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Published: December 7th 2009
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LA - Universal Studios 191
Santas Grotto on Hollywood Blvd Hey y’all how y’all doing?
We have been hanging out with David and Victoria Beckham in LA for 4 days now!!
We arrived in LAX Tuesday 1st of December (our 7 year anniversary since we starting dating). Security was pretty tight at the airport, always makes you feel guilty even when you are not! The immigration desk was pretty intense but luckily no cavity search.
We arrived at the hotel at around about 3 in the afternoon, the flight was 10 hours long, we hardly got any sleep and with the time difference (-20 hours Fiji time) we were pretty knacked. We took a walk along Hollywood Boulevard, and went to Starbucks for some festive coffees and cakes. We had little energy so we headed back to the hotel early, jumped into bed and watched Santa Clause 3.
The next day we got up, had waffles for breakfast and headed to Universal Studio. We took the subway which was pretty cool and very clean, then a short shuttle bus. The park was awesome, it was all done up for Xmas and played Xmas tunes. We managed to go on the studio tour and all the rides. The
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Gingerbread house at the Farmers Market - SWEET! studio tour was sweet, it took us round a few sets (Fast and Furious, Jaws, Psycho and others), drove by cars from films like Back to the Future there was also an episode of Desperate Housewives being filmed. The tour also showed us special effects that were done in movies (like bullet fire and car explosions), we drove into a studio that was done up like a subway station, and we experienced an earthquake - tunnels were caving in, there were explosions, floods, train crashes and a fire engine fell in from above. The bus was also attacked by Jaws. We got to drive by Norman Bates house & motel, he was out putting a body in the boot of his car then starting walking at the bus with a knife in his hands (we took loads of photo but our camera is playing up and it deleted them) and the crash site from War of the Worlds (a real smashed up plane was sitting with it’s engine still running as well.
We also went did the House of Horrors (which was terrifying - people jumping out from all angles!), The Simpsons Ride, Shrek 4D, The Mummy, Terminator 3D,
Backdraft, Studio Effects, Jurassic Park, Waterworld show and another show about animal actors, they were all excellent. At night we hit Hollywood Boulevard and took in all the stars on the walk of fame.
On Thursday we went on a tour that took in the walk of fame, Kodak Theatre (where the Oscar are held), Grauman Chinese Theatre (where the Oscars used to be), the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and views of the Hollywood Sign. It also took us to Rodeo Drive (where the stars shop), Melrose Avenue (another shopping district), Fairfax and 3rd Farmers Market and a trip round the stars houses (good quality stalking). At night we went to the Arclight theatre and watched Roald Dahl Fabulous Mr Fox, the voice of Mr Fox was George Clooney and it was fabulous.
We booked a tasting tour for Friday morning. It consisted of walking around the famous Farmers Market sampling cakes, biscuits, cheese, bread, donuts, coffee, peanut butter, salads and for lunch we stopped at a Japanese Restaurant and had Sushi. It was a real must for foodies, we both loved it. The guide was really nice and was full of info on LA and food,
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Just in front of entrance to Universal Studio plus lots of interesting stories about the generation of people that had built their businesses at the market. We had a bit of retail therapy and bought a new case for all our new wares. The shops are great, nobody does Christmas like the yanks, god damn! Then Anne checked her phone and found out someone in Sweden was trying to use her credit card for £1000! We got back to hotel and Anne phoned the bank, bit of a buzz kill but all was sorted out.
We had seen that Dr Seuss' How The Grinch that Stole Christmas was playing in a theatre nearby (Pantages), we had a look online but ticket were between $75-200 each so we headed to box office to see if they were any cheaper. When we got there they had tickets 5 rows from the front just off the aisle for $25 each, we couldn’t believe our luck. The show was amazing, the Grinch was played by the bad guy from the kid TV show lazy town, and his dog was played by the incompetent Corporal in Stripes who is in charge of Bill Murray’s platoon. Anne absolutely loved it, she was like
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The scariest house in the world, we were poohing our pants, by the end of it we were running trying to get out, then got chased out by leatherhead shouting "Get out of my house!!!" There was also a room filled with Child Play dolls - scary a child on Christmas morning, a nice way to end the day after the whole credit card fraud.
There is loads of stuff to do in LA, we didn’t have time to visit Muscle Beach (what a shame), and Disney Land or Venice boardwalk so would definitely go back in the future as it was ace. The only downside of LA was the amount of homeless people just lying on the street, it would break your heart.
On the way to the airport the shuttle van drove through South Central LA, it was a bit of an eye opener. Our driver was just like the co-pilot from airwolf - a real character. We are currently in NYC, and then home on Thursday.
Final blog on NYC to follow, cant wait to see yous all.
Lots of love
The Broons
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Frank
non-member comment
Doesn't time fly
Guys, cant believe you'll be home in a couple of days. Quickest 3mths ever!!!!! Looking forward to seeing you both. LA LA Land looks fab especially for the movie buffs like myself. Im so jealous you got to see Michael J Fox's star :D Have fun in NYC, what better place to be at Christmas time. Love n hugs Frankie J Fox x