Chinese New Year also means family time. We therefore decided to drive down the Golden Coast to start the year of the Pig also made out of this precious metal. It’s supposedly an exceptional year and it’s all natural that after an exceptionally long sleep, an exceptional breakfast and an exceptional stop in Gilroy we arrived exceptionally late in Los Angeles. After a romantic stroll along Venice Beach and a tribal dance in the drum circle we headed exhausted back to the hotel, where we collapsed. We woke up the next morning only to realize that after all the anticipation we had shamefully slept over the New Year.A few hours later we added the Chinese to the New Year as we visited Karen's relatives. When we arrived, the home made dumplings we were supposed to prepare were already awaiting us along with a delicious meal. We felt very lucky and we had a thought for Ellie, in Argentina, who would surely have given anything to share the meal with us!