Derek & Chris visit Tinsel Town in November 2003
Saturday - gaining 8 hours in a day.
Location - 36,000 feet, over Hudson Strait, 8.35am LA Time - 4.35pm UK time
Well, it's been a day of queuing!! Got the taxi to the airport OK and in good
time - but a HUGE queue at American Airlines check in. Took the best part of an
hour to get to the front of the queue, and then we get pulled for a random full
bag check - interesting question really - "would you mind if we checked
your luggage?" - so, what would have happened if we said "actually,
yes I do mind" - I wonder how much further I would have got??
But we were good people and just said yeas, of course. And then after the check
we were escorted to the check-in desk, where the clerk asked us all the same
questions again - so we smiled sweetly, and answered nicely:)
Then queued to get through the passport control and security checks.
Then queued to get a coffee.
Then queued to get onto the plain.
But not bad seats:) aisle and one next to it near the end of the plain, quite a
lot of leg room, and "league of extraordinary gentlemen" to watch. On
AA, only soft drinks are served free to cattle class passengers - so have had 2
diet Sprits so far, and "lunch" of chicken with veggies.
Later
Oh! and queued at US immigration control too!!!!
Picked up car, got onto Freeway OK, got into Traffic Jam!!! found exit OK -
"take 9th street exit towards downtown" "Turn left on Francisco
Street" - we were in the centre lane, but I checked in my mirror, no one
behind us, so I turned left. Suddenly, there was a police car behind us
signalling for us to stop!!!! I pulled over and he says we made an illegal left
turn:( Well, after checking our papers and walking round the car, he let us off
with a caution - PHEW!!!! not even booked into the hotel yet, and already in
trouble with the cops!!!! (Checked later in the week, and there is indeed a
"no left turn" sign at the junction.)
But anyway - found the hotel OK, booked in and was directed to our room - only
to find it already contained some cloths and electronic equipment! So, we got
moved - to a better room, actually, with a view over downtown and the freeway.
Not much else today - a little walk around the area, watched TV and went to bed
"early", although late in our UK time zone!
Sunday 9th November - Downtown
Decided to do LA downtown
& financial districts today, as the books say it's easier to get in and out
at weekends - less traffic & cheaper to park. There is a line in the song
that goes "LA is a great big freeway" - well, it seems to me that
Downtown is a great big parking lot!! So many open lots to park in.
But I get ahead of myself. we go down for breakfast - included in the hotel room
rate in our package, and the buffet is OK - we also have freshly squeezed orange
juice - nice but a tad expensive at $2.50 a glass! As we sit looking out at the
pool, we see some rain in the water - just a few drops - but rain non the less!!
Have worked out a rough route, so take the car out, and along 7th Avenue, and we
need to turn left to go to the financial district, only there are NO LEFT TURN
signs everywhere. So, OK, we can do three right turns instead and get to the
route we want - only on my first right, I go over to the left of the road and
Chris screams "you're on the wrong side of the road - for goodness
sake!!!!!!!!" Well, yes, and all I can say is that after 30 years of
driving on the left, it takes some getting used to driving on the other side:(
Anyway, we find a parking lot ($5 all day), park and set out to explore on foot.
We are up near the new Disney Concert Hall, so go up the hill to look at it -
very striking shinny building - it also has a open "park" on top -
some interesting sculptures up there, and good views over LA county. Then we
carried on down to the Financial District - like any such place, it was really
quiet on a Sunday, very few people around, but this made it easier for us to get
around. Down at California Plaza they have something called the Watercourt - a
really spectacular water feature, and I bet this area is really full of office
workers on working day lunch times! Behind this is Angel Flight - a steep hill
leading down, with a cute looking funicular railway down - but this was out of
use for redevelopment - and had been taken over by pigeons!
We carried on down in the middle of the tall buildings to Pershing Square -
another great water feature - when we arrived there was this large cobbled area,
with a tall waterfall trickling into it. Then the "waterfall" started
suddenly to pour harder, and the cobbled area fills up with water. Then, just as
the water reaches the edge of the area the water goes back to a trickle, and the
water level falls again. A really interesting feature, and a nice area - again,
very quite with only a few people around.
After a rest watching the water, we are off to the City Hall, and went through
an area called the "Historic Core", up Broadway - and suddenly, we
were in an area crowded with people!!!! Lots of shops open, lots of music - and
a great number of bridal wear and tuxedo shops - plus a wedding chapel - and a
divorce clinic!!
