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Special Effects
The set piece from the film Backdraft re-created for us. It looked amazing. Los Angeles: The City Of Angels
Arriving in LAX (Los Angeles International Airport), we were sitting on the runway for an additional hour before one of the largest airports in the world found an available gate for the plane. At this point we were beginning to think that it would be a bit of a nightmare getting through passport control and customs, making our estimated arrival at the hostel of 4pm a bit of a dream. Much to our surprise, those stages went exceptionally well and we were standing in the entrance to the airport in no time.
Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States, and everything is so spread out, making travelling by foot a bit of an adventure or near impossible. It only took us our first night in Hollywood to realise the scale of the city after walking for about 3 hours and only covering a miniscule proportion of the map.
Los Angeles leads the world in producing popular entertainment — such as motion picture, television, internet content, video games and recorded music — which forms the base of its international fame and global
status, with a large number of celebrities living in the area.
After hearing a bit about LA from other travellers and through our research of the city, we decided to stay in West Hollywood as it was central to the major attractions that we had planned during our short visit to the city. Out hostel was on Melrose Avenue, and following a 40 minute shuttle bus ride we arrived at the hostel, dumped our bags and headed out into the sunshine to explore the area. The shuttle ride was quite long and took in some different parts of the city, including a stop in Inglewood, a prominent area in the 92 riots. To be honest though, the area didn't look that bad at all and was completely different from in films such as Boyz N The Hood, alhough the housing looked familiar.
As mentioned earlier, on our first night in LA, we walked for a number of hours around West Hollywood, soaking up the sun and the sights in the area before finding something to eat in one of the bars along Santa Monica Boulevard. We walked for some time in hope that we would spot the Hollywood
sign, but it wasnt until we decided to head back towards Melrose Avenue that we caught a glimpse of it in the distance. On the way back to the hostel, we broused in a number of shops and boutiques, some of which stay open quite late into the evening. Monday seemed to be a very long day for us due to the time difference and re-living the same day twice, so back at the hostel we decided to head for an early night, however our body clocks must have been way out and we were still wide awake into the early hours.
Universal Studios
We booked a tour with the hostel to Universal Studios on the Tuesday, so following an early rise and free breakfast we were on our way to the stuidos for a day full of adventures. Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio in Universal City, California, and is also the original Universal Studios theme park. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios that is still in use, while also providing daily tours to the public around a number of different sets.
We had the whole day
at Universal Studios, and suspecting that the park may get quite busy we headed to the Studio Tour first in order to miss the crouds. The tour itself lasted around an hour, where we were driven around a number of different sets used in a variety of well known films and TV shows. Throughout the tour we were provided with extremely entertaining commentary from a tour guide. We passed Wisteria Lane, where Desperate Housewives is set as well as seeing the backdrop for films such as Jurassic Park, Jaws, King Kong, Seabiscuit and countless westerns only to mention a few. The tour also showed us how a number of special effects were created such as the blowing up of cars in The Fast and the Furious and Jaws animatronics.
Following the tour we spent the rest of the day trying out all the themed rides and attractions. We both really enjoyed the Simpsons Ride as it was so well done. The ride was designed to give the effect of a rollercoaster, making the riders lose their stomach on a number of occasions despite the fact that we were only in a simulation which was hardly moving. Never seen a
theme park flight simulator done so well.
Throughout the day a number of characters were walking around the park, talking to the public and providing many photo opportunities. Gary met Homer Simpson, while I was taken by Donkey at his waffle stand!! Although I think that Shrek is still waiting on his morning waffles!!
An excellent day was had by all the people on the bus and we managed to get around most of the park by our 6.30 pick up. Back at the sister hostel we were provided with a free dinner, consisting of a sandwich with some salad, before heading back up to Santa Monica Boulevard for a few drinks at Barney's Beanery, a famous restaurant and bar which has been known to serve a number of celebrities and artists in the past. Janis Joplin once smashed a bottle of whiskey over the head of Jim Morrison in that very bar, Unfortunately there was nobody famous drinking in the bar when we were there, although we ended up having a great night sitting at the bar and speaking to the friendly barmaid. We even had "Irish Nachos". The only thing is that tipping can be hard
to get used to and is a pain to carry change for all the time, but you have to tip everywhere in America.
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