LA/Hollywood

Yo yo yo dudes,

After landing in the morning in LAX we took the oh so slow shuttle bus to our hostel (1.5 hours - at least). First impressions of the hostel were oh yeah, good times were going to be had. We started by walking out of the hostel just 30m to the main road (the Hollywood strip). Really good location helps loads when travelling we have found, otherwise you end up spending a lot of time traveling about to get to the places of interest. So we thought we would just check out the Hollywood area on the first morning and see if we could spot some stars (either the walk of fame or actual stars/celebs hanging out in Hollywood. We certainly spotted loads of good stars on the pavement but sadly no celebs. LA is so big that you need a car to get around. The celebs in LA aren't likely to be found just walking around Hollywood, but worth having a look (they'll be in the cars somewhere). The major difference we spotted between the UK and the US was the size of everything was much bigger, especially the cars/trucks, so big, way to big for driving around cities in, anyways. We heard a lot of bad things about LA/Hollywood but we didn't agree with all those that had told you about the place. Yeah OK lots of homeless/possible trouble makers but no worse that any other city we had traveled to.

Upon arriving at the hostel we dropped out stuff of then went straight out on the walk of fame around the city, trying to spot the biggest stars possible. We saw Bruce lee, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stalone, Arnie, Alfred Hitchcock and loads more. We saw the Graumann’s theatre where all the stars put there hand prints and regards to the owner the theatre. On walking back to the hostel we checked out the Hollywood sign from a distance to get a good photo. After a short walk we arrived at the biggest record store we had ever seen, 1 block wide by 1 block long - huge.

That afternoon we took a lengthy 2hour bus ride to Santa Monica. There we froze to death, saw the beach pier, went shopping down third promenade (famous for street performers and good shopping) and bought a funky new jumper/hoody (due to the cold). Not the best of days to go to the beach but hey bought a lovely new jumper in the process. Had some quality Mexican food then left back on the 2.25 hour bus ride back (ouch). In the evening we had a fair few with some fellow Brits we met in the hostel (reason - bud at the hostel - $1 – bargain).

We woke up early the next morning to get to Universal Studios as we had bought cheap tickets from people we met at the hostel (get there early to make sure you get the most out of the attraction). We had a really good time – everything was fantastic. The theme parks in the US are much better than those in the UK. The ones in the US really are themed, every ride or attraction has a good build up with info and background to whatever it is. The only theme park in the UK that is similar is Alton Towers but it doesn’t really punch out the same story or have as good effects on the shows. The Universal studios tour was one of the best attractions going we saw. It included a look at desperate housewives (Wisteria lane) and a load of other famous filming studios. After finishing at the park we left for the hostel to get our bags and to get on the bus to San Diego. Below a picture of the beloved sign - would have to show the picture of it. Goes without saying... Then below this picture is the wisteria lane, they also filmed the Munsters there, along with a host of other films/dramas.

Thanks for reading

Loads of love Elliott & Simone xx