help passengers. Other networks across Europe don’t seem to always have that requirement, so I was faced with a row of automated ticket machines and no way through them.

I had the ticket on my phone, but there was no obvious way that the ticket machines could read that. So, I noticed there was a Renfe information desk, and after a five-minute wait I was able to speak to someone. She was helpful and she explained that I needed a card to get through the barriers, and she handed me one. That was that mystery resolved.

The station was more like an underground line, although it had sufficient seats and was pleasantly air conditioned.

Screens showed when the trains were coming through. Which is another problem with the Spanish rail network, as every journey requires a seat reservation. That meant I couldn’t have got an earlier train for my three minute connecting journey, and it meant that I had to have a seat reservation for that journey. I understand the need to have seat reservations for long distance journeys, but this seemed excessive for other journeys.

Anyway, the train turns up on time and is packed, so the seat reservation system had failed anyway. I felt that I could manage the three minute journey in the train’s corridor, but it wasn’t a particularly pleasant trip as it was quite warm.

My first impressions of the Spanish rail network were, at this point, rather negative. I’d had to work out how to get through the barriers, be limited as to what train I could get and then find that the train was full. But, fortunately, everything got much better.

I liked that when I got off the train that there was a staff member with a sign telling customers what platform to go to for the Madrid train. This was rather like at an airport where staff are trying to get customers to their connecting service, and it was all very managed. I liked how at the entrance to platform two, which is where my train departed, that a staff member was checking everyone had a ticket. I didn’t have long to make my connecting train, so it was reassuring that I knew that I was in the right place.

Going down the escalator to the train, where it was possible to see the security checks and ticket check that was on the platform. Since a rather serious terrorist incident on the Spanish network over ten years ago, they have since scanned baggage before customers can board. I’m not sure how effective the whole system is, but it perhaps gives reassurance to passengers. There was also then a ticket check, with all of the staff members being friendly and helpful.

SNCF have an irritating habit of giving me a seat reservation and then not having a carriage which matches that seat reservation. This was much better, there was a staff member to guide customers, but the information on the side of the train was clear. I knew which carriage to board and the numbering of seats was also clear.

Renfe staff handed out free headphones at the beginning of the journey to anyone who wanted them.

There was a film showing on screens, which was the Greatest Showman, and customers could plug their headphones in to a connector at the seat if they wanted to listen to the audio. A rather nice idea, I’m not sure if any British rail company does something similar.

Also by the screen there was an indicator which showed the time and how fast the train was going.

I had been allocated a window seat and the terrain was quite varied along the distance. One slight issue is that there was air conditioning, but it only seemed to be working on the section by the window. This meant that I was only half cooled down, although the overall temperature in the carriage wasn’t too bad.

Disembarking from the train in Madrid, with the service having been around 80% full. The train journey had taken 150 minutes and it arrived on time.

Other passengers disembarking from the train.

And, my first visit to Madrid now began….

August 13, 2025
Madrid – Puerta de Toledo (Gate of Toledo)

[I originally posted this in July 2018 and have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

Constructed between 1813 and 1827 is this gate, which was constructed to make Spanish independence from France. The inscription on the gate reads that Fernando VII, the father of the nation, has restored the country back to the people following the French usurpation. It was one of the last gates to be added to the city walls of Madrid, which at the time encircled the central part of the city.

It’s rather difficult to get to the gate as it’s in the middle of a traffic island, somewhat left adrift from everything. It was once a main gateway to the city through which people, horses and carriages would have entered, although it is no longer used for that purpose.

The gate was fully restored in 1995, although I thought that it was a slight shame that such a beautiful structure is now surrounded by cars. It also has a slightly more sinister past in that it was formerly the location for where locals would come to celebrate public executions.

Although it’s not easily visible to the human eye, and indeed, not at all possible for me to notice, there are some problems with the central arch subsiding slightly. This was caused when someone decided that it would be a marvellous idea to place a tunnel just below the structure.

Here’s what it used to look like, with the city walls visible on either side.

August 13, 2025
Madrid

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image link]

That’s the end of my short stay in Madrid, which was unfortunately just a little too hot. But, I’ll have to come again as I have two metro journeys left unused on my ticket, and I want to make the most of them. I might well come back during a slightly cooler period of the year though….

It’s a rather lovely city, although I only got to explore a relatively small part of it. Not quite as vibrant as Seville, and perhaps not quite as historic as I had expected, but still full of atmosphere and character.

Cibeles Airport Lounge

Thyssen Museum (Floor 0)

Thyssen Museum (Floor 1)

Alvaro de Bazan Statue

Puerta de Toledo (Gate of Toledo)

Ibis Madrid Alcorcon Tresaguas

Almudena Cathedral

Beer in McDonald’s

R-Line on Metro

Museo de Historia de Madrid

Oven Restaurant

Thyssen Museum (Floor 2)

Muslim Walls and Parque Emir Mohamed

Campo del Moro (Moorish Gardens)

Thyssen Museum

Plaza de Espana

Mercado de San Miguel

Renfe Train Journey from Seville to Madrid

August 13, 2025
Madrid – Cibeles Airport Lounge

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

I had an early morning flight from Terminal 1 at Madrid airport and I noticed that the airside lounge was open 24 hours a day. This suggested to me that the security process also didn’t close at night, so at 02:00 I tried to get through security, and I was allowed through. The entire security process took under a minute, an efficiency that I appreciated at that time of the morning.

The lounge is located in the non-Schengen area of Terminal 1, but I see no reason why anyone on a Schengen flight can’t go through as there are one-way exit doors back to the main part of the terminal. It just means going through the customs check at the airport. The lounge is then situated near to Gate B26 by going in the lift to the second floor.

Technically access to the lounge is only allowed three hours before the flight, but I tried four hours before, just in case. The staff member was friendly and helpful, and scanned my Priority Pass app, saying that the early arrival was fine.

It was clear that my entry didn’t cause any issues in terms of lounge capacity, as I was the only passenger in there. There was to be only one other person in the lounge during the three hours that I remained there, so it’s clearly not a busy lounge in the early morning.

There were numerous different types of seating area, including comfortable low chairs, and some at tables. There were a large number of power outlets, located by most of the tables.

The lounge is large in size and there are toilets inside the lounge, so passengers don’t need to go back into the main terminal. There was also a reasonable selection of magazines and newspapers, in a range of languages.

There is a large central bar which contains food and drink, with refrigerated chillers located along its length. There were self-pour wines and spirits, as well as a decent range of soft drinks, and I was pleased with the chilled lemon Fanta. There were lots of different teas and also some flavoured waters. There was also a Nespresso machine, and unusually, there were very clear instructions on how to use it and a description of the four capsules that were available.

The fridges contains a few different types of yoghurt, around eight different types of sandwiches and some pre-cut fruit options of apple and pineapple. The sandwiches were a little bland, but the chicken and mustard one wasn’t too bad.

The pastry selection, of which I tried valiantly to make my way through on my own, but without entire success. I noticed that at lunch and in the evening that there were cooked meals available, with some of the options looking quite tempting.

There were also breads, jams, cereals and other options to choose from.

I like the lounge, it was spotlessly clean and the staff member at the reception desk was helpful. I think customers with the appropriate status from Sky Team and Star Alliance can use the lounge, but on this occasion I used my Priority Pass.

August 13, 2025