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Published: June 19th 2011
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So we were so excited to be landing in USA and what a start; The Glamorous LA and albeit a bit tired after no sleep, we were also starting the same day all over again – bonus (in some respects). This excitement soon stopped when we were greeted by the most interrogative security we have encountered yet. After completing the same form 3 times and getting spoken to like I was a 6 year old we finally got through security, then we had to make our way to the car rental company which meant a long walk and then Dim had to go on a mission to sort an insurance policy out. We finally started to make our way to the couch surfing host’s house 3 and ½ hours after landing and we got lost for an hour; you can imagine this nightmare all after no sleep!
Arriving at Jim’s place was a great relief and he seemed a great guy; after some greetings and a coffee, he left us to have some much needed sleep. We woke up a bit refreshed and walked to an area known as the farmer’s market to get some food; we walked through The
Love LA
Didn't realise i looked this rough...this was the morning after the 14 hr flight with no sleep for 26 hrs! Grove where we saw a few people being dropped off by drivers and dining in posh café’s and so we sat, looking like zombies, people watching for a while. Jim offered to cook for us that night so we went back and munched on a Jamie Oliver inspired dish he had cooked up and it was delicious. He then took us on a little walk around the neighbourhood and we just chilled out for the rest of the night; and so the sun set on the same day a second time for us!
Friday morning we felt a lot more refreshed; Jim cooked us a lovely breakfast and then we set out for a day of sight-seeing. 1st stop the walk of fame; this street of stars went on for longer than I expected and so we only walked a bit of it; we saw the famous Kodak theatre and a few other bits; it was good to see but it all felt very tacky touristy sort of place. We then went in search of the Hollywood sign and ended up driving in The Hills amongst a lot of huge houses looking like stalkers! We stopped at a park
for dinner where I was sure I saw a famous actor but to be honest you end up thinking that of a lot of people you see! We got talking to a guy who was apparently a cameraman for a news channel (you and how many others in this town!) who told us where we could see the sign close up. We drove there and sure enough we had better views of the Big Hollywood sign; it was a sight I won’t forget. We then drove around for the afternoon; taking in the sights and sounds listening to bouncy tunes full blast (the only thing missing was a decent car as the economy rental car we were driving looked nothing on the Mustangs, Lamborghini’s and Ferraris that were flying around in abundance); we went down Sunset Strip, around Beverly Hills and down Rodeo Drive; all very glitz and glam. We had done enough sight-seeing for one day and so we went back and cooked for Jim that evening and as we were still jet lagged we turned in for an early night; God, we are so rock and roll!
Jim took us to Venice Beach (and drove us through
Bel Air which was home to the biggest homes we had seen yet) the next day; now this was a sight to see; it felt like a big street festival; there were roller-bladers, weightlifters, market-sellers, skateboarders, graffiti artists, street acrobats, people dressed up in funny costumes and buskers. We spent our time walking up and down the boardwalk taking all of it in – craziness. Jim went to see a friend that evening and so Dim and I hit the town for a few hours; we had a great night but concluded that all this indulgence and fakeness was a bit too much for us to bear.
We went to a farmers market in the morning with Jim and had lots of free tasters of strawberrys and after buying a few goodies it was time to say Adios to Jim and LA for now and we went in search of some peace and tranquility at Joshua Tree National Park
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