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I lived the same day twice on the 20th of April 2010! I left Nadi, Fiji at 10pm on Tuesday 20th and arrived in Los Angeles at 1pm on Tuesday 20th. The day was definately better the second time around!
We were transferred from the airport to our hostel whilst being given a mini tour along the way. It was raining so we decided not to go to Venice beach. Instead we walked down Hollywood Boulevard and checked out the walk of fame. The stars are really cool but they go on forever and even down side streets at one point. We stopped at the Disney Soda store and had ice cream sundaes, which were great. I had rocky road and cookies & cream ice cream with marshmallow sauce that was basically like melted marshmallows, chopped almonds and walnuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top! After getting our sugar boost we carried on down the boulevard. We came to the building where Jimmy Kimmel live is filmed, a bit like the tonight show which was advertising free tickets we tried to get some but we were a couple of minutes late. Then we decided to visit Grauman's chinese theatre
Venice Beach
Muscle Beachbut it was housing the premiere for the new film The Losers, I tried to coerce the security guards to let me in but it didn't work! Next door was a shopping mall where you could see the Hollywood Sign from as it can only be seen from a couple of points in L.A. The hollywood bowl was also hosting a game that evening which we tried to get tickets for but we were 5 mins late, which just added to the failed attmepts of the evening! So we spent the evening going around the Guiness world records museum, Ripley's believe it or not museum and the Hollywood waxworks. All 3 were really interesting especially the world records where they had life size replicas such as the world's tallest man. We went for pizza at an italian restaurant that had been there since the 1940's which was really good and I even managed to save some for lunch the next day!
We got up early the next morning and enjoyed the complimentary breakfast that had honey cheerios with ice cold milk which was really good! As the sun was shining we headed to Venice Beach. Once at Venice beach
Disney Soda Store
Yum ice cream soda! we walked along the boulevard to the pier, along the way we passed Muscle Beach but all the guys working out were flabby not the characteristic toned hunks you see in the movies! On the beach the lifeguard stations were just like the one's on Baywatch. There was some weird and wacky characters there including a man who was playing the piano, not entirely sure where the piano came from and how he got it there. We caught the bus back and on the way back to the hostel we stopped in at Grauman's chinese theatre to see all the foot and hand prints left by the stars. For me this was a big mistake! I literally had to run back to the hostel and grab my bags. I got the metro to union station and then had to get a bus to the airport. I checked in with 3 minutes till check in closed and 45 minutes till my plane took off! It hadn't ended though once I'd checked in as I was on a small plane I had to get a shuttle to the terminal it went from. I breezed through security and made my way to the
shuttle, once I was there they didn't board for another 15 minutes so I could have taken my time!
The plane to roswell was tiny and had one member of cabin crew and about 10 of us onboard. I arrived and the sun was shining and the temperture was a nice 29'c. I woke up the next morning had my breakfast and headed to the International UFO museum and research centre, which was really interesting. They had loads of information on the 'Roswell Incident', abductions, crop circles and area 51. I also watched a film there that followed the story of one of the men who initially identified the craft.
I stopped at Wendy's on the way back to the hotel to collect my luggage and had a burger that was really tasty. Whilst I was waiting for the bus it started to tip with rain, and the buses in Roswell are very infrequent and sometimes don't even go on the route they say. A small mexican man offered me a lift so I went with him. However that is the first and last time I will ever hitch hike. Nothing happened and he was really nice however after
the initial few minutes I spent the rest of the drive panicked he was a psycho that was going to abduct and kill me. Luckily he didn't and I made it to my flight in plenty of time.
I arrived at Baltimore-Washington International airport late at night and immediately caught my shuttle to my hostel in DC. The airline had damaged my bag by ripping one of the waist straps off so it was unusuable which was really annoying as I acually use the waist straps! I got to the hostel checked in and went to bed. I was woken up at about 6am by the woman in the bed below me who was about 60 years old and completely naked from the waist up. It was really strange! She was making loads of noise and had switched the light on so I couldn't get back to sleep till she had left. When I got up properly I had some breakfast which was really decent for a hostel and put my luggage into storage. They charged $4 a day and usually its a free service so I didn't bother putting my bag in a locker I just hid it
behind one and saved my safe $4 which is a lot to a backpacker! I then spent the day walking around the sights of DC, such as the White House, Capitol, the Mall etc. I was at my last monument and saw a segway tour roll past me which would have been a great way to explore the city, a shame I hadn't known about it earlier!
That afternoon I got the china town bus to N.Y. which was a lot of fun but really packed. I stayed at the Gershwin Hotel which was very arty and the architecture both inside and out made it a unique place to stay. We went out that evening to Times Square and bought M & M's at the M & M's shop and enjoyed the vibe that is Times Square.
The next morning we got up and walked down 5th avenue, doing some souvenir shopping and when we got closer to central park browsing in the more luxurious stores like Abercrombie and Fitch. For lunch we had a make your own pasta which was a really good concept. You chose the pasta, sauce, meat and 4 toppings and they made it
Hollywood
Grauman's Chinese Theatre fresh infront of you. We then headed to the airport and got on the flight home! Even though the check in lady gave us a bit of a scare when she remarked that we weren't booked onto the flight! Luckily we were and we both made it back safely!
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Eric
non-member comment
I enjoyed your USA post. It sounds like you are having fun here. I hope you liked my hometown of L.A. My blog is looking for travel photos. If you have time, email us some at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com and check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric