Day 121: New tour, Hollywood and Las Vegas

Monday 4th April

New tour group

Hollywood Boulevard 

In and Out burger

Desert

Las Vegas

Party bus

Casinos 

Nightclub 

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Today started with somethings of a shock. I knew this tour would be relatively small- it's early in the American tourist season and there's a maximum of 14 people for this trip. Yet it baffles me to find that there were only 4 of us travelling from LA to NYC! Two Australians and two Brits, two guys two girls, along with an American guide. It's probably as good of a mix up as one would want, with all of us being around the same age and such.

First stop was Hollywood Boulevard. Granted I did it yesterday, but I put that to use pointing out all of the best stuff in the short hour we had there whilst our guide looked after the bus (not easy to park, nor easy to keep safe here). Whilst there we got to see the setting up of the red carpet and celebrity enclosure for tonight's world premiere of Disney's new Jungle Book. I hope that's on the plane when I fly out of NYC, looks good.

Afterwards (well, after scraping through LA traffic and getting on the highway to Las Vegas) we had lunch at In and Out burger. More Animal Fries, more over sized Dr Pepper, and other great burger. Lovely.

We crept across the desert, through areas of scrub, rocks, and fat, water filled trees. We weren't far enough south for the classical Mexican cylindrical cacti with fat arms. But there's still rattle snakes and scorpions about. Nothing as dangerous as Australia has though.

Late afternoon we got to Vegas, the Adult Disney Land. We drove along the highway looking out at the strip. Medieval/fairytale castles, the Eiffel Tower, a glass pyramid, Caesar's Palace, it was all there with lights and bling. We were further along in Downtown Vegas, staying at the Golden Nugget. From here we'd be able to easily (so long as we didn't get lost on the gaming floor) get out to the Fermont Experience- the local street featuring all manner of street performers, bars, strip clubs, music, restaurants, and the world's largest screen- the entire roof is covered in LEDs which play a video every hour during the evening. 

Being four we got two twin rooms which had a door in between, which turned out to be incredibly useful. We got an hour of rest and had a short look out onto Fermont boulevard, grabbing some food before heading back to prepare for the evenings entertainment.

Our tour guide had organised a "party bus". A bit like a minibus, but with music and the seats down the sides. Oh, and a pole, for reasons. We took a few beers with us and the bus driver showed us the greatest sights of Vegas- the fountain show at the Bellagio, the little white wedding chapel, the classic diamond shaped sign of lights of "The Fabulous Las Vegas", along with views of the famous casinos. 

Finally we made it to the casino where tonight's biggest party was. Our tour guide new one of the organisers, so he got us in straight away for free. It was a big place. A BIG place. Huge dance floor, giant wall of light and video behind the DJ, showgirls as standard, Stag dos as standard. There were a few bars outside but d been told they were expensive ($10-20 for a beer) and I wasn't in a mood to explore that aspect. We stayed for a little while then decided to leave. 

Through, erm, this door? Or this door? Maybe it's down here? Me being me I managed to get split off from the group. In the end I would find out that I had found the exit much sooner than they had, but had to walk home, whilst they took another hour looking around and shared a taxi back. I was tired and hungry, but it was a worthwhile walk. Our Casino/hotel was 5 miles away, at the far end of the strip and then some. This gave me a chance to walk the strip in the quiet morning.

The casinos are as shiny, well tended, and lit up as you'd expect. They were phenomenal and I'd love to come back one day for a better exploration. It was the areas between the casinos and between the main strip and our downtown area that shocked me the most though. So much of Vegas looks destitute. Outside of the main tourist areas where the casinos ensure everything is over the top levels of wonderful there's an economic and human wasteland. People living on the street. Empty lots where shops and restaurants should be. There will be the very occasional bit of random sculpture made from welded together car parts, but nothing more. It's a desert in a desert, with only the bright lights of the casinos as a sweet oasis.

When I got back the rest had also just arrived. They'd been worried about me-we really should have swapped mobile numbers!!! The Aussies went to go find food and I went to bed to rest my heavy legs. It was a good sleep in an excellent bed.

Day 120: Hollywood Boulevard

Sunday 3rd April

Walked through Hollywood, through the rich suburbs of picture-perfect America

Walk of Fame- Walking on the stars (and "stars")

Chinese Theatre

People dressed in superhero costumes

Uber! From hostel to hotel

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A lot of the world's rich and famous have homes near Hollywood. Today most of them are in fenced off neighbourhoods with security to keep us poor plebiscites out. Yet I like imagine some of them live in the streets just off western Sunset Boulevard. These streets are as if set up by Hollywood to provide a background as perfect, pristine, "normal" America. Smaller quaint wooden houses, veranda with rocking chair, occasional little white picket fence, mown lawn, flowers out in bloom. A picturesque quiet  suburb. 

