Day 2 - In Which Matt & Rach Explore Hollywood and the Beach, and Walk a Lot
Summary: Hollywood and surrounding areas AM, Venice/Santa Monica PM
Itinerary said: Beach/Hollywood? - (drown rach pick up surfer-dude. Laugh at matt surfing)
Stay at AAE Econo Hotel, LAX - (fart loudly throw things)
Wow, what a day. But what a lot of walking! Considering that we (maybe foolishly) only really allowed one day for LA, I think we managed an awful lot. Got the bus and metro to Hollywood this morning, only cost $1.25 for each, which was impressive. The bus journey was interesting because we got to see a lot of downtown LA which really isn’t on the tourist track. When we got to Union Station, we were surprised at how smart it is, considering the area we’d just come through.
Grabbed coffee and buns for breakfast, then got on the metro which dropped us right on the Walk of Fame. We wandered up and down for a bit, looking at all the names and taking photographs of landmarks. We looked at the sign, but it’s actually quite a long way from the WoF. Because of that, and wanting to see Beverly Hills, we decided to take one of the “celebrity houses” trips, to see the surrounding area a bit better. So we found a tour that sounded good, beat the guy down in price a bit then grabbed some lemonade (proper traditional stuff) before setting off. By now, it was getting on for the hottest part of the day, so it was nice to be undercover - the bus was basically a truck with seats in the back, but there was a canvas roof keeping the sun off. We sped off up into the mountains, where we got a good view of the LA skyline and Hollywood sign (while looking out for lions, tigers, elephants and great white sharks) - it was a bit misty/hazy over the city though. We then toured round Beverly Hills and Bel Air for two hours, which was amazing. The idea was that the guide pointed out celebrity residences (including Michael Jackson’s, which was covered in tributes), but Matt and I were more interested in just generally gawping at the area - very posh!
After the tour, we grabbed a couple of sammies from Quizno’s, then got two buses across the county to Venice beach. We walked along Venice pier, paddled in the sea then walked along the boardwalk to Santa Monica. We stopped on the way to watch a crazy street performer jumping on glass. Once we got to Santa Monica, we headed 30 blocks (just over 2 miles) inland to find a restaurant recommended by the guidebook. It was a build-your-own-burger bar, and it was fantastic - loads of choice and it was beautifully cooked. Watched some baseball as we ate, was fun.
It was then time to set off home. Walked around a really nice park first and watched some light aircraft taxiing around on the Santa Monica airfield. We then chose a road that looked like it might have had bus stops on it - no such luck. We walked about 4 miles before we stopped at a gas station to ask directions. A passing driver stopped and asked if we were lost. She seemed shocked that we’d already walked from Santa Monica, and gave us a lift to LAX as it was on her way (we didn’t tell her that it was another 20 blocks / 3 miles to go from there). We were both pretty tired by the time we got to the hotel, but it was an awesome day.
Day 1 Day 3
Itinerary said: Beach/Hollywood? - (drown rach pick up surfer-dude. Laugh at matt surfing)
Stay at AAE Econo Hotel, LAX - (fart loudly throw things)
Wow, what a day. But what a lot of walking! Considering that we (maybe foolishly) only really allowed one day for LA, I think we managed an awful lot. Got the bus and metro to Hollywood this morning, only cost $1.25 for each, which was impressive. The bus journey was interesting because we got to see a lot of downtown LA which really isn’t on the tourist track. When we got to Union Station, we were surprised at how smart it is, considering the area we’d just come through.
Grabbed coffee and buns for breakfast, then got on the metro which dropped us right on the Walk of Fame. We wandered up and down for a bit, looking at all the names and taking photographs of landmarks. We looked at the sign, but it’s actually quite a long way from the WoF. Because of that, and wanting to see Beverly Hills, we decided to take one of the “celebrity houses” trips, to see the surrounding area a bit better. So we found a tour that sounded good, beat the guy down in price a bit then grabbed some lemonade (proper traditional stuff) before setting off. By now, it was getting on for the hottest part of the day, so it was nice to be undercover - the bus was basically a truck with seats in the back, but there was a canvas roof keeping the sun off. We sped off up into the mountains, where we got a good view of the LA skyline and Hollywood sign (while looking out for lions, tigers, elephants and great white sharks) - it was a bit misty/hazy over the city though. We then toured round Beverly Hills and Bel Air for two hours, which was amazing. The idea was that the guide pointed out celebrity residences (including Michael Jackson’s, which was covered in tributes), but Matt and I were more interested in just generally gawping at the area - very posh!
After the tour, we grabbed a couple of sammies from Quizno’s, then got two buses across the county to Venice beach. We walked along Venice pier, paddled in the sea then walked along the boardwalk to Santa Monica. We stopped on the way to watch a crazy street performer jumping on glass. Once we got to Santa Monica, we headed 30 blocks (just over 2 miles) inland to find a restaurant recommended by the guidebook. It was a build-your-own-burger bar, and it was fantastic - loads of choice and it was beautifully cooked. Watched some baseball as we ate, was fun.
It was then time to set off home. Walked around a really nice park first and watched some light aircraft taxiing around on the Santa Monica airfield. We then chose a road that looked like it might have had bus stops on it - no such luck. We walked about 4 miles before we stopped at a gas station to ask directions. A passing driver stopped and asked if we were lost. She seemed shocked that we’d already walked from Santa Monica, and gave us a lift to LAX as it was on her way (we didn’t tell her that it was another 20 blocks / 3 miles to go from there). We were both pretty tired by the time we got to the hotel, but it was an awesome day.
Day 1 Day 3