Our first couple of nights travelling!

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Hello everyone! I'm afraid there are no photos at present because the Americans are lame and don't have USB ports. Something about viruses! I thought we should give an update anyway and add the photos when we find a hostel with USB ports.

Our flight from Heathrow was pretty good. Never flown with Virgin before. Get to chose any film/TV program/Game when you want. Made the 11.30 hour journey go by a little quicker! We arrive at LAX on time but didn't reach our hostel in Hollywood till about 6pm due to strict US customs/traffic and a bus driver who was a bit of a muppet. We didn't do much on our first night. Had a quick walk down Hollywood Blvd to see the walk of fame, the Roosevelt hotel and Mann's chinese theatre. There was a premiere going on for a film called 'Bobby'. Never heard of it before but looked quite busy! We eventually went to bed for an early night at about 8pm, 24 hours after we got up that morning. Got a reasonable nights sleep but got kept awake by some plank playing on his laptop.

We went for breaky the next morning ang got speaking to a couple of people who nearly died when we told them we were staying in LA for 5 days. They advised us to head down to San Diego for a bit. We decided to go out in LA and think about it. We had a beast of day trekking round everywhere. Found a good spot locally for a photo of the 'HOLLYWOOD' sign. There was a bit of a gathering outside the Kodak theatre on Hollywood Blvd so me and James decided to investigate. It was some Blockbuster film rental promotion and we saw the one and only Jessica Simpson! Not a huge celebrity, but a celebrity none the less! Feeling proud of ourselves for spotting a star me and JIm got the underground to Downtown LA. Saw the civic centre, Walt Disney Concert hall, Grand central market, (a broken down) Angel flight (the shortest railway in the world) and the Central Library!! We then got the underground again to Union station, little Mexico and chinatown (which was pants).

After our trek of downtown we went in search of Beverly Hills! Going by what you see in guidebooks you would think Beverly Hills is a tiny residential area with Rodeo drive and the hotel. You'd be wrong. We got the bus to Beverly Hills but were still miles away from anything recognisable. We ended up getting a taxi to the Beverly Hills Hotel which was quite embarrassing as it dropped us right outside the door. Don't think we are the type of people they usually get! We did however get to see a Bugatti Veyron parked up! This probably means nothing to most people but it's probably the most exclusive car in the world. Was featured on Top Gear. 1000bhp, costs 800,000quid to buy and Bugatti were making very few as it cost about 6million to build the thing!! Anyway, after that little find we trekked down Rodeo drive, saw all the posh shops and got the bus home to Hollywood.

After our long day on foot we decided to treat ourselves. We went to Hooters for dinner (sorry Gemma and Lauren!)!! We had good food 😉 That was about it for our evening really. Had a few drinks in the hostel (as James cannot legally drink over here!) and went to bed.

As we had seen most of LA we decided to take the advice of our fellow travellers and nip on a bus down to San Diego. We've been here a few hours and seems like a nice place. Reminds me of Boston. We are going over the border tomorrow with the Hostel and taking a trip round Tijuana in Mexico!! Another country to tick off the list 😊 Keep checking for updates to see how we got on! Hopefully we will be able to find an internet cafe somewhere and upload some photos so it's not just boring text.

P.S. Can people let us know if they here anything regarding the situation in Fiji. Apparently there is talk of a military coup anytime soon. Fantastic! Why couldn't they wait till the Ellis' had been and gone!!

Take it Easy

Chris and James

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Photos

Film Premiere at Mann's Chinese Theatre
For some film called 'Bobby'?! Never heard of it!

LA Central Library!
Bit better than Bristol's!

The Beverly Hills Hotel
A bit better than our Hostel!

Jim by Two Rodeo Drive
Apparently the steps are a mini replica of the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Comments

[Jodie]

Hope this works....
Hi guys Just doing a quick test message to see if this comment thing works...let me know if you can reply. Weather certainly looks better than Bristol...am in work as I'm writing this. Jodie x

[chrisjellis]

Comment thing does work :)
Hi Jod, Thanks for the comment. It does work so you can send us many more when you're bored at work :) Cheers Chris and James

[Ella, Jan, Helen and Chiara]

Hi Guys!
Hi guys, great to see you are having a good time so far... alcohol consumption apart... but exactly what we'd expect!. We are all envious - hope Fiji living up to expectations, yes it is cold. Have fun!