And the hustle and bustle of Hollywood Boulevard just a block away.

The Walk of Fame stretches out through the tourist areas and beyond towards the less popular eastern end. Each celebrity is marked by a 2 foot square paving slab adorned with a pink star, a brass marked of what they did (film, music, tv, etc.) and their name. Some are individuals, some bands, some are even fictitious, such as The Simpsons. There were quite a few I recognised from the last 70 years of Western culture. There were also a number of modern one day that must have never reached me because I have no idea who they are. And there were even a few I have to ask "What are you doing here???"- I guess they'll have been popular choices at the time, but might need to do more to not get replaced in the future. It's interesting to note that there's no positioning system. All celebrities from different media are mixed and how successful one is doesn't define position either. Thus there are some truelly amazing people ar the furthest reaches of the walk. Even down into the less touristy, dare I say dodgey, areas of the street. I imagine this does to some extent help spread tourists hunting for particular stars out- they have to get out of the main areas, taking them away from the most popular areas and spreading their spending out down the street.

You know you've made it if you have a paving slab in the courtyard of the Chinese Theatre though. Here, over 70 years ago, a group of what are now the classic stars of film, pressed their hand and shoe prints into wet cement, along with a message and signature. Around these classics more modern popular stars have been added. No doubt some, such as the Twilight and Hunger Games actors', who presently sit in pride of place, front and centre, will one day be replaced. Others might simply be moved as they become classics, like Harry Potter.

Today this cinema, and the one across the road, are used for the greatest world premieres of the latest Hollywood movie. On the day after this one they would be the premier for Disney's new Jungle Book. 

Outside the theatre there are numerous locals dressed in various costumes. Most are terrible and shop bought outfits- there were about 7 Spidermen (3 were having a heated argument at one point, we nearly had a Spider-Man vs Spider-Man vs Spider-Man video!), 2 Transformers' Bumblebees, 2 Minions, and a few Batmen. One of these was actually really good. The guy had made his own suit to look like the armour from the new Batman vs Superman movie. The reason for them all being there is to have pictures taken with the tourists who then tip them a few dollars. 

The Hollywood Boulevard, given that it's a serious tourist destination, is something of a let down. You get all the stuff you want to be there in the markings of celebrities from past through to present. Yet the streets are dirty- ground in oily dirt alongside chewing gum and cigarette stubs. There are a few good gift stores and places to get a snack but most are dilapidated with not a few places having closed completely. It's sad really. Everywhere else I've ever been the city would be doing something to make this a place tourists wanted to be. Draw them in and draw them back. Make it a place you want to stay for longer than a few pictures with George Cloonies hand prints and Spider-Man. It would seem a worth while investment for the city. More tourists, more money, more jobs. But this is America so to some extent that's the job for individuals and businesses to organise, not the representatives of the public at large. Still it's a place every tourist is going to go to no matter what, I guess.

Back at the hostel I'd left my bags in the storage room. I'd be spending tonight at a hotel where my new tour group would be meeting in the morning. Having my backpack and travel bag, plus the sleeping bag and roll mat for the camping we'd be doing I wasn't keep to try out the public buses. LA has an extensive network of the world's newest version of taxis though, Uber. With an app on ones phone a ride can be organised in someone's car, possibly sharing with people going in the same direction, for around 1/3 of the cost of a taxi. Yep, taxi companies hate it. But the Americans, such as those I'd spent yesterday with, love it. When in Rome and all that. (Even though we now have it in the UK).

Thus I found myself in a small SUV with a skateboarder and an Indian driver. All payments are done via the app, without even the need to tip, which is a big deal in the USA. (Tipping is like the service charge one might pay in a European restaurant but it's pseudovoluntary- which can make people's real wage unpredictable. Some say it means you get better service, but only if you can or want to afford bribing people to love you. I'm not being thoroughly fair to the whole system, but it doesn't seem consistently fair to me. )

I was booked into a shared twin room, but no one else was. So I got a whole room to myself! 

Day 119: Day out with Americans

Saturday 2nd April

Sarah from San Diego/ Australia

Hiking to the Hollywood sign

Batman's Cave

In and Out burgers

Mumford's brewery

Santa Monica Pier

Angel City brewery

The Pie Hole

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Today was a phenomenal day!

