On my last full day in England, Dan's mom took me to the nearby town of Hungerford. The Hungerford adventure started with a ride in Dan's parent's Smart Car. As a member of the SoCal Smarties, I've seen all types of Smart Cars. However, this was my first time in a UK Smart!

Dan's Parent's new Smart.

UK Smart Car!

The interior of their Smart.

Their car has a feature that I had not seen, Eco. The engine shuts off when the car is at a stop.

I love having my Smart Car in Los Angeles, but I think that if I lived in England, I would definitely want to have one. The narrow roads are scary!

The drive to Hungerford was very beautiful. Here is a picture of one of the prettiest spots that I saw on my trip, a giant field that is a cow pasture in the warmer months.

Just like Newbury, Hungerford is a beautiful town filled with buildings steeped in history and full of character.

Alley to residential section.

Travel agency.

Pretty window.

The main street in Hungerford.

Warning sign

Mom and pop hardware store.

Hungerford street sign.

Building address

Shop front

Hungerford is filled with antique stores...some high end and some just junk.

Great store name.

The community events board.

Bumps in the road.

Naturally, i had to take a picture of the bookstore.

Clock close-up

Beautiful old building with a clock tower.

I love writing reviews on Tripadvisor and I was happy to see the familiar owl in a shop window.

Our first stop in Hungerford was the Antiques Arcade. The Antiques Arcade is deceptively small looking from the outside, but is massive. Inside, the building is split into two halves, each with a row of individual antique stalls going deep into building, including some on a second floor and in a basement. It's a place where you could spend many days and never see everything, objects are crammed into every available space.

I don't even like antique shopping, but I have to recommend the Hungerford Antique Arcade as a must-see. It's quite spectacular and the building itself is nothing like we have in America. I quite honestly had no idea where to look, as there was just so much to see. The best thing about poking around the arcade was finding objects that were completely foreign and unusual, like old machinery. There are some really old and unique objects for sale!

Caution Sign.

Steep stairs leading to the Junk Shop.

The Junk shop, located in a damp basement.

Books for sale!

Sign for a British reality show. If this was on an American channel, it would totally be a TLC show.

Giant flag

Cool ceiling

Taxidermy for sale ( not even remotely the strangest thing that you could purchase)

The Hungerford Antiques Arcade

The Hungerford Antique Arcade

My favorite part of Hungerford was walking by the canal. The canal runs through the town and has a lock allow for boats to enter. It is filled with ducks and lined with pretty homes.

Walking towards the canal.

Mooring info

The crossword notice...love it!

The Hungerford Canal.

Ducks

Lots of ducks!

This house had a notice on the door...

Just in case the message wasn't clear with the crossword.

Pretty canal house

Door knocker

Ivy lined path

A boat parked on the canal

The walking path along the canal.

People fish here too

The Hungerford canal.

Another fishing info sign

The Hungerford Lock

The Hungerford Lock.

The Hungerford Lock

Written in stone near the lock

The Hungerford Lock.

The Hungerford Lock

The Canal

Underneath the bridge

Great name for a boat!

After the canal walk, we went back to the main street and found a hidden path to take us back to where the Smart Car was parked. I took a ton of pictures.

The only red phone booth that I saw on the whole trip.

Round-a-bout

Funny

Pub Quiz is a big thing in Los Angeles too! Love it!

indian restaurant

That's a lot of logs!

Graffiti on the hidden path.

Another antique store

Warning sign on the hidden path.

A more modern church stuck in among the old buildings.

A dog house

i want to live in "Mole House". I also learned all about mole holes on this trip.

Town map

The hidden path.

We decided to walk up a set of stairs and found the hidden pathway.

The local pet store.

old gate

A round-a-bout without any physical barriers.

I love the vines on the brick building.

We came across a flooded road. Luckily the Smart had no trouble managing the water.

Driving through Hungerford

The Smart waiting for us in the parking lot. We left just as it was starting to pour.

Driving back through the beautiful fields with dark skies.

A big THANK YOU to Dan's mom for taking me to Hungerford. We spent a wonderful afternoon in a charming town.

Dan and I woke up early on Saturday morning to take one of our Smart Cars into Mercedes in Beverly Hills for routine service. I love our Smarts, but having our lease with service plan through Beverly Hills is a bit of a pain. We must take our cars to that specific dealer for everything. We had most of the day to kill while waiting for the car, so we headed over to the Westfield Century City Mall.

It was early, the mall was just opening up and we decided to go for a matinee at the AMC. My mom and I used to head to the Century City Mall about once a month for shopping and movies and it was a fairly regular hang out with friends during high school, but I had not been in years.

The entire mall has been overhauled, including the AMC Theaters. Oh my goodness, we have found our new favorite AMC. Our experience was so stellar, that Dan mentioned not minding the drive on a more regular basis. Anyone who knows me, knows that I wither away if I don't have regular access to movies in the theaters. Growing up, my mom took me to the movies every Sunday morning. It was our version of Sunday Services!

Here is what made the AMC Century City so outstanding...

Super friendly staff, above average friendly and perky considering the time of day.

Century City has a coffee bar, something that more theaters are getting and I fully support. Lattes always trump soda, as fancy scones trump popcorn. They get more of my money too, as I usually only spend at concessions that have more than the routine offerings.

This theater allows you to pick your seats, like Arclight. Not such a big deal early in the morning, but it's nice nonetheless. We got our sweet spot seats, third row, dead center.

Finally, the best part, quiet, respectful audience members. I think when you make things nicer, you attract a better crowd. I've definitely noticed this at Arclight cinemas. Zero problems with people talking or cell phones.

All of this for just a dollar more than what our local AMC, AMC Burbank, charges for matinees. The AMC Burbank is close in proximity, but they have gone way down hill. I don't think that it's too much to expect that the restrooms and theaters be clean for the first showing (and subsequent showings) of the day. It's a crap shoot at AMC Burbank.

On to the movie...we have been seeing a lot of really heavy dramas lately, so we went the polar opposite and bought tickets for Identity Thief. I went in with fairly low expectations. Good comedies are hard to do. I was actually pleasantly surprised with Identity Thief, it made me laugh, a lot. It had some great one-liners and was all-around much better than I had anticipated.

The plot is pretty much exactly what you would imagine from the trailers. There are no big surprises, save for the movie is more touching and heartwarming than expected. It has a sweet resolution, with a good overall message of showing kindness to others, even when they don't deserve it.

The reason that the movie was better than the average comedy, was the cast. I have been a fan of Melissa McCarthy since she played Sookie on Gilmore Girls. One of my favorite television shows. In Identify Thief, she is brash and outlandish, but manages to reign it in when necessary, giving instant likability and vulnerability to an otherwise highly toxic character. Jason Bateman plays the straight man. It's the part that Bateman usually plays and does so well. Bateman and McCarthy make a great duo in Identity Thief.

There are lots of great actors in minor roles. In particular, Eric Stonestreet is absolutely hilarious and nearly unrecognizable from his role on Modern Family. It was nice to see Jonathan Banks, in a role not too different from his Mike Ehrmantraut.

I could have done without the zany side plots, crazy car chase and ridiculous snake sequence. Although, I have to admit that all of the above served to propel the plot and although there may have been a better way of doing it, none of it was superfluous.

If you're looking for a fun movie, Identity Thief, is a good pick. It's not one that is going to win any awards or that needs to be seen on the big screen, but it's solid for some laughs. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

England March 2013- Hungerford

Movie Review- Identity Thief and AMC Century City