Trek Update 8

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So at least I finally caught up to the same state! The day I arrived in Los Angeles I dumped my bags at the hostel, one in my room and one in storage, and walked onto Hollywood Boulevard to buy a CityPass. I did a tour of the Kodak theatre (where the Oscars are presented) and looked around the Hollywood Wax Museum before going back to the hostel to get something warmer to wear before the concert. I got the shuttle from the Hollywood and Highland centre to the Hollywood Bowl and picked up my ticket, had a bit of time to pass before the concert so wandered around, it was a really cool atmosphere, everyone with picnics and wine. I was seeing Donna Summer and even though I didn't know much about her I recognised some of the songs (On the Radio, Hot Stuff, Last Dance) and she put on a good show so it was all good 😊. I got the shuttle back to the hostel pretty late and went to sleep. The following day I'd organised two of the tours included in the citypass so I went on a driven tour around Beverley Hills and the town which was really interesting, our guide was very funny, and then a walking tour Behind the Scenes of Hollywood which was pretty much up and down the Walk of Fame and into El Capitan the Disney theatre but learnt a few new things. I went to see The House Bunny at the Chinese Theatre in the evening, the theatre is beautiful and the film is quite funny.

The following day was my first studio tour (well since Universal Studios) and I got a couple of buses and eventually arrived at Sony Pictures Studios. I was a bit early so I got some lunch in the cafe there and then checked in for my tour. Despite every other tour we saw having at least 20 people in it seemed I was the only person to have picked 1.30 and so I got a private tour. We saw Main Street where they film a lot of exterior shots and then went into a lot of stages and saw backdrops being painted, scenery for a new film that's being filmed (which one is top secret apparantly haha) and saw all the extras coming out after filming but they were still filming when we went past so we only say Tom Hanks' trailer not the man himself, but apparantly they see him a lot and he's really friendly. We saw Adam Sandler's production office and a sitcom set. One of our final stops was the television set of Jeopardy, the most famous American quiz show which I've never heard of haha! It was good to see behind the scenes properly. In the evening I was pretty tired from general travelling so I went to sleep (although I meant to stay awake for whatever was going on at the hostel that evening). I got up early the next day for the free hostel shuttle to Santa Monica and when we got there hired a bike and cycled down to Venice Beach and then Marina del Ray and spent some time looking around both. I was knackered when I got back after the cycling but had a chat to some of the guys in my room who were just staying the one night and went out to sit on the patio for a bit.

In the morning I got up and made pancakes as usual, including some for one of the guys who'd randomly brought me in a rose the night before (seemed like a fair trade to me!) although the cleaners completely broke my rose 😞. They had to leave but before I went on my next studio tour I met a guy who had just checked into my room, on a gap year like me but who had been away for a year and was on the last leg of his tour. I got the bus to the Warner Bros Studios and checked in for my VIP tour (oooh) there were 6 of us and after a short film we went to the Warner Bros museum and saw loads of props and costumes from Harry Potter, Heath Ledgers joker outfit (and the Nurse one), and costumes from Pushing Daisies and a few other films and TV series. On the tour we drove round and got off a few times to see the prop house (with the Central Perk set from Friends wow!!!) and the Picture cars like the Batmobile, Scooby Doo car, the flying car from Harry Potter etc etc. We also saw some stages and sets and the sitcom set from Two and a Half Men and the back lot where they filmed things like the Spiderman kiss and various Friends scenes. We also saw County General Hospital where ER is filmed. That night I planned to do a hike to Runyon Canyon with some other people from the hostel and Alastair who'd checked in that morning but my hiking boots were packed in the storage case as was my hoodie in case it got cold.

The following day I decided to go to the Getty Center. The bus I connected to didn't feel the need to number its stop, instead just saying on a small sign the type of bus it was, despite not being the only bus of that type. I walked for about an hour and a half up and down hills in Bel Air until I saw the bus stop at some traffic lights, which turned out to be a bus stop, on a random corner, as you do... I eventually got to the Getty Center and needed lunch but there was only a cafe open. I looked around the gardens and the building and then caught the bus back, a little more easily this time. Andy (who'd arrived that day), Alastair and I went on the limo tour in the evening around Los Angeles. It was fun, if a little squashed and afterwards we went up to the bar and met the Irish guys (also in our room), learnt a little more about the three Hungarians in our room (you don't want to know!) and got some cheap and even free drinks.

The following day although Andy was still collapsed in bed, literally, the rest of us got up and went on the Beverly Hills and Bel Air walking tour. We saw the Playboy mansion and Brad and Jen's old house and a few other places, ending up at Rodeo drive for pizza in the early afternoon. I went to Tiffanys to get a cloth for my bracelet before getting the bus back where the others had returned and Andy was kind of awake. With the two Irish boys asleep we were all crashed out on beds, or the floor in my case and decided we quite fancied some Gin and Tonic so Andy and I walked round for quite a while until we found a Liquor store and we had chinese on the patio with the Irish boys and some Canadian girls. Was a good last night.

More to come... I'm nearly in the same city though!!!!

xxx

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