I travelled with Sarah up the East coast of Australia. We both share a love of beer tasting which there was ample opportunity for in Australia, and today in LA. Sarah drove up from San Diego bringing friends with here- it was a good chance to talk to Americans in America.

There's a 3.5 mile hike from the parking lot up a very steady slope to the back of the Hollywood sign. It was quite hot by the time we were doing it, at around 10am, so it's probably for the best that it's not steep. The track weaves through the scrub covered, shade-less, Hollywood hills. There are great views of the city below- neither the fog nor the smog were too bad today. However we couldn't see as far as the ocean , which is sometimes possible. During the climb we met a few groups horses. Somehow there are stables in the valleys. They must have to ship in all of the food and looks to be around 30 horses to care for. Tourists pay for it all, taking short rides out to the sign and back. Doesn't look too exciting, I'll be honest, compared to riding in the outback of Aus or the lowlands of Middle-Earth/NZ.

At the summit we had a great view of the surrounding city and suburbs. The letters of the sign have a 7 foot fence around them, as well as cameras. This means photo opportunities are somewhat limited. Yet at the top someone was making a low budget music video. I'd been wondering why this guy was carrying the large case up the hill. Turned out to be a violin and his friend have a camera and tripod to film him playing at the cliff edge over looking Hollywood. He was really good as well!

Being Hollywood this place has been used for a lot of films. Not far from the parking lot was a very popular spot for cowboy films. Here the flat road curves around between two hills making it perfect of chase or general road scenes with horses and carriages. In the 60's some bright spark decided to blow a short tunnel through the hillside. This was used as the exit to the batcave for that era's Batman to series. Whenever he drove the batmobile out of the batcave it was filmed here. It was so good to get into the cave- it was cool and refreshing after the heat of the day. 

Today the location was still being used for something. The set up of tents and cameras looked very impressive, as did the crew. Maybe they were part of it or seperate- because Indiana Jones was looking rough. Up one hillside stumbled Indiana, along with a fat man in a white suit, fez, and dodger woollen beard, followed by a small Indian guy. It's hard to know these days if it was a low budget college project or a high budget project made to look low budget. 

In and Out is the USA's 16th largest food chain. Owned by one family they have successfully out competed McDonalds on much of the west coast. It's rumoured that the only reason they don't move east is that McDonalds pays them to not do so. Officially the reason is that they need the fresh produce that makes their food so good and all of their suppliers are in the west. 

It's a simple menu- burger, optional cheese, optional double cheese and burger. There's also fries and really good, thick, milkshakes. Simple. Oh, and the "secret" menu, which includes such greats as 'animal style'- a covering of grilled onions, special sauce, and cheese, that can be ordered with the burgers or fries. What's more it's as cheap as McDonalds, and I'd guess it's healthier (not by much, but vs McD it's not hard)

Sarah also got me a wee paper hat. The type that the employees wear. Thanks Sarah.

It's quite shocking to drive around parts of LA. The next area we went to was near the wholesale district. On the way though I took note of the large number of homeless people living on the street, especially those who'd gone so far as to invest in cheap tents and set them up on the sidewalk. Later I would watch a news report about LA changing certain laws which limit the amount of stuff the homeless can own, that they must be able to move what they own, and that they can only sleep on the street from (fuzzy memory time-about) 11pm to 6am. The news report showed the law being enforced on the same people as we'd passed. Dear America, outlawing being homelessness doesn't cure homelessness! We tried it in Europe in the Victorian era, over 150 years ago and it didn't work. We used welfare programs, projects, and charity, mostly provided by our richest families, to help such people get into a state where they can find work and housing.

 2000AD's Megacity 1 doesn't feel like such a fantasy all of a sudden.

The reason we were here was for Mumford's Brewery- one of the many new independent craft breweries in America. We grabbed a wee quarter pint of nearly everything to try. I'm not consistently the greatest fan of craft beers- they can be trying so hard to do something "original" or "different" they forget to make something worth drinking. This is, for me, particularly true when they base all of their flavour on the hops instead of the cereals, water quality and yeast. We managed to find some decent ones though and had a pint of our favourites. I went with the Koala Food which had a fruity hint of cinnamon to it.

Nearly sunset and this being the west coast we drove down to see it. Like everyone else.

Santa Monica pier is the end of Route 66 and is filled with bright flashy attractions along with food, music, and someone in a sun burnt Minnie Mouse costume. There's also a large Bubba Shrimp restaurant. Based off the Bubba Shrimp company founded by Forrest Gump in the film it sells sea food and merchandise from the film. There's a bench outside with a statue of the sneakers he was wearing, his little suitcase and box of chocolates as he told his story. This pier also happens to the place he came to when he was running coast to coast across America, hitting this spot as his most westerly point. 

