Well we arrived safely in LA! Our flights were fine, we managed to get a bit of sleep in but not as much as we had expected, since we both took sleeping tablets from Perth! We met a Canadian girl on our flight, who filled us in on tips and hot spots around US and Toronto, where she lives. I was nervous about entering US Customs, but I was amazed at how quickly we got through! We got in the cab, and I was getting ready to ask Gerard "Why is there a guy sitting in the passenger seat?" when I remembered that that's the way they drive over here!

When I left Perth I was very proud of my Kate Hill black crocodile skin suitcases with matching carryon luggage and toiletry bag, but trying to manoever it through a crowd of dirty looking backpackers at the door of our hostel was not easy, and I straight away got the "I don't belong here feeling". Which is probably right, I've never been a hostel/camping kind of girl… but at least we've saved money staying here that I can spend on clothes J

Speaking of clothes, most people who know me would know that my fashion sense is much more accurate than my sense of practicality. This was definitely apparent when trudging through the freezing, flooded streets of LA, dressed in my favourite maxi dress, cardigan and thongs. Neither of us had an umbrella and we'd headed the wrong way up the Sunset Strip, so there were no taxis is sight! Here began the first of my many "princess comments," and Gerard was, as always, being patient and understanding and remaining calm whilst getting soaked from the unrelenting rain. For once, Gerard is the fashionable one of us, always looking good in his new jacket from Macy's, but it was his ugly fishing jacket from Perth that caught the eye of two very friendly male 'admirers' in a H & M store! Gerard was quite flattered when one guy asked if he could 'feel the material' of his jacket hahahahaha

The silver lining of our rainy weather was finally getting a warm cab who took us to "Beverley Centre" (aka Renee's dream!) where I quickly purchased a very fashionable (warm and waterproof) outfit and changed in the toilets! A huge slice of pizza and coke later, and we no longer looked or felt like scraggly homeless people!

Checking into our hostel was interesting, a very disinterested staff member showed us to our tiny room where I immediately saw a puddle of water in the middle of the floor. I asked the lady "Is there a leak in here?", she quickly replied "No!" as a drop of water nearly hit her in the face and she quickly disappeared. We then found another leak that was dropping in the middle of the bed and decided it was time to complain to reception, who decided, yes we should probably get a new room since the roof was about the collapse!

The hostel is noisy, our room is right next to the bar, so we are woken each night at about 3am to people yelling at each other outside the door. Our room has a distinct smell of cat wee and Gerard decided to remove the water saving device on the tap so we could get a decent flow! Other than that, we are happy with our location and the atmosphere of the hostel is great, but secretly I am counting down the hours till check in at the Hilton Doubletree resort in NYC J

On Tuesday, we made a visit to the Getty Centre where I was stoked to see some Van Gogh, Monet and Degas (some of my favourite artists) and Gerard was a very good student for listening to me babbling on about the painting style, society at the time etc. that I was interested in.

Yesterday we went to Universal Studio and it rained ALL day which unfortunately meant most of the smaller stalls were closed and it was virtually impossible to find anywhere to eat inside. Highlight of the day for me was the studio tour where you were taken through real sets and they demonstrated special effects and showed filmed clips of where they were used. Gez loved the Jurassic Park ride, although we went there first and got soaked (even with my horrible yellow poncho on!). The Mummy ride came with recommendations from my Mumma, but after reading it's description of a "highly aggressive rollercoaster with backwards motions", I decided to let Gez do that one by himself!! (Princess!) At the end of the day, we went to the "Grinchmas Christmas Lighting show" which was very romantic and Christmassy. It made me a little sad to think that I won't be with my family at Christmas but it was amazing to see such beautiful lights, and felt like we were celebrating Christmas just like in the movies!

On the way home we went past the 'drugstore' and stocked up on goodies for the flight to New York. It was lots of fun choosing all the American candies that you see in the movies, like Hershey's, Reece peanut butter cups and twinkies. It was also really nice to be able to buy premade salads for dinner, since it already feels like we have eaten pure fat for the last 3 days!!!

So now we are the plane to NY, Gez is snoring next to me, but we are both excited about the prospect of being in such an amazing city! Gez has taken to being our 'travel guide' which at times can be really helpful, other times, totally disastrous! But he does a good job, and I love seeing him showing so much interest in the cities. I swear he has read our LA Lonely Planet guide from cover to cover, because he always has it in his hands! I am still adjusting to the coffee over here, it seems so complicated trying to order! Gez saves us some money because he has taken a liking to the American brewed coffee that comes out black and you have to add milk or 'creamer' (yuk!). Being the coffee snob I am, I'm still trying to find a cup that I can drink, most are made too hot and I end up chucking them out or Gez skulls the rest…. I'm desparate for a flat white at my Mumma's house!

It's been great to have Mum's netbook with us, it has allowed us to access internet from our room, which means I've been able to chat to Mum, Brad and my travel guide cuz Beki on Facebook. I usually get on before bed whenever we get home (although we might be out later in NY). It also gives us time to type our blogs on the plane trips, so most blogs will be posted at the end of each city.

Thanks for following our travels, stay tuned for more from Princess Renee and her patient Prince Gerard.

Love to all,

Nae and Gez

xxoo