My day in LA

Thursday 10pm (Townsville time: 3pm Friday 20)

HOLLYWOOD
Well, learnt my lesson already about going anywhere with someone. Why, oh why, did I agree to head out today with my room-mate? In all of LA, all I really wanted to do on my one whole day was to go to Hollywood Boulevard (and make sure I saw the Hollywood sign) and check out the high end shops on Rodeo Drive. Then if there was time left over, maybe check out the Hollywood Farmers’ Market or the Iguana Vintage Clothing shop, or even some more of Downtown LA.

So, off we went to catch the subway (On her advice, I bought a TAP card for $2 plus paid $6 for all day metro and bus travel) and headed to Hollywood Blvd. Got there no worries - mostly good so far.


Had a look around and it was excellent that I ran into my old mate Marilyn while there.

Located the Hollywood star for our Aussie mate Cate Blanchett and found another one for a wannabe star - some tourist just scribbled their name on a blank star with a marker. (Damn! That was my plan)

Checked out the footprints etc in front of the famous Chinese place (the name of which eludes me for now) and snapped Johnny Depp’s prints. Just looked at the map and of course I meant Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Also, had a very nice cappuccino and banana cake at Starbucks coffee shop for $4.60.

FASHION SAFARI
So, then onto the high end fashion shops … my room mate said she had a better place to go rather than Rodeo Drive to look at fashion shops. First she said we needed to walk a couple of blocks away from the Metro stop where we were to catch a bus to this place, but I looked at the map and reckoned there would be a bus stop at a Metro station two stops away. Convinced her to reluctantly get the Metro to where I reckoned we could interchange and "ta dah" I was right. That should have been a red flag right then about her mastery of the public transport system ...

Oh, have to mention that most of the USA public transport systems have bike racks on the front of buses to encourage combining bike riding and public transport usage to cut down on car pollution. I think this is a great idea.

So, we catch the connecting bus and then spent an hour on the bus to get to … Westfield Plaza! Westfield bloody Plaza!

After wandering around trying to locate a few high end brand names and also finding something to eat, I discovered why she wanted to go there. She had been yesterday and wanted to return an item to a shop. F*cking b*itch - she wasted the majority of my day to return a lousy top!

PUBLIC TRANSPORT WOES
Then, after allowing her to be the public transport guru, she decided we could catch the bus all the way back to Downtown – nearly two hours through the ‘burbs and to top that off, she got us off at the wrong end of our street. Half hour of walking later – back to our room just as the sun set about 8pm. We could have connected with the Metro much earlier and reconnected with a different bus that stopped right outside our door in the space of an hour. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

No piccies after leaving Hollywood - too disappointed

Never again! Queen of my own destiny and Director of my own journey from now on!

UPDATE: I didn't really get value out of buying a TAP card and the all day ticket based on the few journeys we made that day. Would have been better to buy single journey tickets for each leg.

BACK TO HOLLYWOOD
Anyhoo, at the Kodak Theatre area (home of the Academy Awards) they were setting up for the premiere of some movie, which was pretty interesting.

And saw some hopefuls further down the road lining up for an audition and just across the road was a Harley store. Had to take a piccie of it for both bike lovers, Brian and David.

These guys were very ardently trying to save Los Angeles sinners, but I managed to get past them unharmed.

This piccie shows the start to the paved area that has lots of mosaic panels with mosaic text stories of different people who were lured to Hollywood for a life of fame and fortune. Good location to view the Hollywood sign on the hillside.

The weather is glorious, very much like the weather I left behind in Townsville.

Can’t believe my time is nearly up in LA as I leave tomorrow to head north up the coastal road … well, I hope my motorhome booking is alright and I will be leaving as planned. Also bit nervous about driving out of LA tomorrow arvie – freeway traffic will be mad, driving on the wrong side of the road, and in a huge motorhome. Wish me luck!

As I said last night, I may not be able to post anything for four or so days now.

Bye, Mandy