LA

Los Angeles; The City of Angels! We arrived by bus to a very hot and smoggy downtown LA, now I've been to some dodgy places like Tallaght! (sorry Linda & Ann-Marie couldn't resist!) But Downtown LA is a totally different kettle of fish! We got out of there pretty quick and headed to the hostel (Sorry again Linda!!).

We walked in and met an English couple who we met in San Diego a couple of days earlier how mad! They gave us the heads up on what to do and what not to do! Our hostel was just off Hollywood Boulevard, its crazy walking down the walk of fame and looking at all the stars! Quite disappointed I couldn't find one for George Michael (Tash we need to start a petition!!!)

One of the guys from the hotel was doing a walking tour to Ranyon Canyon, a famous park in LA not too far from Hollywood Boulevard. We were told to keep an eye out for celebrities, myself and George think we recognised a guy but couldn't remember what from, probably and extra in some show! The walk brought us pretty near the Hollywood sign I loved it! The guide also pointed out some celebrity homes too! We also walked around Hollywood Boulevard and took in the vast amount of craziness that surrounds this city! You can get your picture taken with a host of look alike's, we went to a cafe and theres Jack Sparrow having his lunch!!! We also went to the Chinese theatre where the movie stars have their hand prints done, Michael Cane had got his done a few days earlier!

Now the English pair I mentioned earlier; They gave us the best advice; “put your names down for the limo tour”, I am so glad we did! Never been in a limo before and this one had an unlimited supply of drink! We partied all over LA and visited the bar that appears in Sex and the City with the bull! We then went to a club to dance the night away, had an absolute ball!

Maybe not one of our brightest ideas but we booked a full day tour for the day after our limo experience. Boy did I suffer, soon perked up when the tour guide brought us up to Beverley Hills, Rodeo Drive and to all the movie stars homes, now don't get me wrong he seemed quite knowledgeable but how could I be sure he was telling us the truth???? And just then we get to Adam Sandler's house, and guess who is reversing out of his drive; the man himself! Couldn't believe it, a little wave and off he went, unfortunately no picture to prove it you will just have to take my word!

Decided to go to the Chinese theatre in the night to see Hellboy 2, not a bad film at all but the most impressive part was the theatre itself it was even better than the butter popcorn and you all know how much i like butter popcorn!

Decided to get out of LA and head down to the beautiful Santa Monica, we arrived just in time for the Glow festival, people everywhere having a good time! The carnival was just like being back in Funderland! Tried to get some Cotton Candy but failed; the mission continues!

Spent the next day on Venice Beach where I think baywatch might have been filmed? What a great way to spend a day, we purely did it to train ourselves for Figi of course!

Back up to LA to find accomidation was scarce, so decided to treat ourselves to an extra few days in Vegas ( Best decision we made!)- I will put Vegas in a separate entry, no more than it deserves!!

After the craziness of Vegas we were back in Hollywood, which at this rate was getting all too familiar! I even recognised one of the homeless people from the first time around!

Took a day to chill out, in the hostel we had to stay in different rooms, which turned out good as we got to meet a lot of people and exchange travel stories! George got the room full of girls (not too smelly) and of course I got the room full of boys (pretty smelly) they were all nice chaps so it was grand!

Went to Universal, really cool place, the rides were good especially the Jurassic Park one! Got soaked and then thought it would be a good idea to go and see the Dark Knight. Wet clothes and air con do not go well together! Ive now got a really bad cold that I'm hoping Figi will be able to cure!

Our last full day in LA was spent trying to get tickets to Jay Leno, slept it out..... so we didn't get up to NBC till round 10am, and of course all the tickets were gone, even the standby ones... We decided to do the NBC tour anyway so we got to see the set of the Late show and Days of our lives. Our tour guide reccomended we go to to the line for the show and ask if anybody had any free tickets! I walked the line feeling a bit like a hobo looking for change and one couple must have felt sorry for me as they gave me two tickets! Joy, Rapture and two hours later we are sitting in the studio of the Late Show with Jay Leno!!! he was fantastic and came across as a genuinely nice guy. Bill Cosby, an actress called Emma Stone and Musician David Melloncamp were on it (Ive never heard of him either!!). A great day and a great way to finish off our stint in the US!

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