Christmas in California

As I mentioned in my itinerary, I had Christmas in California. It was a wonderful week! This year I was more than happy to trade a white Christmas for a green, sunny one. :) We (Ted, Chrissie and myself) spent the week with John and Maria (my brother and his wife), who live outside of LA, in the suburb of Burbank. (My parents were in Zambia, and Shirley-Anne and Bwalya were in Japan.)

Here are some pictures (with a bonus at the end) of our Californian Christmas. (Click for full size.) Enjoy!

At John & Maria's table, where we enjoyed many happy meals. (I realize I look like a bit of a half-wit. ;))



This is a panoramic picture of Burbank, taken and spliced by John.



Chrissie and me in a tree at the sea-shore in Santa Barbara.



Ted had difficulty climbing the tree. ;)



Eating our favourite food: Indian!



John and Maria live just around the corner from Hollywood. I'm glad they don't live *in* Hollywood, because Hollywood, in my opinion, is not a very nice place. It is run-down with many decrepit and low-moral stores, and the prominent religion seems to be Scientology.



This is the Chinese theatre in Hollywood, in front of which are the hand and foot imprints and autographs of many Hollywood "stars" preserved in cement.



This are Arnold Schwarzenegger's imprints. Wow, a perfect fit!



Ted always pretends to be taller than me in pictures. :)



Here we are at Universal Studios, where many films have been made. Universal Studios is just 20 minutes from John & Maria's place, and we got half-off tickets. :) In this picture we are saving John from the "Jaws" shark!



John insisted on taking this picture with Shrek. We had to line and up everything. Okay... we all wanted to do it, :) and I couldn't resist patting Shrek on the shoulder.



Here we are--Ted, Chrissie and myself--about to experience the "Terminator II" ride. We are still wearing our ponchos from the previous (wet) ride and are too cold to take them off.



Taking the tour of some of the Universal Studios film sets.



This is part of the set of "War of the Worlds", starring Tom Cruise. See another part of this set in the picture above.



Christmas morning. A most unflattering picture, but what is family for? :)



Finally, click the video below to hear Ted and Chrissie perform a beautiful duet. ;)