Our sightseeing day in LA started off at what we expected to be the glitzy Hollywood Walk of Fame. Our expectations were somewhat out of kilter with reality though. Instead of glitz and glam we found ourselves on what seemed like a very normal street, with pavements that just happened to have the Hollywood Stars on them.
I never realised how long the Walk of Fame actually is. We parked our car on the side of the street when we started to see the stars on the pavement and it felt like we walked for miles before we reached the well known hotspot of the Chinese Theatre. After a quick Google, I am reliably informed that there are in fact over two and a half thousand stars along the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard!
“As we drove round my imagination ran wild thinking about living inside a gated mansion.”
We of course had to get some photo’s with the stars and with Rich’s favourite film being Sister Act (I kid you not) when he saw Whoopi Goldberg’s we knew that was the right one for him to smile alongside!
Outside the Chinese Theatre we managed to get through the masses of people dressed up as film stars and well known characters, offering to pose for a photo for a fee of course, and looked around the handprints and footprints in the concrete paving stones. I think Rich was impressed that his hand was the same size as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s!
From Hollywood Boulevard we drove up into the hills to see where the rich and famous live, starting with Mulholland Drive, home to the likes of Madonna, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore. We didn’t book ourselves onto a sightseeing tour and so had no idea who lived where but the houses that we could see dotted around the hills certainly looked very big and very expensive!
“Being bonafide surfers after Hawaii this was a perfect mini keepsake for us to bring home with us.”
We continued on through Bel Air and I have never been so impressed by manicured shrubs along the side of the road before in my life, the gardeners certainly worked hard around here!
With huge gates and high walls around every residence we didn’t get to see much of what lay inside but as we drove around my imagination ran wild thinking about living inside a gated mansion while my mouth ran off Will Smith’s Fresh Prince of Bel Air rap which has been ingrained in my brain since childhood!
From Bel Air we drove down Sunset Boulevard and then headed over to the coast for some fresh air and sand between our toes.
“Rich was particularly excited to see Muscle Beach (I can’t lie, I was a little bit as well).”
Before hitting the beach we walked down Santa Monica Pier, enjoyed a hotdog for lunch and bought a souvenir in the shape of a mini surfboard! Travelling with only hand luggage meant we hadn’t bought many mementos on our travels and being bonafide surfers after Hawaii this was a perfect mini keepsake to bring home with us.
Next we headed down to Venice Beach and strolled along the boardwalk. Venice Beach has such a great vibe to it, with all the graffiti, little shops and quirky people it felt fun and care free.
“Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, for Rich and I we saw first hand that money can’t buy taste.”
Rich was particularly excited to see Muscle Beach (I can’t lie, I was a little bit as well).
We had seen so much of Los Angeles but before our day came to a close we had two more must see items, Rodeo Drive and the world famous Hollywood sign.
As we took the highway back to the city we found ourselves in what must have been rush hour traffic, it was manic!
Eventually we made it to Rodeo drive and I gawked at every expensive shop as we drove down it, wishing we’d won the lottery so that I could buy whatever I wanted and then drive back to my gated mansion in Bel Air!
Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, for Rich and I we saw first hand that money can’t buy taste. We saw quite a few expensive cars with somewhat questionable paint jobs, they obviously made some people very happy but they wouldn’t have been on the top (or bottom) of our lottery win shopping list.
We went to the Griffiths Observatory to get a view of the Hollywood sign, a very popular viewing point it took a long time for us to find a parking place. It was very cloudy by the time we got there and the view a little hazy but we could still see the Hollywood sign standing proudly on the hillside.
Thankfully it was only a fifteen minute drive back to our hostel on Hollywood Boulevard.
After such a packed sightseeing day we were both ready to relax and recharge our batteries ahead of our visit to the Grand Canyon the following day.
Lambs on the loose 