Past the (very boring looking) City Hall, up to El Pueblo Historic Park, where
there were loads of stalls, music and people - all Spanish speaking. I think it
must have been sponsored by some sort of medical concern - there were stalls
offering free sight test, teeth exams, and what I took to be nutritional
information. Then on to Union Station which we had read was worth a visit for
its architecture, - and WOW! the outside looks like some sort of Spanish
Cathedral!! The waiting room is huge and cavernous!! we sat for a while having a
coffee - and even the announcements were interesting - and loud!!!! no-one
sleeps through these announcements.
After this interlude, we went back to the car, to go to the Exposition Park -
fairly simple to get to - straight down Grand Avenue - but we couldn't find our
way into any car park!!! We went round the park, maybe 5 times!!! but in the end
we decided to just give in and scoot back to the hotel. We'd actually gone off
the edge of the map that we had with us, but went in about the right way till we
got to 8th street, turned and made it back in one piece - Phew!!!
Evening was a meal in the hotel, a small walk around, and then reading our books
in our room.
Monday 10th November - Universal Studios, Hollywood
The day breaks bright &
sunny - now that's more like the LA we expected!!! as we get up around 8 the
traffic on the Freeway we can see from our room is solid - yep, the rush-hour LA
traffic is as bad as they tell us!! a leisurely breakfast, and we're on the road
at 9.30 ish for Universal Studios, which opens at 10. Now this may (or may
not!!!) be the most touristy thing we do - but people tell me it's good - so
here goes:)
We find Universal without too many mishaps - I got confused and stayed on the
freeway 110, rather than going on to the 101, but that was easily sorted out by
doubling back. You can pay $8 for normal parking, or $16 for fast track parking
(nearer the attractions, apparently) - we went for the $8 option!! Parked OK -
not very busy really - and then you have to walk through "Universal City
Walk" to the park itself. This is a collection of shops, restaurants and a
big multi-screen cinema (18 screens I think). On to the park, where you can pay
$47 normal admission, or $97 "privileged" admission - this gets you to
the head of the queues and some sort of extra perks too. For only a couple of
dollars more (I think it was $48) you can get yearly admission - would you want
to go back lots of times if you lived close enough to do so? Again we opt for
the standard ticket - interesting, this is one of the places that asks for other
ID before accepting credit cards - odd because it's not the sort of place you'd
go to with a stolen card - is it?? As we see later, the park did not get very
busy, and we would not have been much better off with the queue jumper ticket -
but if it was really crowded, and you could afford it, it sounds like a cool
idea!
So first off we come to the Mummy Returns "walk through" thing - lots
of spooky/scary things, with people jumping out at you, and on of those rolling
walkways, that makes you feel like the ground is moving under you. Not sure this
was a lot to do with the film, but.... Then on to the Animal Planet Live show -
this was cute - performing dogs/cats/mice/monkeys/birds, but didn’t seem to
last long. We then went on to the Studio Tour - for me, this was what makes
Universal Studios different from other ‘parks’ - it has a real theme of the
cinema!! And this was really where they made all those films!!!
This bus tour takes you on through sound stages, sets and also some effects too
- like going over a bridge which collapsess as we get on it! - and then we see it
un-collapse again!! We are taken through a Mummies set, big animation of King
Kong in New York, around a lake which was the sea that Jaws was in (and he made
an appearance on queue!) and an earthquake in a SF metro. I video’ed a lot of
the tour, but it was quite bumpy at times so I don’t know how well it will
come out. And - at the end of the tour the bus broke down! No really - it
wasn’t a stunt as a lot of us assumed, it was really real!! Eventually we got
going again, but not before we’d been overtaken by the tour bus behind us -
they just waved as they went past!!
As we finished the tour, they were announcing that the Waterworld show was about
to start, so we went on down there. The show takes as its location the hulk we
see in the film - spectacular water stunts and pyrotechnics - and lots of people
in the audience getting wet - which seems to be part of the fun! Very good show,
and the video of this should be good too:)
We then stopped for lunch, and I must say the park-going American are a very
well behaved lot - everyone we saw out their rubbish in the bins, rather than
leave it for others to clear up. After lunch we went down to the lower lot to
see Backdraft and the Special Effects Stage. Backdraft is an amazing set - you
stand in a factory as a fire starts and the heat is amazing!! The Special
Effects Stage was good - if over-acted by the two presenters (deliberately? as
in ‘look at me, I’m a good actor really’?). They showed us some technical
tricks and animations - quite entertaining.
Back up on the upper lot we went to see ’Sherk 4D’ - a 3-D film with seats
that move and stuff like that - hmmm - interesting is the best I can say:)
We did some looking around the outlets, and brought some Universal branded
things for the kids. Overall impression - I was impressed, we were there from
10.30 to 5.00 went on all the things we wanted to - and still (I think) 5 rides
we didn’t go on. With the number of people that they had it was really good -
but it is obviously set up for many more visitors, and if crowded it would take
loads more time to get round.
