We left for Hollywood mid-morning, thinking we’d avoid the traffic. How wrong we were! It seems whatever time of day or night you drive in the environs of LA, you will hit hideous traffic, and we did. After a hot and sweaty drive that should have taken less than 30 minutes but took over an hour, we arrived in downtown Hollywood. We parked in the new mall that is an attempt to spruce up the area but isn’t doing a particularly good job, and, along with thousands of others, hit the Walk of Fame. The whole experience was a bit of a disappointment in much the same way Vegas was; busy, dirty, slightly sordid and hideously expensive. The poor children spent most of the time walking up and down the ‘sidewalk’ saying, “Who’s this? Who’s that?”
In the end we had no choice but to sign up to the ubiquitous tour of the stars’ homes. For the first time since we left Virginia, the boys were starting to bicker – tired and fractious. We hadn’t budgeted for this – planning on saving our money for Universal Studios – but were beginning to lose the will to live and decided a couple of hours sitting on an open top bus was probably worth it. We opted for the cut price tour. Big mistake! We ended up squashed into the back of a cut-off van with a driver-cum-tour-guide who none of us could understand.
By the time he mentioned whose house was whose, we’d driven past. Nevertheless we did have a drive round Beverly Hills and Bel Air which were surprisingly classy in the style of houses. It reminded us all of Monte Estoril, the very leafy suburb of Lisbon where the avenues are lined jacaranda trees and the wealthy hide behind wrought iron gates and six foot hedges. Merryn got a photo of the house the driver claimed Justin Beiber owned, so she was happy.
And we all had a very pleasant stroll down Rodeo Drive, spotting who was a tourist and who was actually shopping. Not bad for a hundred bucks!
Our last port of call was the Hollywood sign which is deep in private property and heavily guarded. The visitor’s information office had given us directions for the best viewing point, several miles away from downtown. We drove through the hair pinned back streets (also very Portuguese in feel) and finally arrived in a parking spot above Lake Hollywood; the perfect spot to snap away.
Today’s Tune:
Wildlife Watch:
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