Tuesday 6th Feb 2007

not a good start, after our 5 hour drive to Heathrow we found out we couldn't get seated together - if you're flying with BA it turns out it's a good idea to check-in online. so spent 11 hours twisted round and im sure annoying the people around us! Kate is pretty sure she saw Helen Mirren on her way up to first class. spoke to a lady on the plane who was typically LA - very slim, blonde highlights, overly perfect white teeth showing obvious signs of regular botox! dressed in off-white jeans, cashmere sweater and a mink coat she told us how she works at the Beverly Wiltshire Hotel (Pretty Woman reference?!!!!) and spent the flight incessantly name-dropping, when we mentioned Fiji her first reaction was 'beautiful place, ugly people!'. it seemed LA was going to fit the stereotype...

we checked into our hostel, our room consisting of five mattresses on the floor and, thanks to our Australian roommates, a mountain of clothes and bags. it made us feel more at home but worryingly underpacked! despite the unmistakable stench of sweaty feet on the stairs Hollywood International Hostel was ideally located at 6820 Hollywood Boulevard, we were directly opposite the Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are held) and the 'sidewalk' outside displayed the famous stars.

delighted and suprised that the sun was shining we took the 217 bus to Wiltshire and Fairfax and then the 20 to Santa Monica.we walked along the pier, took pictures in front of 'Bubba Gump shrimp co.' (that place actually exists!) and watched people fishing before getting some sand between our toes on a beach that was newly combed and litter-free! a memorial of wooden crosses had been set up for the soldiers that have died in Iraq and they did the whole flag raising thing - a little depressing! we sat and people watched on a wall on Muscle Beach in the sunshine (79 degrees according to the TV on the bus). ready for food we found Third Street Promenade, a pedestrianised area with shops, restaurants and the best street entertainment we'd ever seen consisting of break dancers, singers and even a psychic cat! we ate on a little table on the street with a Tenacious D tribute guy to entertain us and more importantly managed to blag a couple of beers (it tastes so much better when you're underage again!). when we asked for advice on where to watch the Superbowl our waiter invited us to a party he was going to in the Hollywood Hills but however tempting we decided it might just turn out to be the stupidest thing we've ever done. instead we paid 5 dollars to get into a bar that was packed with overenthusiastic drunk people and soaked up some atmosphere.

on a recommendation we decided to go to 'In n Out Burger' for tea where we were excited to see Dillon and Katya from Neighbours eating a couple of tables away! Jenny thinks Dillon is really fit in real life, the long gresy hair does it for her every time! we did all the touristy stuff of putting our hands in the prints outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre and taking pictures of the stars, Jenny even got to meet Spiderman! LA is pretty intimidating at night, it's like a Pimps n Hoes party in Brackley town hall except these aren't wannabes, there are some WIERD people in LA! we were even victims of a drive-by as we were waiting to cross the road and some lads decided to launch eggs out of a car window.....good job we were in a good mood and on our way back to the hostel or the egg in Kate's hair wouldn't have been appreciated!

had a greasy breakfast and decided to take a bus tour of Beverley Hills and Rodeo Drive. these houses are HUGE and the streets are littered with Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Ferraris! some of the stars were too old or too American for us to recognise but we saw houses of Ozzy Osbourne, Simon Cowell, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Cyndi Crawford and others we can't remember. we drove back along Sunset Strip and spotted Jonny Depps 'The Viper Room' and other hangouts of Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears etc, being under 21 is definitely saving us money! We came back to the hostel at around lunchtime and met up with our Australian roommates Ginny and Chrissie then all went to The Grove and farmers market where we bought ice-creams (it's still 25 degrees!). We got the bus down to the tar pits where tar bubbles up from underground and looked around at some dead stuff. went back to the hostel and ended up falling asleep without any tea!

our last day and we had that 'if we're leaving i just want to go' feeling. bought some postcards and wrote them whilst having breakfast outside The French Crepe Co at the Kodak Theatre. went to the waxworks museum and spent time 'hob-nobbing' with the stars! when the time came to took the metro to Union Station and then the 'Fly-away' bus to the airport - very good and cheap as chips! very odd system of checking in to Air Pacific for our flight at 10.30pm. we have no idea how long the flight is!!!! x