Coming back I got lost again!! Well, we had a nice ride around ‘Beautiful
Downtown Burbank’, but eventually got back to the correct freeway - and WOW
the stories about LA traffic jams are true! Don’t think we went over 20mph all
the way back.
Tuesday - Life’s a Beach
OK let’s start with a
complaint about LA roads - how the heck are you supposed to find your way around
as a stranger? I can see the I110 from our bedroom window. I can see there’s a
ramp up to the southbound lane - I go to 8th street and it says I110 South,
straight on, North turn right, so I go straight on.... and on
Eventually get down to the exposition place I was on Sunday!! Did some turns and
got onto the freeway, but not from anything the signs told me!!
Anyway - eventually got to Santa Monica and once there it is easy to find a
parking lot by the beach - and what a beach!!! Miles of golden sand... and miles
of posing people!!! We went onto Santa Monica pier - the “world Famous Santa
Monica” pier the sign said! - a fun place - with a fun-fair and the pier itself
gave you really cool views. And an interesting picture of one family!! I noticed
“Dad” as he had a big, professional looking camera, and he was trying to get
a picture of his four small kids. Well, kids are kids, and they wouldn’t all
be perfect at the same time:) In the 15 minutes we were at the end of the pier,
he didn’t manage to get one single picture - someone’s hair was wrong, or
the baby wasn’t sitting right or smiling enough - I mean this picture was
REALLY important to him!!!
Anyway - back to the beach - this bit of the Pacific coast just makes the
perfect sandy beach, and is well kept up, with lots of rest rooms, and a well
laid out path for pedestrians, and drive for bikes, skaters, skate-boarders and
so on! We didn’t go into the Ocean - not prepared for that - but it was really
a great place!
After the pier, we walked into Santa Monica itself, and had a mosey around
Sears, then back on to the Pier for a coffee before walking down to Venice. We
stopped at a little coffee shop next to a next to a “scooby-do” game stall -
$3 per child taking part, and the winner got to keep a (quite nice) skooby-do
toy. Not many takers the time we were there, but one Mom came up with 5 kids -
they had one go, and then had to have another to give another the chance to win
a toy - so $30 for 2 soft toys - cool odds!!!
Finishing our coffees we started down towards Venice - a wonderful walk along
the beach and interesting people along the way - and amazing properties
overlooking the Ocean - I wonder how many million dollars they cost? As you
reach Venice Beach the mood changes, and the walkway is lined with cafes and
shops on one side, and street traders and buskers on the other.
We stopped for a late lunch at “Figtree Café”, and sat at the front and
people watched! Food was good - all the veg was organic and locally produced. To
drink we had Green Tea Cola - quite different - a definite “edge” to the
drink - almost spicy - would have it again, but not too much of it! Quite a
reasonable price too, and all good organic wholesome food:).
Walked back to the car, then made it back to the Hotel without incident -
amazing!! went from A to B without going via C, D, E & G!!
Went for a walk into the financial district in the evening to look at/for the
Metro station - and found where the ramp to I110 starts - Ha! Local Knowledge!
Wednesday - Tar & Thunder
Watching local
news this morning the weather -man was warning of rain & possible damage to
burn areas caused by mud slides if the rain is heavy - But - he didn’t predict
what actually happened!!!
So today we went to see La Brea Tar Pits & the Page museum that shows the
finds (mainly bones) form the pits. The “tar pits” are bitumen deposits that
are forced up from underground - being very thick and sticky animals that get
into the tar can’t get out, so over the ages these deposits have an enormous
number of skeletons of creatures - many now extinct. It was quite impressive to
see the tar bubbling up from underground, and what is also impressive is that
when dug up the bones are mixed together tightly - we saw a block of the tar as
extracted, and there were just various bones jumbled together - how anyone can
sort that out is a mystery to me! Lots of schools also visit the museum - at
least 6 groups were arriving as we got there - so it was a question of exhibit
hopping, so we didn’t get too caught up in their groups!
After the museum, we went walking in the park where the tar pits are bubbling
away - and it had started to be rainy, so umbrellas came in handy!
Went for a walk along the “Miracle Mile” section of Wiltshire, and stopped
for a coffee in a real downpour! So we decided to go for a drive round the
sites, so set off up to Hollywood Boulevard, along the “walk of fame” down
to Santa Monica Boulevard, and followed that all the way to the coast and Santa
Monica itself. Stopped there and walked round the shops, stopped for a coffee,
and watched the sun set in the Pacific Ocean:))) Stunning!!!!!!
