4th December Part 2: Hooray for Hollywood

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Hells teeth: it's been a long day. The last few days and we are in California. First off: The City of Angels.

Hollywood. It's glitz and glamour. Everywhere you turn you see a building used in a movie. We were unlucky to miss Will Smith putting his paws into concrete at the premiere of I Am Legend at the Chinese Theater. Oh well. The Chinese Theater was good, but i was more impressed with the pornstars Walk of Fame outside Hustler on Sunset Strip.

First day we got on a bus tour and took in all the sites: Venice Beach, Santa monica Beach (and the end of Route 66: Where Forest Gump stopped running), Downtown, Bel Air, Beverly Hills (including The Willshire hotel where Gere stayed in Pretty Woman) and Mulholland Drive. There are so many famous people living there that I can't even remember them all. Here are a few: The Beckham's, Stallone, Spears, Aguilera and Travolta.

Second day we were off to Universal Studios. As the scrict writers are on strike the studio opened some of the shooting lots that are normally closed for filming. As a result we went down Wisteria Lane, although there was no sign of Eva. Universal was smart. Lots to see and do, plus we got a discount for no reason whatsoever.

We had to get out of LA on Saturday as I had a ticket to see the 49ers play in San Francisco on Sunday. The game was fantastic, the first chance I have had to go to an American Football game, and it was even better than I imagined. I arrived 2 hours befoer kickoff and got invited to a BBQ in the parking lot. Beers and hotdogs at 10.30am on a Sunday morning is the Breakfast of Champions. The game itself was a bit of a blow out. SF were 17-0 down at the quarter and 27-0 down at the half. People started leaving at half time.

Monday was a trip to Alcatraz, which was cool, and the rest of the week wandering around San Francisco . SF is a great place to wander round: Chinatown, Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39. Plenty to keep anyone amused for a week. I got a little bit addicted to the Clam Chowder in a sourdough bowl, which is a speciality of the area.

But that is it. I am about to get on a plane to go home. The temperature is about 3C in London (the coldest I've been is about 10C since March). I'll let you know how I get home in the next (and final) eddition of the blog.

......that is until the next time........

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