Los Angeles

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From our big week in San Francisco, we flew a whole 50 minutes to the City of Angels. Prepare yourself for some good ol' LA tourist photos!! 😉

We stayed at USA Hostels in Hollywood for the first night as San Fran owed us a credit from the night we went to the Napa Valley. That hostel was really great, and if anyone is going to LA and wants to stay in Hollywood, we would recommend this one. We only stayed one night, but they had fun things to do every night, $5 all you can eat dinners (chilli/bbq's etc.), was in a good spot - only one or two blocks from Graumann's Theatre, but just off Hollywood Blvd, and the staff we spoke to were really helpful. But...we had another booking (about five blocks east of USA Hostels) at The Vibe Hotel and so we moved there on the second night. It was about 2-3 blocks east of the end of the walk of stars, and you could tell straight away it got dodgier. But we made it out ok, so all is good. Nah...it wasn't THAT bad. 😊

Um...so the rooms at The Vibe (well 2 out of 3) were actually really nice. But they moved us each of the first three nights we were there, and the second night we got put in this horrible, horrible, horrible room. We opened the door and it smelled like - I don't even know what!! It was really bad. They gave us spray...great, thanks! There were no other rooms. The light switch turned on the lamp, the heater, the TV, the microwave and the fridge. So when you turn it off...yep, they all go off. We were on ground level of the dodge end of Hollywood Blvd - really loud! Then when we had a shower in the morning, the hot water tap squirted boiling water onto your thigh from the handle. It was scorching, so we had to put a face washer over it and then just about scold our hand to turn it off again. So we told them we weren't happy with the fact we had booked so long ago and been stuffed around so much. I made them refund our last night and we headed to Anaheim a night earlier so that we didn't have to put up with more of their crap.

Anyway, now we've got the bad bit out of the way...the rest was great. We got told before we left (by more than one person), that basically LA was shit! Great, we thought. Oh well, at least we went expecting the worst.

The first afternoon we just went for a walk down to Graumann's Chinese Theatre where all the hand and footprints are, and took a few typical Hollywood photos with the stars on the walk of fame and the handprints in the forecourt of the Chinese Theatre. We just had a look around Hollywood Boulevard which was a bit of fun, but can definitely be done in one day...or an afternoon to be precise. But it's interesting to see and some even more interesting people.

The next day we jumped on a few buses and saw the Sunset Strip - a slight disappointment. Don't know what we were expecting, but it's not much really. Might be good to go out to one of the rock clubs there though. From there we walked down to Rodeo Drive and got the classic photos with the Beverly Hills sign and the Rodeo Dr sign. I found a GORGEOUS Fendi bag...and for only $2100 I was tempted to buy it...haha, NOT!! The salesman hinted that Jimmy would buy it for me, and that was the first and last shop he came into with me. I looked in Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany...oh my God, I have never seen so much sparkle in my life. I was nearly blinded!!!!!

So from there we jumped on a bus and went to Santa Monica pier which was fun. It was a bit windy though so pretty cold. We then walked down to Venice Beach...well, that IS a great people watching place!!! There's young people, old people, freak shows, bums, hippies, protesters, musclemen, basketballers, tourists. It's great!! They have markets down the street and although a little seedy, it's good to see. We bought a hot dog and watched the basketballers on the courts down there, and the (old, orange, wrinkly) men pumping weights in the outdoor gym. You have to seriously want to be seen to work out there!!

On the Thursday we went to Universal Studios and met up with Jackie and Mark which was great. It was a really fun day and our favourite ride would have to be The Mummy, an indoor rollercoaster. Our worst...the House of Horrors!!! That is awful! It's just a walk through house and they have real actors who chase after you with chainsaws and shit. Mummy's who grab you and you have to walk through hanging dead bodies. It seriously is horrible, Jimmy nearly tore my cardigan, and at one stage I was tempted to use an emergency exit!! Who would honestly find that fun!!! Fiona and Adrienne...I reckon you would cry! Haha!! 😊

Friday we hired a car and Jackie and Mark came with us on what was mainly a day sitting in LA traffic!! We took Jackie & Mark to Rodeo as they hadn't been yet - and I wasn't all that bothered to go again!! 😊 Then we tried to got to Marina del Rey (we didn't find much there), Manhattan Beach, nice houses and pretty beach, but again, not much there, then we thought we'd go and see the Queen Mary. A big White Star liner like the Titanic which is now set up as a Hotel and Restaurant. Pretty impressive, but by then we were a bit over the traffic, and were all hungry. Was still a good day, but minus the traffic we could've seen more. After we dropped Jackie and Mark back at their hotel in Venice Beach, we stopped at Santa Monica for dinner and a couple of beers at the 3rd Street Promenade. We missed it the first time we went down, and I'm glad we didn't miss it all together. It was probably my favourite part of LA - if I went back I think I'd stay in Santa Monica for sure. Very Surfers Paradise. The bar guy loved us at the bar as well for some reason and gave me a shot on the house! Jimmy had to pass as not only was he driving, but it was his first day driving on the right hand side of the road, so didn't want to risk having had too much to drink.

The next day me & Jimmy took the car and went down to Newport, Balboa and Laguna Beaches. That was really lovely down there. I liked it a lot, although it's not much different to gong to say Sorrento, or Torquay.

On the Sunday we used the car to do probably the most embarrassing tourist thing you can do in LA...we bought a Star Map and drove around the Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Pacific Palisades and Malibu to see the stars houses (or should I say their massive gates and big hedges or fences.) Haha!! Not sure how accurate they are, but it was still good because at least it points you in the right direction for the areas where all the fancy houses are.

Then we caught a train to Downtown LA to the Staples Centre to see the LA Lakers vs Seattle Supersonics. The stadium is pretty cool. It's funny comparing it to where the Melbourne Tigers play - it's huge compared. We got a great game...LA looked like they were going to give Seattle a thumping, but then Seattle came back. It was within 1 point at one stage and then the Lakers came back good to win 109 to 98. It was the Kobe show, with Kobe Bryant scoring another 50!! Pretty awesome!! I think there was only one other player in double figures!!

So after that we drove to Anaheim to get a good nights sleep in before our two days at Disneyland. Disneyland was so much fun!!! They need more thrill rides, but I know, it's actually for kids. 😊 We picked the BEST days ever to go I think. We didn't wait more than 20 minutes on either day for any of the rides!!! It was definitely not what I was expecting. It was great fun and we got to go on all the rides we liked about 5 times!! Our fave was The Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror. I actually made Jimmy go on it first to check it for me becasuse I thought it was like the ride in Dreamworld 'The Giant Drop' where it takes you up and drops you to the ground - which I absolutely hated!!! But it wasn't...it was so much more fun. We also loved Space Mountain, and Rockin' California Screamin' at Disney California Adventure Park.

So now we're at today - 19th April - and last night we arrived in Chicago and caught a bus to Milwaukee where we will be staying with Paul for a week. It was a brisk 39 fahrenhiet, which is only 3.9 celcius!!! Ah...we didn't really bring clothing for this weather!! It's supposed to be getting good by the weekend though, so we have our fingers crossed.

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Comments

[Age]

Hey again. You write the best blogs so detailed it's great :) I think me and Fiona definately woulda cried in the Mummy thing my gosh how scary!!!!! The photos are awesome too:) Keep them coming love u both xoxo