Can you GETTY me there on public transport?

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Geo: 34.0533, -118.245

Okay - so the morning started with BJ expressing his desire to be a fully fledged member of the #Fab5. Obviously tired of being left out he went all out overnight to show his personality, and you have to say, he really plucked up a lot of courage to impress the gang. @Shiralee, looks like BJ has taken matters into his own wings - cause this morning he was wearing the team undies AND a poppy!

The dust had barely settled from that round of hysteria when Von came out of the bedroom as a BJ look alike complete with mohawk! They were twins!

But still no luck for BJ - Denise abandoned him to ANOTHER day of loneliness in the apartment. We've now threatened that we will report her to Chicken Services if she doesn't pick up her game!

The morning walk up Hollywood Boulevard again included our early morning stopover with Noah. We did learn today that we was in "Lost" and is currently working on a new show called "Colony". And yes, again, a joke to start the day. It is "nice" to have a chat with a familiar face each morning and we get to tap into his local knowledge to get us started.

And we sure needed it today. The plan was to visit the Veteran's Cemetery, head on over to the Getty Centre and then pop on down to Long Beach. Ambitious to say the least. A quick visit to the local information centre saw us armed with a plethora of maps all highlighted nd labelled, doubt 15 different bus combination options, a metro all day pass and still ABSOLUTELY no idea how to get to the first destination.

We spent the first 40 minutes tramping up and down the Boulevard looking for the right bus stop - we went north, south, east and west - ended up on the wrong side of the road, lost part of the group and spun ourselves around about 10 times. And you wouldn't believe it - the bus stop was actually right where we started! But finding the bus stop didn't really help as there was an Armenian Protest March on and the traffic was slowed to a crawl.

But we did it and finally got a bus amidst the Armenian March which shed a new light on Hollywood with helicopters circling, police cars careening with sirens and police positioned on every corner.

Just saying - Carolyn needed to make an urgent stop BEFORE we boarded for the 45 minute ride. Can you imagine her commitment when we finally got to Westwood. It was a mad gallop to Target's public facility and true to form The Naughty One was all class as she did the well rehearsed, reverse hand brake turn into the stall. Ahhhhhhhh.

The #Fab5 was very mindful of the significance of the day at home in Australia and had embarked on their own little pilgrimage to the Veteran's Cemetery in Los Angeles. On Sunday, expats will gather here for the official ANZAC ceremony.

The headstones of the service men and woman stretched as white sentinels in endless rows up and down the hills of the Cemetery. Young and old were buried in the beautifully groomed and lovingly tended graves. One of the attendants came out to have a chat with us and when we advised him that we were here to lay a wreath he showed us the specially marked grave where an Australian Serviceman was to be honoured in the ceremony on Sunday. This solemn little group, replete with The Ode, the Last Post, a minute's silence, the Rouse, our wreath, Ruth's scarf and poppies was a fitting reflection of the commemorations at home.

We wandered and ambled and then dashed backwards and forwards, over and across Sepulveda Avenue to try and make the connection with the UBER SUV. Success at last and our Armenian driver (yes, this is TRUE) delivered us safely to the Getty after informing us that the world was going to change SIGNIFICANLTY today because of the march associated with Genocide Day. Okay a little unnerving.

Which may explain why, when we exited the car park, the State High girls tacked themselves onto another group and headed off to the lifts. Not sure what they were thinking but Denise managed to drag them out of the lift before they headed back to the basement! Can't even get out of the carpark without a guide.

The Getty Centre....WOW! A work of art inside and out. Amazing building - dramatic modern architecture. Out of this world gardens that were part of the outdoor sculpture. Then amazing galleries with Masterpiece paintings and drawings, contemporary and classic sculpture, photographs, China and porcelain, furniture ...and the BEST 360 view of LA including coastlines. Truly spectacular.

Of course true to form, The Naughty One wanted to be touchy freely with some of the exhibits - it was just a little caress of the marble - but the gallery staff were onto her in a flash. And can you believe it - out went the hand in the next gallery and yep, chastised again.

The public transport system had defeated us just a little so we opted to give Long Beach a miss.

The mission was to get off the bus and head straight for the supermarket to get dinner supplies. You have to love the way the team plans ahead - this trip even included essential liquid supplies for Vegas.

Hollywood Boulevard was really jumping on Friday night. Loads of new street performers and buskers. A bevy of beautiful people including about 200 school students all decked out ready for the big event of their senior formal at Madam Tussards.

The "different" people were on the street for Friday night and it would be impossible to describe the number of shapes and sizes that Spider-Man is packaged in but regardless of their authenticity it costs to have a picture with them. The Goldman Dancers drew a great crowd and had the Fab5 unanimously making a donation, and predictably, Julie found ANOTHER bargain or two from the street vendors to end the night. The one that continues to leave us puzzled is the busker who just swears at you - and I mean really swears at you - he yells and screams, harangues and abuses.....and we guess he is still wondering why no one tips him.

Home at last. A rinse and repeat of the previous night's dinner with the addition of desert. A little rearrangement of the sleeping partnerships (lucky for some) and things were "almost quiet" for the night.

#Fab5 #OMGwherewasBJ #VonandBJaretwins #hittingthetarget

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Comments

[Ganga]

WOW girls you are certainly setting a cracking pace, I'm exhausted just reading this blog. Keep having fun xxxxx.