As the sun went down I dipped my feet in the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean. No one was swimming in the cold. The waves were fierce too- I watched a whole family get swamped when they thought they could be brave.

That done it was time to try out a couple more breweries. Angel city was our second one and we spent a few hours here. Outside they had an area with food trucks. These are very popular here. One of them was a Pittsburgh based truck selling their traditional food including tots- a bit like hash browns in a cocktail sausage shape. So dinner was tots with pulled pork. And cheese. Everything comes with cheese here.

The beers were cool except one we tried which was very, VERY, hot. It was more a cocktail than a beer, featuring a chilli and tomato juice in the recipe. It was nice but I don't think I would have enjoyed a whole one. Especially not in the morning.

The place had been a warehouse of some kind so had a large open space. The breweries here have more than just the usual pool table and darts. There were a number of games such as one where teams of competitors threw bean bags a long distance into a small hole, and the classics of table tennis and foose ball.

On the way back Sarah stopped off to try out The Pie Hole. Savoury pies in NZ and Aus are standard snack food. Here they've made them a posh speciality, high quality and low in fat. It's ruined them! Now it's just a floury mess. But people are prepared to pay for something different.

Great day to catch up with Sarah and spend some time with Americans seeing the highlights of LA.

Day 117 & 118: Getting my head around LA

Thursday 31st & Friday 1st April

Farmers Market

Other random LA stores

Night out with the Aussies

Seth Rogan's film set

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I like walking round places just to get a feel of it all. Not going to anything specific, just seeing the people and place- who's about, what they're doing, what's available, what's popular. Having had quite a lot of American friends at university along with all of the movies/documentaries/propaganda I felt like I had some idea of what to expect so complete shocks were limited.

Farmer's Market is a location which was once a stalls and fresh produce place. Now most of the stalls are permanent, and much of the service is for hot food, along with a bar, a few fruit stalls, and a couple of souvenir stores. It's a nice place, quite busy, with old Mediterranean architecture and shade from the heat, although, like most of LA much dirtier than Australian and Kiwi cities. 

Outside of the main market are a number of larger stores, supermarkets, and dinners. There is also something of a modern extension which looks like a Hollywood take on a French or Italian city, with fountains; white, modern stores; and small street kiosks.

I had to also go to T-mobile and Target, which was in the other direction. After a free American style coffee in the hostel I went north. 

The stores could be quite weird here- there were a few places that tried to look very up market, clean layout, and just one rack of clothes. One of these places had a queue of over 50 people outside it. No idea what made it special. There were also tattooing places, psychics, pet food specialists, a "humane" pet store where all of the puppies in the window were apparently rescues.

Between T-mobile and Target I was met with the scene of a cop and a security guard going through a bag on the cop car's hood. Someone's been shop lifting! And is evidently terrible at it. The number of security guards is quite noticeable here. There's one in or near just about every store. Not to mention the number of houses that have an "Armed Response" warning on their security signs. The reason is because of the number of guns in the country- they need a good gunman in case a bad gunman turns up. Ah, America!

That evening the hostel did a $5 barbecue with $2 beers. I sat with the Aussies I'd met the night before, who spawned a few extra Aussies they'd met. Was really nice to have a group to chat with about this new country in a manner I understood. We made a few comments along the lines of:

There's a drought on in California yet the toilets fill with twice as much water than anywhere else I've ever seen.

The streets are so dirty.

Can't find a public toilet anywhere (they're everywhere in Aus and NZ)

There's no switch on the electricity sockets- they're always on, which seems dangerous.

The light switches go the other way.

Packaging and advertising is weird, as is the amount of "organic" food in this area.

But the internet is very good. :)

We chatted with our waiter/barman/chef who suggested a "dive" bar down the road, which is where Guns and Roses formed. One of the Aussies came to check it out and have a beer there. The bar is joined onto a large dinner via a doorway. In the far end of the dinner they were in the process of filming a new Seth Rogan film, Futureman. So we decided to wander down and have a look. For two minutes we stood quietly on set, until the Aussie started talking. As filming was once more about to commence a very angry director noticed us and threw us of the set. I've been thrown off a film set!!! Life goal completed.

Outside we found that they were setting up to film the blowing up of a cop car. We found a small bar to wait in until they where finishing. But as they began the Aussie got bored of another 10 minutes of them messing around. He walked off and so we found ourselves in a 24 hour dinner at 2am being served by a rotund Napoleon Dynamite. As we made our way back to the hostel we found the cop car broken and on its roof in the street, apparently blown up already.