Back in the car we decided to take the freeway back to LA - Big Mistake!!! The
traffic was almost at a standstill, and as it was dark we could see an amazing
amount of lightening in the distance. Local radio told us of flash floods, and
on the freeway ahead 2 lanes where under water. It took us about an hour and a
half to get back to the hotel, mostly at under 10 miles an hour!! local TV is
full of it - 5 inches of rain in an hour in one place, and hail so thick it
looked like snow!
We were going to see if we could get into a basketball game, but after the drive
we were too tired, so we stayed in and watched Jurassic Park Lost World on TV.
Thursday - The Big Knife
The local news is full of the flash storms from yesterday! Amazing pictures of
cars stuck in a fall of hail that looks like thick snow! but even more amazing
is the shots from the helicopter, which shows this is about 1 block only
affected by the hail! But in that block the cars are in drifts which come half
way up their doors. The bright spot for SoCal is that the storms also brought a
thick layer of snow to the mountains - and the ski resort of Big Bear is going
to open something like a month early - and just a week after being concerned
that the fires would destroy the whole community!
So we had a relaxed start to the day, and wondered Downtown to the jewellery
district, and WOW what a lot of jewellers and what a lot of stones - one shop
had on display a whole shelf of stones in varying shades of green - very
impressive! We also went into Maceys, and brought some Christmas present!
Wondered around the shops and squares, and then stopped for a Chinese meal.
Then we headed into Hollywood, parking in a residential street we’d picked out
- turned out to be a good place to park - and free! Walked along the Hollywood
“walk of fame” and stopped at the famous Manns Chinese and the hand and foot
prints. Busy place and some interesting shops too - like the wig shop and the
costume places. Also “tacky” shops, and a couple of trainer shops with
closing down signs. We did stop at a Hollywood souvenirs shop, and got a couple
of mugs for us, a bright Hollywood mug for Mum in Law, and a couple of pins to
add to Chris’s collection,
After a stop for coffee, we went on to the show we’d booked - The Big Knife at
the Lillian theatre - quite a powerful piece and well worth seeing. Driving back
to the hotel at 11.30 was fine - if only LA streets were always like this!!
Stopped on the way back to get petrol (gas) - and a run in with technology!
First this place had pumps which took credit cards - fine, but it asked for our
Zip code - and I don’t have one! So went in to see to see the cashier - he
said he’d open the pump, and do the card transaction himself. Then, I
couldn’t get the pump to work - the “trick” was to flick a switch on the
pump and another on the nozzle - not simple like at home! Well, got it done
eventually - thanks to help form the cashier:)
Friday - The dear old Queen
Decided to go down to Long Beach today, see the Queen Mary, explore around that
part of the world, and go to a restaurant we’d been recommended to.
Go on the freeway - not too bad, but you have to be so aware of the different
lane changes and routes coming in and out, but we got there without getting
lost. We park and walk over to the Queen Mary - but it would have cost us around
$100 to get in!!! - so we decide against it! But the views across the bay were
wonderful, and the QM is indeed a magnificent site!
On our way in to Long Beach there had been a lot of big trucks going into the
docks - coming away we surrounded by an enormous number of these big monsters,
and we were crawling along under a freeway bridge when they started sounding
their horns - MAN!!! Chris nearly jumped through the sun roof!!! We went off the
freeway - away from the trucks - out towards Seal Beach. Once again we missed
our turning, and did a nice circuit of the country round there - and crossed the
LA river a number of times - but eventually got to the restaurant - The
Spaghettini Italian grill and jazz club. Of course the jazz club is in the
evening, but still an interesting restaurant - and great seafood.
After lunch we decided to take the Pacific Coast Highway all across to Santa
Monica or even Malibu if we felt like going that way. Once again we got lost
(!!) but eventually found California Highway 1 - and started the long drive
across Orange & Los Angeles Counties. The really low point was a detour -
which appeared to take us through a marshalling yard, across a couple of rail
tracks, and mixed us in with monster trucks again! Actually, quite a
disappointing ride - this section of the Pacific Coast Highway isn’t actually
on the coast! and the attractions of small towns as you drive through them soon
fades. Stopped for a while at Santa Monica, then back to Downtown on the
freeway - still really busy, but at least moving, not as bad as the storm day!
Thought we might go to see a basket ball match at the Staples Centre - but got
there to find only $87.50 tickets available - so decided against - went for a
walk and a coffee, then back to the hotel.
