Had a lovely, fun day in L.A. today doing a one day bus tour of the highlights of the city, as Mandy had never been here before. Now she's travelled the 405, sighed at Rodeo Drive prices, and jostled her way up Hollywood Boulevard just like the rest of us.
It was actually July 4th, and a national holiday, so the freeways were almost empty, and the bus drivers were in a good mood. The tour started at Santa Monica Pier where hundreds were already erecting chairs and umbrellas on the beach to reserve their spot for the fireworks after sunset. We moved to Muscle Beach in Venice Beach where the weekly posing championships were in full swing. Luckily Mandy wasn't terribly interested in me strutting my stuff in the over 50s division, nor watching it unsurprisingly, so we wandered off down the boardwalk to check out the skateboarding, half court tennis, basketball, cycling and other activities going on. A great facility if you can judge it by the number of active people doing something.
Next stop was Rodeo Drive. I'm not going to make any cracks about being lucky that the shops were all shut for the holiday - we're the couple who saves money by sharing nachos, so it wouldn't have made any difference. However, we did shake our heads at the shop that charges US$1500 just to enter the premises, and that's after you've made an appointment.
Lunch was at the famous Farmers Market, and it was truly an amazing array of different types of food. Did succumb to a donut for lunch - you gotta love being back in the U.S.
When we rounded everybody up, we headed up the hill into Griffith Park - 6 times the size of New York's Central Park, so it's huge. The park itself overlooks the sprawl of L.A. on all sides, and is the best vantage point to get a sense of the size of the place. To think it all started with 7 farming families settling in the downtown area. The observatory at the top of the hill was shut for the holiday, but the morning cloud had burned off, and we had a spectacular view of the city, the beaches and the Hollywood sign close by.
The last stop was Hollywood Boulevard to see Grauman's Chinese Theatre where all premiers happen, the Dolby (ex Kodak) Theatre where the Academy Awards are held, and Ripley's which impressed the boys more than anything else on their first visit. We spent the rest of our time trying to find Julie Andrew's star so that Mandy could get a photo. I failed, but in doing so I racked up an impressive list of achievements. I found the star of Rex Harrison, her co-star in My Fair Lady, Dick Van Dyke, her co-star in Mary Poppins, and Blake Edwards, her husband.
In our last couple of minutes, we popped into American Apparel and replaced the clothes that were stolen out of Mandy's suitcase on her way home from the U.S. after Brendan's wedding. Better late than never I suppose.
After being taken back to the LAX Hilton Airport hotel where we are staying, we walked down the road on our traditional last night in the U.S. pilgrimage to Denny's for tea. It's been a great trip, and there's only one more 13 hour flight to get through before we arrive home to start planning the next holiday.
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