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Published: June 30th 2011
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Caro: On the 20th June we had 2 Mondays, 1 in New Zealand and on a flight, the 2nd was in the US as when we arrived in LA it was about 5am and it was STILL Monday. Who wants 2 Mondays in the 1 week, 2 Fridays would be my preferred choice! Having enjoyed New Zealand and the peace and tranquility of a beautiful country we were going to America, it all felt a bit surreal.
The flight to LA was OK but quite long and tiring. We arrived - like I say - early morning and worst luck joined the queue with about 100 odd people from Israel who had all been given the wrong forms for their entry into the US and thus were holding the queue up somewhat. When we finally got to the front (about 1.5hrs later) we got through fine as our Esta visas were still valid from our last trip to the US last August. As you know I have a history with US immigration so I´m always nervous about entering the country. It would seem that if you travel with another British National and not several people from different countires - one
of whom has been shunned by US immigration - this works out OK.
When you exit the airport there is 70´s style pink and purple lighting which is a bit like being in a lava lamp. We had certainly arrived in Hollywoood. We took the shuttle to our hotel and asked whether we could leave our bags, the lady was pretty unhelpful. Every other place that we have turned up early to, we have been able to check in early after a long flight, I guess we expected her to be a bit more understanding. We headed to find the nearest place that we could get coffee. The best thing about being in LA was the weather as it was lovely and warm. We had opted to stay at close to Venice beach, 1 because we could afford it and 2 because we had heard the area was quite nice. We walked the 3 miles down to the beach and it was a very random experience. I think due to lack of sleep and a long plane ride it felt like we have skydived into an event which was a mixture beween a plastic surgery convention and fat camp,
whilst being on acid. There were loads of market stalls being set up on the front and we kept getting approached by these huge black guys who wanted us to buy their music. I think after a couple of weeks of being in the relaxed Kiwi way of life it was the biggest culture shock ever, topped with lack of sleep it was random.com.
We made it back to the hotel early afternoon and had a couple of hours sleep, Joff went out to get Pizza and we watched a film and had an early night. One advantage of being in the US was the motel room, despite looking like a Grandma´s living room cerca 1970 it was spacious and had a large comfy bed with great bedding. Having been in a campervan for a couple of weeks it was nice to have some space and actually unpack.
The following day we woke early, ate breakfast and asked where we could get the bus to Rodeo Drive and then Hollywood. We had decided to opt for the cheaper option rather than spending the day on a tour bus going round celebrity homes in Beverly Hills. We took a
When the sun comes up ...
over Santa Monica Boulevard (Sheryl Crow) couple of buses and ended up at Rodeo Drive, I wanted to go here as any girl who has seen Pretty Woman would want to. When Vivienne asks Kit where she should go to get new clothes "good stuff" the answer she gets is "Rodeo Drive Baby". It is at this point that "Wild women do" starts playing. Gotta love that about the film, this was unfortunately the highlight of LA for me.
In reality, Rodeo Drive is just a street of shops really similar to the Kings Road in London, so having always wanting to go there I wasn´t overly impressed. It is however nice and clean (again having just left NZ, which is possibly the cleanest country I have ever visited LA seemed quite dirty). We hopped back on the bus and stopped for a quick coffee and then made our way to Hollywood. It reminded me of Kings X in London but slightly more seedy. We wanted to visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame which seemed to go on forever, I think the biggest dissapointment was that Maralyn Monroe was outside McDonalds. I thought that was a real shame.
We went to a lovely Japanese
restaurant for lunch and enjoyed tempura vegetables and tereaki steak (sp?) which was served around the bar where the chefs were making sushi. There were a few people having business type meetings and a group of wannabes behind us. Talking about how they had spent the morning "writing" in loud voices so that everyone could hear them. The conversation went onto talk of plastic surgery, which celebs had had what etc.
I think this was the thing that made me feel quite sad about the whole LA culture is that there are so many folk there, who go to "make it" and at the end of the day the people who are waitresses and waiters in the restaurant are stunning looking, desparately trying to get the "big break". LA doesn´t need any more beautiful people and there are way too many people who have gone there with a dream only to have it shattered. Still, I guess at least they have tried. It would seem that a lot of people there have money but a lot more people have none. There are also an unbeleveable amount of wierdoes. I tend to be a bit of a freak magnet anyway
The legend who said ...
"Nobody puts Baby in the corner" but LA certainly has it's fill - and some - we were only there for 2 days and I´ve never been approached by so many people talking to themselves, shouting in the middle of the steet etc.
In the evening we headed down to Venice beach for a nice Chinese meal and as typical Brits do ordered way too much and got portions that would have fed a whole family. We were offered boxes but there wasn´t any way that we could carry left over gloopy Sweet and Sour chicken on the plane so we just left it.
The next day we took a "death taxi" to the airport, the guy drove like a complete nutter and having tried to check in online the evening before we realised that there were only middle seats on the plane. Unfortunately because we had only booked on this flight the previous day we didn´t have much choice to change this. Joff suggested going early and seeing whether they could give us other seats. Running late as usual, I was putting my make up on in the taxi (very well considering the driver was a lunatic). On arrival at the airport, I
inquired "so are we sitting together" knowing full well that we were not! Anyway, the guy chatted to his boss in Spanish, the only thing I could understand was that the flight went via Lima and seeing that we were going to Santiago we could have the seats on the exit row. Thank goodness. Joff commented that it was just as well I had put my makeup on! Enough said on that matter. We thanked Santos for this help and went to rush through security before they changed our seats! Next stop Santiago!!!
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