Arrived into Los Angeles

---

Arrived into Los Angeles yesterday at 9:30am on the 26th (we left Australia at 3pm on the 26th).
The 13 hour overnight flight was fairly uneventfull (thankfully) but as usual found it difficult to sleep on an airplane.
We got the Los Angeles International Airport reception - waiting in line for two and a half hours to get through customs.
Picked up our hire car and commenced to drive to the Comfort Inn hotel in downtown Los Angeles in West 7th Street but ended up in some dodgy looking area.
We took our Tom Tom with us, which was invaluable for directing us on the freeways and byways, however when we initially put in the hotel address it directed us to a 7th Street out near Sacramento some 10km away. (naughty Tom Tom!!)
Anyway got to the hotel eventually but saw some parts of LA we never intended to see.
Driving on the right hand side of the road is strange. When heading in a straight line it is OK - just when turning at an intersection you really have to concentrate not to steer over to the incorrect (left) side of the road.
Fairly tired yesterday evening so took a stroll downtown to get a meal and a drink, but could not find anything open other than fast food outlets -even the Irish pub was shut!
Had Mexican at a fast food joint which was very nice - seems that LA's population has heaps of mexicans living here and many signs and ads are in Mexican.
Got back to the hotel just on dark and thought that we could finally sleep as we had forced ourselves to stay awake to avoid jet lag as much as possible. Looked at the clock and it was only 5pm so managed to stay up till about 8pm then crashed - woke up at 7:30am this morning.
Decided to go on a 6 hour tour today which was excellent as it covered a number of areas of LA and allowed for stop-offs to take a look around.
Highlights we stopped at were the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Boulevarde, the Farmers Market, shopping on Rodeo Drive and walking up the stairs where the stars go for their Oscars (however did not spot any stars other than their names on the sidewalk). See some of the attached photo's.
We had come prepared for winter but today was absolutely perfect. A little cool in the morning but clear sky's and ended up in T-shirt during the day. Apparently the range was 7 to 18 degrees.
Ran into a number of Australians so the Aussie dollar must be inspiring a few to travel.
Driving to Las Vegas tomorrow where snow is predicted on Thursday so will need our winter coats there.
We will add a further update in the next few days.
Thanks to those who have commented on our blog and looking forward to hear from you.
Cheers
Glenda and Col

---

Comments

[Debbie]

Stars in Making
Glad to hear you arrived safe... and the weather is being kind... very similar to weather back at home. Can only imagine the locals wondering who were the stars having their photos taken when you had yours done LOL. xx

[sue and Paul]

marilyns hand
hey Glenda. You hand looks remarkably like marilyns, maybe a reincarnation?? i also noticed you like your men black. Sorry colin. Wheres your girl. Look forward to seeing that one. Have fun. Weather is warming up here, have had a cool spell after christmas. Looks like going to be 37 on Saturday. And a hot one for the Mariners match.

[Norm Wenman]

las vegas
good morning burrell's when in las vegas take photos of casinos and post on blog site would be interested to see sphinx etc. have a good time will write again soon. glenda, you were the real star on the sidewalk.