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Hello Folks! Welcome to my first blog! I didnt get off to a very good start on this trip... My brand new camera was broken before we even got on the plane. this is why i have no lovely photos to show you... but yeah...
Ive been in California for over a week now and i am loving it. When we arrived we got the metro (equivelant to london underground) to hollywood boulivard, where we would be staying. Train ride was good... though had to change trains about 4 times... it was only $5 for a day ticket! bargain! So anyway we get out at Hollywood Boulivard and its everything ive been expecting; Huge, commercial and noisy. And i loved it. No sooner had we stepped onto the pavement were we being hounded by people ''you wanna do the tour of the movie stars homes'' and there were loads of street performers. You really got a great vibe there that this is where things happen in LA.
We crossed the road and found, to our suprise that the hostel was right in the middle of this madness in between a shop and a theatre. The other suprise was how small this place looked... it was literally a black door with ''hollywood hostels'' written above it... only the ''hostels'' bit had been blacked out. We opened the door and were hit with the combined smell of feet, sweat and damp. We ascended the immmediate staircase and found ourselves on a long corridor... this place was actually huge! Long story short, we got a 4 bed room between the 3 of us and we were quite happy with it. Although steph took a while adjusting to the uncleanliness of everything.
I got ill that night. So i dont want to write too much about it. The next morning i was feeling much better though and me and steph went and enjoyed the free breakfast (bread and butter). Afterwards we headed out to look at the local area. We went accross the road to the highland center and got smoothies and then spent ages looking around the shops! We then went to observe the fountain. I cannot describe the fountain but it was as fun as, because you were allowed to walk in it. I decided walking was for squares and ran through it. i made it alive, but as i turned round to see the impressed looks on steph and chris' faces, i slipped and did a dramatic fall in front of all the tourists there. several chinese tourists didnt even have the courtesy to hide their amusement! the cheek!
After alot of laughing at Robin, we all headed to the Pantages theatre... a couple of blocks away and got tickets to WICKED... a musical steph has been raving about for as long as i have known her. More on that later.
On the way back a man on Hollywood BLVD gave us a leaflet which acted as tickets to be an audience member on ''the late late show with Craig Fergeson''. So we went, getting there just in the nick of time (some crazy lady had sent us in the complete opposite direction when we asked where CBS studio was so we spent a while backtracking''. Guys... look up Craig Fergeson on youtube. He is Scottish, funny and Steph has the hots for him. Our Guest was Rosanne Barr, which prooved to be funny also as she talked about her Vagilift, and that she now has a 'Vajunior'. LOL
The next day, The friday, we went to universal studios. This was immensly fun, as i bet you can guess, and we met Spongebob, Dora the explorer and Shrek. We also went in a Kwik-E-Mart... an awesome simpsons themed gift shop. We also had a subwey... only $5 for a footlong... get in!
Saturday was a bit of a bummer for me because after some awesome pancakes at the ''international house of pancakes'', we headed to the bank to get me some money out and it was closed! so i only had $30 to last me until monday! i was seriously cheesed off! Anyway, it turned out ok coz we decided to do some free s***. We went and took pictures of the Capitol records building then walked along the walk of fame. We didnt complete the tour, but it goes on for miles! we decided to finish it tomorow.
So yeah we finished it the next day, and then headed back to the hostel through a farmers marked on the way back to the hostel. Steph phoned Dave and was majorly happy! We then headed for downtown LA... and yeah it was pretty cool. we went on the sunday so it was eerily quiet. The park... cant remember what it was called, but i was amazed to find it was the park that i had skated on tony hawks pro sketer in my youth. This excited me... i was looking around thinking ''ive grinded that rail'' and ''yeah i did a backflip up that ramp!''. lol.
Steph had major problems with her card in a bank machine later though, which put a damper on the day because she was left in limbo wondering whether the $300 she tried to withdraw had still managed to come out of the bank. but i think thats all sorted now... only thing is her pin is blocked.
The next day we went down to Rodeo drive with our new friend Matt, and looked at where the other half shop. We were hoping to spot a celebrity but only saw a michael douglas lookalike. shame.
So after rodeo drive we board the bus and head for the late late show again. Our new pal, Matt, picked up tickets for us all. This time on the show it was even funnier, the guests were more obscure (i didnt know who they were) but craig was way funnier. Also the warm up guy was throwing out sweets to the crowd and managed to hit steph square in the eye with one. He then apologised by giving her a free CD of we have no idea what... So yeah after all that drama we headed back to our beautiful Hostel. At the bus stop me and chris were really mature and sung the king of queens theme tune to an idle UPS van. the guy didnt look too impressed. LOL
We went to famous ''Graumens Chinese Theatre'' (the one with all the stars handprints on the pavement outside) and watched ''the bank job''. This prooved to be but a mediocre film, the highlight of the experience was salted popcorn... i am so converted. And there endeth monday.
Tuesday was an awesome day. Purely because we went to the biggest guitar shop ive ever been in. This thing really was giant. It was like the size of ASDA but with guitars! The guy behind the desk gave us a free plec, as i explained although i would love to buy a guitar i have no space in my 70 litre rucksack for one. We also saw all the rockstars handprints outside on the pavement... pleasantly suprised to see "the cure" there, but just plain suprised that they paid no hommage to Nirvana at all...
Anyways the rest of the day we spent passing time until we went to see wicked. Im pretty sure ive mentioned it before, but Wicked is a Broadway musical that steph has seen twice and that she mentions at least twice an hour all day every day. I went into that theatre with an open mind... im not the type that enjoys musicals, but it was actually suprisingly good. The story was quite clever (it was the story of the ''wicked witch of the west'' from ''The wizard of Oz"). Anyways, steph was still angry with me for rating it ''good'' and not ''absolutely fantastically amazing'' but ah well.
Right so on wednesday we have to check out of hollywood by 10am. So me and steph get up at the crack of dawn (well... 7am) and sort out our washing then head for (dont shoot me) starbucks for breakfast. Purely because it is only 85 cents for a bagel. I also was craving tea, which was nice to have. I also get great news today that my dad has managed to sell my car! Woop! so i have a bit of a bigger budget for the trip. It is wierd though to think that someone else is driving around in my car.
Yeah so we decide there are some last minute essentials to get on Hollywood before we leave. We pick up some tack (s***ty souveneers) and also get a picture with the Harry Potter handprint thing outside the Theatre. We then get on the bus to Santa Monica and Venice beach.
We arrive at our new hostel without incident. And wow this one is better than the last. It has nice decor, maybe a little bit tired, but the place smells nice and there is a kitchen and everything. Only thing is we opt for the $17 a night 30-bed dorm option, and i get a bunk bed above a very noisy Chinese man. This man liked to go to bed early, which meant whispering to each other after half 8, and he also liked to get up before 7am, and he was NEVER quiet. He's gone now though, which is a relief because i was getting annoyed by his loud midnight farting.
so yeah we spend the next few days walking, rollerblading and cysling venice beach. We actually were heading for Rodondo beach cycling yesterday but never got there because the inch on the map turned out to be well over 10 miles. I got majorly sunburned over the past few days though and have invested in some aftersun, which i use on my back about 6 tiems a day. Bring on Fiji!
So yeah we have been living almost exclusively on Subways and pasta here, and today is no exception. Me and wilko have $20 each to last us today and tomorow lol. Should be fun. today after finishing this blog at the library we intend to head down to the beach again, see the canals and go to this drum festival. all free! woop. so yeah my next entry will be in about a week and i will be in Fiji!
Tura
Robin
ps. happy birthday Kelly and Tom
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