Living it up in LA

---

Hey!

My sister-in-law-to-be, Joanna, came to visit me in LA on her way home from New York to Australia. So, for 48 hours we toured LA - not exactly in style. We've definitely got a real experience of LA traveling on the public transport system! The buses we confusing, late, full, smelly... but cheap! But on to what we really did!

After Joanna arrived late on Friday night, we had a mild sleep in... till around 8am. Soon after getting up, we left and went to Bagel Nosh on Wilshire and 17th for breakfast. Really good (and really popular). I loved the cinnamon bagel with strawberry cream cheese. Joanna liked her bagel but took a risk with ordering coffee - it didn't pay off!

We then caught a bus to near UCLA and had some semi-real coffee before heading up to the Getty Center. The bus ride took us past all the sororities (that I pass whenever I go to school but they amused Jo) then along Sunset Blvd.

There was a line at the Getty Center to get into the tram to take us from the bus stop/parking up to the museum, but it moved at a reasonable pace. The Getty Center was huge and the view of pretty much all of LA was amazing. It was so much fun. We toured around the painting and photographic exhibitions - I particularly liked the Charleton Watkins photos of California from the mid to late 19th Century. We also had lunch at The Cafe at the Getty Center where I gorged on shredded beef soft tacos - YUM!

The queue from the tram back down was also long, so we walked down the hill to the bus stop where we finished our three and a half hour Getty adventure.... which was unexpectedly continued as we waited half an hour for a bus, which, when it came, was packed! I missed the bus stop for us to change in order to go to Hollywood, so we made two more trips past the sororities before going along the other direction on Sunset where we saw huge houses, the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Chateau Marmont from the bus.

We made it to the Hollywood area and saw the Hollywood sign (which was really fun). We then wandered around the Kodak Theatre and the Gauman's Chinese theatre, where we saw the "stars" and the cement hand and foot prints. The area was filled with people dressed up as characters who would ask for money when you took a photo with them... the only one that really looked ok was the Gene Simmons sitting at a coffee shop where we bought some refreshments.

Another two buses, a walk, and we were back home and dressing for dinner. It was past 6pm when we got home, so we skipped our planned visit to Rodeo Drive and made it to our reservation at The Ivy (which we found thanks to the assistance of a kind stranger). The place was cute and had a real homely, comfortable feel too it.

We didn't see any famous people, but I kept forgetting to look! It was also hard to see them actually as the place was an old house that had been renovated into a restaurant. It was covered with americana, but it was done in a way that made it seem interesting and funky. Joanna and I started with cocktails (banana daiquiri for me) after which we split the "house salad". For main, I had lobster ravioli in a tomato cream sauce, delicious, and for dessert a build your own sundae - the butterscotch sauce was the killer for me! We were in at 8pm and out by 9:30pm - a whirlwind dinner that was a ton of fun. It totally blew my food budget but it was so worth it that I don't care!

Unfortunately due to my quick eating habits and the very small gaps between courses, I felt very sick right at the end of the meal and had to slowly waddle back to the bus stop. Did I mention that it was a bit ridiculous catching a bus and walking to The Ivy - there were two lamborghinis out the front when we left! Food coma state had set in and we got home around 11pm and went to bed ready for another big day!

My day started at 4am as Heidi called from Australia to tell me that she was engaged! HURRAH! So excited! I was so excited that I couldn't get back to sleep till 6am and then got up around 7:45am...

After getting ready, Joanna and I walked to the bus... so we thought... there were roadworks so we couldn't find the bus stop. We decided to catch a taxi instead and arrived at the Getty Villa just after 10am.

The Villa was beautiful - it's based on an ancient Roman villa that was covered when Herculanium was destroyed by Versuvius. It houses the antiquities collection of the Getty museum. The gardens were gorgeous and the exhibitions interesting. The tour was ok, although a little too much audience participation. We enjoyed a nice, relaxed lunch there as well.

Afterwards we took a shuttle to the bus stop down on the Pacific Coast Highway. And we waited for our "cosmic bus justice" (according to Joanna) that we deserved. It didn't work - we waited for half an hour again! But we did get an immediate transfer to a bus to Rodeo Drive when we has reached Santa Monica, so that was ok! We walked up and down the shopping area of Rodeo Drive before heading back to Santa Monica. We walked along the promenade, had gelato an walked to the pier. We stopped at the end of the pier and watched the sun go down over the Pacific while listening to a busker's moody renditions of slow pop rock songs. It was very poetic really.

We got a little cosmic bus justice when we wanted to get to Leona Edminston - but the shop was closed. We consoled ourselves at The Blue Plate - I had mac and cheese for the first time. Yum but a bit sickening, so I got a doggy bag!

Unfortunately Joanna had to leave, so after we got home she packed and then her shuttle came and she was gone.

Now I am sooo tired and my feet and back ache, but I AM SO HAPPY FOR HAVING SUCH A FUN WEEKEND!

Your Hollywood Correspondent,

Sarah

p.s. see photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78546&id=708616805&l=a3092

---

Comments

[Amy]

Food
I love all your food comments Sarah, they make me laugh (and think about all the tasty things I get to eat in about 2 weeks!)