LA - part 2a

OK, finally got photos sorted.  Now just have to remember what I've done the past few days.  LOL

Monday 20 August - slept until about 1pm then showered & went for a stroll.  Wandered down Hollywood Boulevard past Hard Rock Cafe, Graumans Chinese Theatre & looked at stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Saw some characters as well - Edward from Twilight, Captain Jack Sparrow, Spiderman & a Transformer - was rather surreal.  Carried on down La Brea Ave & tried to take in my surroundings.  Stopped at a couple of stores, got a US sim card for my phone, then went to Target to buy some new shoes as the ones I was wearing had given me blisters.  Spent about an hour in Target - they sell EVERYTHING there - shoes, clothes, electronics, books, stationery, food of all kinds (like a mini supermarket) and wine & beer!!  Bought me a pair of flip-flops, some chocolate, some plasters (band-aids as the locals say).  Left the store, looked up & after a few seconds realised what I was looking at - the Hollywood sign - was very far away but if you look closely you can see it to the right of the billboard.

Walked back, very slowly, stopped to have something to eat at McDonalds, then slowly carried on and went past The Jim Henson Company.

Was going to get a photo from directly across from the entrance but there were some people at the end of the driveway who looked a bit dodgy so had to walk past them a bit before I felt safe enough to stop.

This is at one end of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  There were quite a few tourists around so was hard to get a decent photo.  From memory the stars there are Elvis Presley, The Beatles & the LAPD.

Got back to the hotel about 6pm.  Sorted thru my clothes as I won't be needing half of what I brought with me.  They are going into Autumn here & the temperature hasn't been below 26C!!  Turned the TV on & got mesmerised by the number of channels & choice of programs - I haven't counted but there are over 200 channels, of course some are in other languages.  Finally made myself go to sleep at about 2am.

Tuesday 21 August - got up early-ish so I could take advantage of the free breakfast the hotel provides.  Had scrambled eggs, bacon & a bagel. Wasn't impressed with the bacon & eggs - bacon was thin & really salty and the eggs were flavourless.  Got back to my room & read while I waited for my LA friend to arrive.  She arrived about 1pm with a big bag of goodies for me to welcome me to the USA.  I didn't take a photo of it all before sorting it out & using some of the things but it included USA sunglasses, a USA mug, a writing journal with a P on it & a pack of matching tissues, a t-shirt with the USA flag on it, some stickers & the piece-de-resistance a tiny pink unicorn.

Ulrich the Unicorn - my travel companion. He is quite a character as you will see from some of the photos he appears in.

G (my LA friend) & I left the hotel about 2pm and headed out to see a few sights.  We went into Beverley Hills and had lunch at 4pm at a small cafe.

Ulrich checking out the menu.

My lunch - Eggs Benedict (they were really good).

We then drove around Beverley Hills a bit, was rather difficult to get photos as there were lots of people around, and by the time I realised what I was looking at (storefronts, street signs, etc) we had driven passed it & it as too late to get a pic.  I've got to be a lot quicker with my photo taking.  I did manage to get one sign tho.

The sign says Rodeo Dr - in case you can't see it clearly.

We drove around the neighbourhood a bit & G took me to see her favourite house.

Known as the Witches House. Was built in the 1920's.  If you look closely you can see a witch on a broomstick next to the street number.

Ulrich's first time at photo-bombing.

House on the corner across from the Witches House.  Was a very nice neighbourhood, reminded me of Remuera/St Heliers/West Harbour areas back home.

Fountain I spotted when we had stopped at some lights.

We then headed out to the coast to Venice Beach.  The tale & photos of which I will put in a new post as this one is long enough.