Seeing Stars in Hollywood

It took about 14 hours to cross the Pacific Ocean, traveling from Christchurch to Auckland and then on to Los Angeles. We checked in our luggage at Christchurch airport at 5.00pm and because of time zones manage to arrive in Los Angeles on the same day...but two hours before we'd set off! 

Its fair to say the flight wasn't comfortable. The turbulence was almost constant and the captain told passengers he'd flown the route for many years and that was the worst he'd experienced! Having arrived in Los Angeles I was dreading long queues through US immigration but to my surprise we were whisked through in minutes and the immigration officer was quite chatty and friendly.

As a result of the long flight and very little sleep we hoped to get our pre-booked shuttle quickly to take us to our apartment. Los Angeles is a vast city and our apartment was in Hollywood which is about 13 miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). After a wait of around 25 minutes the shuttle bus arrived. We realised quite soon into our journey that our 'Super Shuttle' driver was probably mad. LAX is a big airport and quite reasonably he stopped at different terminals but only picked up one other passenger. After the last terminal we thought great, we'll be on our way now..but he took all three of us back to where we'd started. Eventually he set off...and did another tour of the terminals...and guess what. We returned to the start again. This was getting both puzzling and annoying. He also didn't acknowledge any questions. He eventually did set off but didn't use his seatbelt which meant the warning light was on on the dashboard and the pinging sound was constant. He also talked to himself constantly but once more refused to answer any questions from us. He also tried to drop us off about 100 meters from our apartment. Despite tipping being customary in the US needless to say he didn't get one from us!

To compensate our apartment was lovely. An old Hollywood building, about 5 minutes walk from one end of Hollywood Boulevard and with shops and restaurants nearby it was very comfortable and decorated to a good standard. After a brief shopping expedition to a wonderful and surprisingly ethical supermarket called Trader Joe's we crashed out and slept for about 12 hours.

Inside our apartment

Our Hollywood Apartment from the outside

Inside Trader Joe's supermarket

Feeling refreshed the next morning we set off to discover Hollywood. We we only minutes walk away from a famous junction, the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine as this marks one end of the famous 'walk of fame' where famous stars of film or music have had their names set into the pavement. As a result of this we spent some time gazing downwards and deduced that the arrangement of names set in the pavement was completely random. Modern movies actors were next to silent movie era stars and some people we'd never even heard of. How quickly fame fades!

One of the stars of the walk of fame who you might have heard of...

Lifting our gaze upwards we could see the Capitol Records building, appropriately shaped like a stack of old vinyl records. Younger readers may need to consult Wikipedia at this point...

The Capitol Records Building

Hollywood Boulevard is a long road. In fact this is true of most roads in Los Angeles.We started to walk along, following the stars as it were...and noted how shabby and slightly seedy this end of Hollywood was. Tattooists, 'smoke shops' and very cheap souvenir shops together with fast food places, bars and clubs were not exactly conveying an aura of Hollywood glamour.As we got further along the street became a bit smarter. We passed Sid Grauman's Egyptian Theatre built in 1922 and location of the first Hollywood film premiere.

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre

Beyond this were a number of  tourist attractions, famous hotels and the Dolby Theatre, part of the Hollywood and Highland complex, where the Oscars are held each year. A little further on was Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a Hollywood landmark. 

Hollywood Boulevard

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

The Dolby Theatre

 

We were constantly invited by ticket sellers to book a tour to see the movie stars homes but perfected the art of ignoring their persistent sales approaches as we had no particular interest in seeing movie star homes. Instead we booked tickets for a 17.5 mile loop hop on, hop off open top bus as this would make it possible to see other parts of Los Angeles without using public transport. The car culture is dominant in LA resulting in gridlock much of the time and the public transport is cheap but not particularly well integrated. We hopped on the bus and it took us slowly along Sunset Boulevard, passing famous clubs, 'The Viper Room' and 'Whisky A Go Go' where many well known rock bands have played. We passed through Beverley Hills and hopped off the bus at The Farmers Market. This market was established in the 1920's to enable Californian farmers to bring their produce direct to consumers and it still sells fresh fruit and food. 

Outside the Farmers Market..

