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Published: August 4th 2015
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Well today it's Bazi birthday so we are off on a self guided tour of LA. We are staying in Malibu which is just a 5 minute drive from Santa Monica and we are staying in a young guys apartment with him. He is very nice and is a personal trainer and songwriter. He has got well big muscles, broad shoulders and bulging biceps...........!! Anyway back to the days events, we drove down sunset boulevard all the way through Bel Air, Beverley Hills and onto Hollywood Boulevard where we parked up the car for the day at an exorbitant fee of $25. We wandered down the blvd looking at some of the stars names on the pavements but it is impossible to do them all as they go on for 10 blocks. A lot we didn't know, most are dead and if you spotted one you knew then lots of people were nearly lying on the pavements to get the photo shot. We went to the Chinese Theatre and saw the walk of fame with the proper handprints and footprints, these were much more impressive. Then a look at the Dolby Theatre where they hold the Oscars each year and a
look at the Hollywood sign from afar. Hollywood Boulevard is lined with wanna be actors all dressed up as Johnny Depp, Spider-Man, Star Wars characters, Superwoman, Marilyn Monroe and loads more all posing and waiting for you to have your picture taken with them, obviously for a couple of bucks!! Having paraded up and down we jumped on the hop on hop off bus and firstly did the tour of downtown LA which took in sights such as Paramount Studios, Walt Disney Concert Hall, City Hall, lots of museum and theatres on Broadway, many of which are now closed up and looking tired. We covered China town, the fashion and jewellery areas, little Tokyo and the grand central market. Downtown LA is under massive construction but in some of the areas there are old and very modern building standing next to each other. Listening to the commentary its like being on a film set, nearly every building has been in a film or sit com at some time. Next we jumped off and headed to a pub for lunch, it was a quick stop over for a refuel and then back on the bus to carry on with the tour
of Hollywood, this time we saw Pantages Theatre, Rodeo Drive with all the glitzy expensive shops. The Beverly Hills hotel made even more famous by the film Pretty Woman, lots of beautiful homes and a little interesting fact that every road in Beverly Hills is tree lined and each road has a different tree. We saw Capital records where the Beach Boys and The Beatles amongst many others recorded their hits. The Four Seasons hotel where all the stars go and get interviewed about their upcoming movies, famous restaurants, Pinkies which is a famous hotdog stand and another restaurant where Brad Pitt used to be employed as a chicken outside before he became famous obviously. The list of scenes from movies went on and on, some of which we had seen and some we have never heard of. It's all a little overwhelming and you keep expecting someone famous to be in the next car or coming out of a store on Rodeo drive but alas the only famous people we saw were the look alikes!!
Well off we go again and today we toured Santa Monica and a bit more of Beverly Hills. We saw the church in
Beverly Hills with two golden towers which is where Elizabeth Taylor got married for the first time and was heard saying "we are now joined together forever" which meant three months for Liz Taylor, it was also where Frank Sinatra and Alfred Hitchcocks funerals were. We passed the celebrity grave yard where Marilyn Munroe is buried and we passed the street where her house is and also that of OJ Simpson and his wife's house where the grizzly murders took place. It is now all part of the tourist route here! Everywhere is a film set and everywhere has had somebody famous doing something they shouldn't, it's every gossip columnist dream town!!! After this we made our way down Santa Monica pier (another movie moment from Forest Gump when he famously runs to the end of the pier and then turns round and runs all the way back across America!) which has a ferris wheel, lots of rides, ice creams, hats although not kiss me quick ones and amusement arcades. We could have been in Blackpool although the sun was shining, the place was clean and the people were out to have fun without having to be drunk and wearing
no clothes at 10am!!! The beach was golden sand, freshly raked and goes on for miles, in fact it was where Baywatch was filmed!! Walking from the Ocean into town the shopping and restaurant area is pedestrianised and it is full of very expensive shops, money is absolutely no object here, but when the likes of Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson and numerous others live here it's no wonder. It was nice in the centre, lots of people singing and there is even a chill out picnic area that is free to use. You can play games, join in with the DJ's in some water drenching activities or just sit back and relax in the shade. All good.
Well we headed up to the Hollywood sign today to get a closer look, typically though the road was closed but we managed to get a good view for as far as we could get. The letters stand 50ft high and were completely remade only a few years ago out of Australian steel. Apparently they have altered the lettering on a couple of occassions, one being "Holywood" when the pope came to town and then they made it into "Hopewood" when the
Olympics were here. The sign is not lit up at night as you would expect because there are residents living on the hill. Another one of those selfie moments. The traffic in LA is sooooo bad, what was supposed to be a thirty minute drive turned into an hour and thirty!! You definitely don't need to be in a rush to go anywhere, in fact after a while it gets on your nerves and you start to wish for quiet country lanes and little town traffic. What a couple of sado's we are.
A day at the beach today. Time to chill and take stock.
Last day and before we head off to the airport we call in at Venice Beach otherwise known as muscle beach. There is even a road sign with a pumped up body to cross the road. The beach is a long wide golden sand beach and is lovely unfortunately we didn't think very much about the rest of it. The boardwalk was full of people setting up ramshackle stalls selling all kinds of tat, the shops were tacky and it didn't have a nice feel about it at all so we jumped in
the car only to discover a parking ticket on the window! We thought we were in an ok zone but apparently we were in a Monday morning street cleaning zone. I have written and posted a letter of appeal, hot footed it to the airport and jumped on a plane. We are now fugitives and wanted in the USA!!!!!
After our brief stop we headed to Marina Del Ray which is an exclusive area with a massive marina. bit of lunch and a much calmer experience. All good. Rufus Sewell was on our plane, thought I recognised him so had to look him up when we got to base.
We have loved California it's been a fantastic state and so diverse. LA is something else, glad we have been but wouldn't go rushing back, nice to see but equally nice to get away from. Off to Vancouver, very excited. Back soon.............
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