California Dreaming

Ok, so lets begin on Wednesday...Everything went unexpectedly well at the airport; we checked in early, got something to eat and to the gate in plenty of time. We flew with Virgin and the flight was brilliant! We took advantage of the 'pretty much everything on board is free' progative they had, which was wicked as they had all the latest released films and music albums to watch and listen, (i personally opted for Happy Feet, The Departed, Flushed Away and Days of Glory) and enough food, well to fill lauren! So we arrived at LAX in quite good spirits, though a little tired from the lack of sleep in the last 36 hours. We then had to queue for ages for the (lack of ) visa approval with a screaming child, which seemed oh so typical when in a long, tiresome queue. Afterwards, we had to take an 1h45 shuttle van thing to the hostel, on which we seemed to circle L.A at least five times! On arrival, we were told that in fact our reservation did not exist, even though we had printed confirmation, and after about 20 minutes actually discovered we had booked to stay in July and not June. A good start; around 6:30pm after a 11 hour plane trip, in the middle of Hollywood, tired and hungry with nowhere to stay. Luckily, another hostel had space for us, so promised to be 'just a short walk' we set off down the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Turned out the prices were about the same as the other place, even if it didn't include any perks, but was in a better location and we had an 8 bed room between the two of us. After showers, we intended to take a nap, which turned into a good 12 hour sleep until we woke up this morning at around 7am (i know that anyone i've ever been on holiday cannot believe we were up at this time!)

Today, we awoke like new born chicks, energised and ready to explore! We had a bit of breakie with a nice irish guy trying to find work here, before starting out on the Walk of Fame. And how it looked different with a bit of sunshine. Had a wander through the imprints of hands and feet at Mann's Chinese Theater (and i felt very macho, when i discovered i have the same sized feet as John Wayne!) Carried on to the Kodak Theater (aka location of the Oscars and Film Academy Awards), which was in a very nice complex of shops, bars and eateries. We even show the Hollywood sign from there! Followed the stars along past the filming of a chinese woman doing some ribbon dance outside Demi Moore and Auston Kutcher's restaurant, until there started to be shops called Playmates and Foreplay, at which point we decide it was time to turn around. Coming back towards 'the action' we were talked into a tour of Sunset Strip, Beverley Hills, Celebrity houses etc for a couple of hours. The guide seemed to know ridiculous amounts about celebrites, which boarded on us believing he may be stalking them, but he had some interesting little tips and antidotes, so it was (almost) alright with us. Highlights included the fastfood place from American Graffiti, the hotel where Richard Gere called Julia Roberts up to in Pretty Woman, and the shop she was refused entry to buy a wedding dress, Sunset Strip and Rodeo Drive, the most expensive road in California. After the tour, we went to see if we could get tickets to a free show tonight (there were no tickets left but we are gonna go later because there are sometimes more) and got free invitations to a film screening at the famous Chinese Theater, mentioned above for tomorrow. Otherwise, 'picked up some grocery's' as they say here, and contemplated how many different fast food chains we could try before leaving. I think it'll be Burger King for tonight, although having found out on our tour that Brad Pitt once worked handing out leaflets, dressed as a chicken for El Pollo Loco, might mean a change in heart. And volia, i have almost written a novel. I shall let you go now and try to post some pictures. Hope everyone is well at home, as the governor of California would say, I'll be back

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