...and inside the Farmers Market

We liked the ambiance and sampled some of the food - firstly a coffee and doughnut from Bob's Coffee & Doughnuts'..stereotypically American..and really tasty if not exactly a 'five a day' eating choice...followed by a hamburger...the latter did include lettuce and tomatoes...but I can't claim it was a healthy lunch menu!

The tempting goodies in Bob's Coffee & Doughnuts

After walking around the adjacent modern shopping area and cinema complex called the Grove and a bit of confusion about where to hop back on the bus (they had temporarily relocated the bus stop) we eventually caught a bus and continued our tour passing CBS Studios, along Melrose Avenue and took in the street scenes with the multitude of advertising signs, brightly coloured shops and traffic chaos.

Not Los Pollos Hermanos!

 We hopped off and on to make a brief visit to the 'Rock Walk' where many famous rock musicians have had their hand prints set in concrete before we alighted once more in Beverley Hills and walked down the most expensive shopping street, Rodeo Drive. It was full of designer labels and was clean but appeared very corporate so I'm afraid didn't do much for me. I did however like the art deco architecture of Beverley Hills City Hall which we walked through when returning to the bus stop and Mrs B. was quite taken with a sculpture in the courtyard.

Mrs B. eyeing up a piece of art in Beverley Hills and wondering if it will fit in her luggage

We ended our first day in a restaurant called Tender Greens, an ethical company that had an organic salad based menu (and very tasty food)....we needed to counteract the lunchtime fast food excesses! A short walk in the dark gave us a taste of the lights of Hollywood but having walked a good few miles we were content to have an early night.

The junction of Hollywood and Vine at night

Some internet research had revealed we could use a local bus to get a bit closer to Griffith Park, so this is what we did the next morning. For 50 cents each we were taken through a predominantly Spanish speaking area and got off the bus a block or two away from Griffith Park itself. Griffith J. Griffith (his parents presumably weren't very imaginative when it came to choosing a first name) was a Welshman who emigrated to the US in 1865. He was a very successful businessman and donated land to create a park for the citizens of Los Angeles. Rising into the Hollywood Hills, the 3000 acre park has both green landscaped area and, as it gets higher, semi desert. Griffith J. Griffith was also passionate about astronomy and wanted to make it accessible to the public. He is quoted as having said "If all mankind could look through that telescope, it would change the world!" To achieve his vision he financed the construction of the Griffith Observatory but sadly didn't live to see it completed.

Our walk involved a stiff climb through the park and after just over a mile and a half we arrived at the Observatory.

 

 

LA from the Griffith Observatory

After recovering from the climb we explored the grounds and the observatory itself. There was a bust of James Dean ('Rebel Without A Cause' was filmed on location) and terrific views of the iconic Hollywood sign and the rest of Los Angeles. Inside the observatory was a revelation. The beautifully restored art deco building contained a wealth of interesting exhibits, films and images - all free to view. We'd only intended a short visit but ended up staying for hours, watching a film about the building's history in the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theatre (presented by Spock himself) and paid $7.00 each for a simply amazing planetarium show called 'Centred in the Universe'. There were displays on our solar system and the universe, a Foucault Pendulum and the largest astronomically accurate image ever made called the Big Picture. 

Inside the observatory

Great minds...

The ceiling of the entrance, Griffith Observatory

It was a wrench to leave the observatory but eventually we did and walked back downhill and after 2 miles caught a one stop Metro ride to the Hollywood and Vine station. This subway station was pure Hollywood. The ceiling was decorated in old film canisters and a movie theme ran throughout right to the exit on Hollywood Boulevard opposite the historic Plantages Theatre - another art deco building.

Walking along once more to the Chinese Theatre we had a closer look at the movie stars hand and footprints set in concrete on the pavement. The area was filled with tourists and largely unconvincing lookalikes who would for a tip, pose for photos. I wasn't prepared to part with any money but managed a sneaky photo of Batman...who by my reckoning should be in Gotham City! Mrs B was happy enough to place herself on top of George Clooney as it were....

Mrs B. getting close to George

After a bit more exploring we escaped the madness and prepared to move on. We'd got a couple more days left in LA before our flight home and it was time to go to the beach.