Advertisement
Published: February 9th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Santa Monica Pier
Nice & Sunny!!!!!! Day 1
Arrived in West Hollywood, at 10.30pm (7am England time), flight was delayed but wasnt a problem, the flight itself was great, watched films, played games and ate (yes even i ate the food - i had curry lovely!)
The Orbit Hostel was dull and boring from the outside, needed a lot of work inside! But it was clean and just what we needed. oh our room had the most uncomfortable sofa in the world!
Day 2
Woke up at 6am to rain! Could not believe it! We were expecting sunshine! We decided to head out and get breakfast! Ended up in Coffee Bean on Sunset Boulevard where we met Rita - an ex-pat from Peckham wierd accent wierd person. She told us to go to Santa Monica and Venice Boardwalk because it is best there on a Sunday! So we embarked on a two hour bus ride through Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Pallisades Parade and Malibu.
The place was empty, most things were shut! But we made the most of it! Went on the pier (a bit like Brighton) especially in the rain, saw a black sea gull (just a token one). Muscle beach
with no muscle apart from me and Dan. Then walked to Venice boardwalk further than we thought. We expected lots of street performers as promised by Rita and we werent disappointed, there was one! Saw the perfect shop for Tom (Vickys Tom) a hat shop on three floors! On the way back we walked along the high street saw the bincolular building and had lunch at Joes - chillie cheese burgers typical American diner! Headed back to Hollywood (another two hours on the bus - could of got a metro would have taken 20mins but were clueless!)
Walked up Hollywood Boulevard did the walk of fame (just a load of stars) and Manns Chinese theatre - much more interesting, had dinner at a Brazilian restaurant, was different! Then went back to the hostel and crashed.
Day 3
Universal studios
Had a really great day, got a coach with some media students from Norfolk who were staying in our hostel who were a bit odd! Park was great
Did all the tours and rides my favourite was Back Draft and the Special Effects, Dans was the studio tour and Jurrassic Park. It was dynamite (American phrase).
The park
was empty but i couldnt do House of Horrors too scary!
Had dinner at tapas place, it was a really cool and arty.
Day 4
Up early again, Dan had his jab this morning in a huge high rise building. Had to go and buy gel coz my legs were so sore from all the walking!! Had a bar of Hersheys not a patch on Dairy milk!
We got the bus to el pueblo de los angeles in downtown, starting at union station, union station was so different to ours loads of gardens big leather armchairs and not many people even in rush hour!
El pubelo is the Mexican quarter of downtown LA, there was a real party atmosphere because of Super Tuesday Dan thinks its Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras, we went to Olevera Street a little market selling Mexican handicrafts and on this Street we visited Avila Adobe and Sepulveda House - the oldest buildings in LA. We went to a Chinese American museum that was more interesting than it sounds, Did you know that in the 1950s a law was passed that allowed restaurants to prepare Duck in the traditional Chinese way!
Had lunch in a traditional Mexican taverna a taste of things to come, muy bien!
After lunch we decided to head to Griffith Park (more gel for the legs) so got on the subway and then walked and walked through los Feliz until we arrived at the entrance to Griffith Park. It was so beautiful, quiet and serene and yet we were only 15 minute drive from the hustle and bustle of the city! We climbed up mount something! to the observatory, took us an hour quite a steep climb toobut it was well worth it for the free can of red bull! The views were amazing, really stunning. We could see the Hollywood sign and all over the city. Inside the observatory we learnt about the earth, moon, stars and how they effect each other, very interesting, tastefully arranged. We saw the hughest telescope used for star gazing we would have stayed and given it a go, but we didnt want to walk back in the dark. We were there for at least 3 hours! On the way home we stopped off at Paramount Pictures to look at the famous gate not really that interesting!
So LA
Jame Dean Memorial Statue
At the top of Griffith Park outside the Observatory Would we go back? Yes its tacky and yes its fake, yes its full of wierd people and also a bit dodgy in places. But its fun, on the edges of the city its beautiful surrounded by the mountains , valleys and the sea and there is loads of character if you look past the theme parks!
I think the answer to our question is Yes
Love Becci and Dan
Next stop Cancun and Dans turn to fill you in!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.07s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0414s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb