THIS WEEK: DONNA BIDWELL TRAVEL COUNSELLORS, LOWESTOFT
Q&A
Lady in red Donna Bidwell tells Ben Ireland all about celeb spotting in Los Angeles and conquering her fears during Travel Weekly’s Cover Stars road trip through California
Q. You flew business class on American Airlines out to LAX. What was that like? A. You have your own little area, like a pod, which was really comfortable. They give you a bag of toiletries in a cabinet, and there was a buffet of cheesecakes during the flight. It was a great way to start the trip. I slept really well.
Q. Talk us through your first day. A. After landing, we transferred to the Mondrian Los Angeles in West Hollywood. It was lovely and we ate there that night. I had a delicious chicken meal with caramelised crispy sprouts – my favourite meal of the trip. A few of us went for a drink later at the hotel’s Sky Bar, which had great views over West Hollywood.
Q. Up early again the next morning? A. Because of jet lag I was up again at 4am, so I went for an early walk with one of the others along Sunset Boulevard, and we grabbed a coffee. That was before our bike tour around Beverly Hills, including Rodeo
Drive. We saw Elvis’s old house, the house where Michael Jackson died and Mick Jagger’s old place. There were so many amazing houses, and it was different doing that tour on bikes rather than a coach. I was knackered but I powered through.
Q. No rest for the wicked. What was next? A. We had a lovely wine tasting, and some free time when a few of us wanted to go to the Hollywood sign. We took some great pictures in front of it then went to the Griffith Observatory, which featured in La La Land. I ticked off a lot of things on my bucket list on the trip.
Q. Anything else ticked off the list? A. I’ve always wanted to meet a proper A-list celebrity, and when we went for dinner in the Sunset Tower Hotel I saw loads of them. When I walked up the stairs I heard a familiar voice, looked up and it was Bill Murray. I’m a massive Ghostbusters fan. We also saw Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Q. Wow. Then you were on the road in the morning? A. Yeah, we set off to Pismo Beach. We drove up it while the Californian forest fires were happening, and could see fire right up to the side of the road. Life went on as usual. We checked in to the hotel, Inn at the Pier, which was probably my favourite. It was really big, and very modern and airy.
Q. What did you do at Pismo Beach? A. We went dune buggying. It was one of the activities I was a bit more
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travelweekly.co.uk 4 January 2018
PHOTOS: STEVE HOCKSTEIN/HARVARD STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY
2018
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