After Seattle, we fly to Los Angeles and Pasadena for our second pre-season encounter - against Inter and José Mourinho.

It will be the first time we have faced our former manager since his departure in September 2007, and it promises to be an entertaining clash against the Italian champions.

It will also be in a top class setting, Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium (main picture) having hosted the 1994 World Cup Final when Brazil defeated Italy on penalties.

The 1999 Womens' Final was also held in the stadium as the home team beat China in front of more than 90,000. The stadium also holds the famous college American Football Rose Bowl game, played on New Year's Day each year.

Down in California, Pasadena is traditionally a lot hotter than Seattle with average temperatures around 30C in the summer months. That coupled with the open atmosphere of the stadium will make for some testing playing conditions when the teams emerge.

It will be the first time we have played at the stadium, but LA is no new experience for the Chelsea squad, its university campus used for pre-season preparations in both 2006 and 2007, with matches played at LA Galaxy's Home Depot Center.

The first, on July 18, 2007 was a 1-0 win over the Samsung Bluewings, Didier Drogba bagging the only goal of the game 11 minutes from time., with two separate sides representing the Blues in either half. At that point Mourinho was still in charge, with another two months to go before he left.

First-half (4-3-3) Cech; Ferreira, Johnson, Terry, Hutchinson; Sidwell, Essien, Lampard; J Cole, Shevchenko, Kalou.

Second-half (4-3-3) Hilario; Diarra, Ben-Haim, Carvalho, Ferreira (Sinclair 69); Wright-Phillips, Makelele, Mikel; Robben, Drogba, Malouda.

The return trip to the Center saw another 1-0 win against a Galaxy side that included David Beckham for the first time. This time we lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.

(4-4-2): Cech (Cudicini 45); Ferreira (Mikel 45), Carvalho, Terry (c), Ben-Haim (J Cole 45); Wright-Phillips (Shevchenko 45), Essien, Lampard (Sidwell 73), Malouda (Johnson 73); Drogba (Hutchinson 88), Kalou (Makelele 60).

Los Angeles is of course also home to the US film industry, and an array of stars that make it America's most glamorous city.

Set away from the Hollywood hills, Pasadena is an altogether different experience, with its California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, run by NASA.

There are still shopping opportunities, but the area is more known for its monthly flea market, where dealers and visitors exchange a variety of goods old and new, than the expensive boutiques that line Rodeo Drive.

Inter have crossed our path far less frequently although we did face each other as part of 2002's Birra Moretti pre-season tournament in Bari, Italy.

Chelsea, then managed by Claudio Ranieri, lost 3-0 to goals from Christian Vieri and two from Mohamed Kallon.

Now they meet us as Serie A champions, guided by our very own Special One. Speaking to chelseafc.com in January, Mourinho foresaw that he would one day face us in competition.

'Football is a small world and I will go around and around,' he said. 'I played against Porto, I played against Barcelona. I will play against Chelsea one day.'

Now that day has come and you can see the full 90 minutes exclusively on Chelsea TV.

It will be a whistle-stop tour in California, our involvement in the World Football Challenge tournament moving north to Baltimore and AC Milan after the game. More details on that part of the trip will follow later in the week.

For all our pre-season ticketing information, click here, or here to find out more about the World Football Challenge, click here.