Blogs from Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States, North America - page 4

Flew Orlando to Los Angeles International (LAX) with a 12 hour layover enroute to Sydney. Caught a local bus through the city to Santa Monica Promenade where I wiled away the hours by shopping in the variety of designer shops and trendy boutiques; then strolling along Santa Monica Pier. The pier was eclectic, with things like the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company to The NY Trapeze School (yes, I considered enrolling so I could spend my days dangling on large pieces of ribbon). The weather was comfortably temperate and the people distinctive. There were a variety of international tourists, college students, and families roaming the streets and beach in their Toms, Vans, and other hip footwear. The right shoes was key. The people were generally approachable, with one traveler giving me bus fare change and a ... read more

Here we are in the City of Angels. The streets are literally lined with cockroaches and glitter. Had a bit of a rough journey from the Greyhound station to our hostel which involved numerous buses and a mexican gangtsa trying to sell us a teeny tiny chiauaua (seriously it was probably only a few weeks old and should have really been with it's mama). Eventually we arrived late at night and went out to get some food. We are staying in Santa Monica which is a really nice place - just off Melrose Avenue. Going to go searching for the walk of fame later I reckons. The last couple of days in San Francisco were really nice - we went to watch the Giants play (they won of course) and ate a lot of nachos in ... read more

Hey! I've got one day left in LA, and I've really enjoyed stop no.1! Spent two nights in Hollywood, did all the tourist things there like walk down the Walk of Fame, visited Madame Tussauds and the Grauman's Theatre (where they have all the Hollywood film premieres) and went on a siteseeing tour which included the Hollywood Bowl and the house and the end of Pretty Woman with the balcony scene. Really enjoyed it. I also visited an outdoor shopping place called the Grove and the Farmer's Market, where an TV showbiz news show was being recorded (there are film crews everywhere). The presenter was the Latino guy from Saved by the Bell! Can't remember the character's name but it's Mario Lopez in real life. And he was interviewing two new stars from the new Pirates ... read more

With new friends and old, I should start by saying that I have been craving change for many years. I always only got as far as threats to relocate to Argentina or NYC and ended up moving three times in three years within a 2 mile radius throughout Santa Monica. Well, I am proud to say that I finally learned to follow through and walk through all the fears to get to the beginning of what I know will be my greatest life changing experience to date. This dream to take a year to travel the world is now a reality and it began with the decision to break out of my comfortable state of complacency. First, by resigning from a 10 year run at the Jewish Community Foundation, then allowing myself to spend my savings ... read more

Heute morgen wollte ich eigentlich früh aufstehen, um das Wetter auszunutzen, da für das Wochenende Regen angesagt ist. Leider habe ich meine Uhr falsch gestellt, so dass ich bis um 10 geschlafen habe. Ich habe mich über mich selbst geärgert, aber was solls. Nach einem kurzen Frühstück, ging es dann erst mal die Gegend erkunden. Das Hostel liegt sehr nah an der Melrose Avenue. Ich bin dann weiter zum Santa Monica Boulevard und weiter hoch Richtung Hollywood. Ich wollte unbedigt das Hollywoodzeichen sehen. Das habe ich aber erst dann gesehen, als ich schon auf dem Hollywood-Boulevard war und den Walk of Fame längs gegangen, wo die Sterne mit den Namen der Stars auf dem Gehweg eingeprägt sind. Vor dem Graumans Chinese Theater sind dann auch die Hand- und Schuhabdrücke der Hollywoodstars zu sehen. Habe viele Fotos ... read more