Saturday - Mad English People
Writing this on the beach along from Malibu - a quiet public beach just down
from Point Dune, with the Pacific breaking just a couple of feet away:)))
This morning, took the freeway down to Santa Monica - MUCH faster when not in
the rush hour! - and then picked up the Pacific Coast Highway from where we left
off last night. Now this is more like what I expected from the Pacific Coast
Highway - it hugs the coast, and each rise gives you another spectacular view of
the ocean and another beach community - simply breathtaking!
The day started cloudy, but now here on the beach it’s sunny. I’ve changed
into shorts and have got wet in the Pacific - I was posing for a photo from
Chris with my back to the water, when a big wave came in and I got wet up to my
waist! This beach has a restroom block, a café (closed at this time of year),
and - sand! Wonderfully clean sand. And it’s overlooked by cliffs with houses
on top looking over the Pacific - sigh - amazing place to live......
Later
Had a great day just relaxing on the beach - even though the sun went in later
in the afternoon and we had to retire to the car. There were a number of people
arriving and leaving during the day, and a group of canoeists went past too. A
lot of cyclists go by on the road too - must be a great route to go by. But
mainly, we just sat, enjoyed the waves, read our books, and lived the beach
life. Interesting thing - coming from England, we think it’s warm and were
sitting in shorts and tee shirts - but obviously to the locals it’s early
November - cold! - and they have sweaters and coats on!!!!
This evening (as we didn’t get lunch on the beach), we went to “Ciao
Tratoria” on 7th Street, which we had walked past before, and it looked like a
small bar, but as we’d been recommended from the hotel we went through the
door - to find it went back a long long way! It was really opulent inside, and
we had a nice meal, mainly seafood again!
Sunday - Round & Round LAX
For some reason
I was awake early this morning - 6am and I was wide awake, so after lying there
for a bit I went to the gym - well, it was one of the reasons for choosing the
hotel, and I hadn’t used it so far! Very small fitness room, just 2
treadmills, a step machine and a bike - since I can’t use the treadmill, I had
a go on the other two - only half an hour in all, but better than nothing!
Chris wakes with a very bad back ache, so we decide to have the morning on Santa
Monica pier. We need to get the car back to Avis by 3pm, or we will have to pay
another 24 hours rental - a shame as our flights not till 7pm, but we hear that
there are restaurants and shops at LAX that we can look round.
No problems on the famous Freeway 10 - indeed, need to be careful not to go over
the speed limit! Santa Monica is bright and sunny, and seems to be full of
birthday parties! (Well, 2 actually, but that seems like a lot!) Interesting
sight - the was someone on the sea in a sort of large surf board - standing up
and paddling with a long double ended paddle - never seen anything quite like it
before! The pier area gets very full - a real jolly atmosphere, with a lot of
buskers and sellers of goods - including one selling pictures made with oil
paints - actually doing them on the pier, and selling them too - we brought two!
Started to get hungry, so we had some pizzas on the pier, and then drove to LAX
- well that bit was easy, but when we got to the LAX area we got lost - yes -
how unusual for us!! - ended up going round the airport twice before we found
the Avis drop off point - with 15 minutes to spare!
In LAX saw an amazing... art work? toy? anyway, a series of ramps, traps, runs
& belts that balls fall through - hmmm - difficult to describe, but
fascinating to watch.
Boarded 6.30pm - put watch forward to UK time - 2.30am!!! wow! short day!
Monday - Mid Atlantic thoughts on LA
10.40am UK time 2.40 am LA time
So, what are my thoughts/feeling on LA?
Driving,
Well, this was
my first experience of driving in the US - and, of course, I don’t expect it
is typical of the whole continent! It seemed to me that the general driver is
very considerate to other drivers - will let people into a lane if you signal.
Driving is, however, frantic - so many intersections and crossings. And the
freeways get SO clogged with traffic.
The car we had - an Oldsmobile, a make not common in the UK - was SO automatic -
switching on in the morning got so many warning lights - Break! Seat Belts!
Airbags! Washer level low! Service you engine soon! So many warnings, even after
a week I ended up not really “seeing “ them!
The Highlights
& the Lowlights
The Universal Hollywood tour was really good - and actually told you so much
about the film industry as well as being fun - an absolutely “must see”
attraction. Santa Monica & Venice were great places - fun & lively - and
the Pacific beaches were wonderful - the quiet beach we found was a great haven
from the bustle of the cities. That bit of the Pacific Coast Highway is amazing
to drive along - I’d go again just to do more of that!
The lowlights were definitely the traffic - too much!!!! and not helped by the
bus and Metro strike, or we would have been able to go places like Universal
without having to drive. And even with all these parking lots, there is no where
to park!!!
But overall? Yep, a WOW!!!!! place:))