What is there to say about Hollywood? It is a crazy place. Hollywood Boulevard outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre is constantly full of people: hawkers selling tours of famous people's homes, actors dressed up as Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk, tourists from all points of the globe and homeless people begging for change. The footpaths are chockers and it is exhausting trying to navigate the crowds. Having said that, it is quite a thrill to be in the place where so much movie history has been made. Our first stop was the Kodak Theatre, the home of the Oscars. We took a guided tour of the theatre which included the auditorium where the awards are held - quite an awesome sight. Cirque du Soleil is currently building its sets there for its new production and we were able to get a sneak peek of the sets - very cool.
After our tour of Kodak Theatre we took a 2 hour bus tour of the Homes of the Stars - well, they were allegedly the homes of the stars, but who knows? The tour operators are not very popular with residents along the routes and a few threw abuse our way and told us we were being sold a pack of lies. So who knows where the truth lies? Probably somewhere between the two. Certainly, it is public knowledge where the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Tom Cruise live and where Michael Jackson died so I'm inclined to think it's mostly accurate. In any case, we couldn't really see many houses; the tour should be renamed Hedges and Fences of the Rich and Famous. The highlight for me was probably driving up Mulholland Drive to a lookout where we got some great pictures of the Hollywood sign.
Anyways, the tour was enjoyable apart from the heat. OH...MY....GOD....it was hot. It was over 30 degrees and we were sitting in an open top bus from 1-3 in the afternoon. By the time we stumbled off the bus we were well and truly wilted. We stopped off at Quiznos for a sub and a drink and then headed to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. This place was amazing, the statues really are lifelike, although Jennifer Aniston obviously modelled for hers before her nose job. We had our picture taken with Barack Obama, Chris had his picture taken with Will Smith and The Rock and I had my picture taken in between Robert Redford and Paul Newman from the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid era....yum!
After that we had both had enough of the craziness of LA so we returned to the peace and quiet (and coolness) of our hotel room. For me, it will be a relief to leave LA - it is not my kind of city. It is too hectic, too sprawling, too inaccessible, too everything. I don't know how people live like this. Give me a city like San Francisco any day - it is only 7 miles square and easily navigable, on foot or by public transport, with loads of bookshops, cafes, art galleries, museums, etc. It just feels more laidback - more like Sydney or Melbourne. But I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience even just a little part of it.
Tomorrow: Las Vegas!
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