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I thought I'd share a much belated summary of my recent trip to California. Long story short, it was amazing and I definitely want to go back. There's so much I didn't get to see!
We arrived in LA in the late afternoon and, after checking in at our hotel, went on an orientation tour. We headed up the Pacific Coast Highway to Sunset Boulevard, which we then took all the way through Bel Air and Beverly Hills and down the Sunset Strip. I highly recommend the drive - especially at the beginning, all the bends (including Dead Man's Curve) make it feel a bit like a roller coaster. And there are so many famous sights nearby! I'm almost ashamed to admit that the place we spent the most time trying to find was OJ's mansion. We drove past Rockingham and my nephew started to complain about me not 'letting' him see it - he's a bit of a true crime junkie. My response: "I did not not say you could not turn around." For some reason, trying to figure out what that sentence meant sent us all into hysterics.
The rest of our time was so busy that I get exhausted just thinking about it. Amazing how active I am when on vacation, and how sloth-like I get when I return! The above montage contains just a few of my favourite memories. Going clockwise from the top left:
- Graumann's Chinese Theatre, which was showing Harry Potter. The courtyard is always crowded because of everyone looking at the prints. So many of the older stars had such tiny hands!
- the Harry Potter costumes on display at the Warner Brothers tour reception area. I thoroughly recommend the tour BTW - so many wonderful moments in movie and TV history are on display
- the Mule from Serenity, which you can see in the Universal Studios tour. I didn't enjoy this tour nearly as much because it was part of the theme park, which means horrible line ups, plus you couldn't get up close and touch things like at WB
- Bugs Bunny with my nephew and sister
- me with my nephew and sister, looking over LA from the Getty Center
- part of the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum (a real delightful experience)
- Dinosaurs! (also from the Natural History Museum - a must see IMO). I should probably have included something from the La Brea Tar Pits, which was almost as interesting)
- the Getty Centre, where the magnificent view and architecture manage to surpass a very choice art collection
- me boogie-boarding in the Malibu surf. So much fun!
- Santa Monica Pier at sunset
- a mural at Venice Beach - an amusing update of the Birth of Venus
- and in the middle, Santa Monica Beach. All the beaches were ridiculously beautiful, not to mention the temperature there was some 20 degrees less than downtown. During the July heat wave, Los Angeles was actually one of the coolest places to be in the continental US!
Celebrity viewings? Only two, but the first was very exciting - Hugh Jackman was on our plane from Toronto to LA! He's smaller than I thought and was ever so lean, but wickedly handsome. I like that he's not as bulked up now as he had to be for Wolverine. Hugh obviously didn't want to be bothered and, like the good Canadian I am, I just smiled and nodded and moved on by. He gave me a quick nod back. On arrival at LAX, we ran into a paparazzo who explained that Hugh was travelling with his family, who he tries to keep out of the public eye.
Our other celebrity sighting was John Stamos, who was taping a talk show in Hollywood. We waved at him and my family got some excellent pictures - alas, my camera was dead that day. He's never been one of my favorite actors but I must say he looks absolutely gorgeous in person. It's just as well I never saw Tom, because I probably would have had a stroke from the excitement.
For a link to all my favourite photos from LA, check out my Facebook album. Note that you don't need to have an account to see the pics, although I don't think you see all the comments if you're not. LMK if you want to friend me.
We arrived in LA in the late afternoon and, after checking in at our hotel, went on an orientation tour. We headed up the Pacific Coast Highway to Sunset Boulevard, which we then took all the way through Bel Air and Beverly Hills and down the Sunset Strip. I highly recommend the drive - especially at the beginning, all the bends (including Dead Man's Curve) make it feel a bit like a roller coaster. And there are so many famous sights nearby! I'm almost ashamed to admit that the place we spent the most time trying to find was OJ's mansion. We drove past Rockingham and my nephew started to complain about me not 'letting' him see it - he's a bit of a true crime junkie. My response: "I did not not say you could not turn around." For some reason, trying to figure out what that sentence meant sent us all into hysterics.
The rest of our time was so busy that I get exhausted just thinking about it. Amazing how active I am when on vacation, and how sloth-like I get when I return! The above montage contains just a few of my favourite memories. Going clockwise from the top left:
- Graumann's Chinese Theatre, which was showing Harry Potter. The courtyard is always crowded because of everyone looking at the prints. So many of the older stars had such tiny hands!
- the Harry Potter costumes on display at the Warner Brothers tour reception area. I thoroughly recommend the tour BTW - so many wonderful moments in movie and TV history are on display
- the Mule from Serenity, which you can see in the Universal Studios tour. I didn't enjoy this tour nearly as much because it was part of the theme park, which means horrible line ups, plus you couldn't get up close and touch things like at WB
- Bugs Bunny with my nephew and sister
- me with my nephew and sister, looking over LA from the Getty Center
- part of the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum (a real delightful experience)
- Dinosaurs! (also from the Natural History Museum - a must see IMO). I should probably have included something from the La Brea Tar Pits, which was almost as interesting)
- the Getty Centre, where the magnificent view and architecture manage to surpass a very choice art collection
- me boogie-boarding in the Malibu surf. So much fun!
- Santa Monica Pier at sunset
- a mural at Venice Beach - an amusing update of the Birth of Venus
- and in the middle, Santa Monica Beach. All the beaches were ridiculously beautiful, not to mention the temperature there was some 20 degrees less than downtown. During the July heat wave, Los Angeles was actually one of the coolest places to be in the continental US!
Celebrity viewings? Only two, but the first was very exciting - Hugh Jackman was on our plane from Toronto to LA! He's smaller than I thought and was ever so lean, but wickedly handsome. I like that he's not as bulked up now as he had to be for Wolverine. Hugh obviously didn't want to be bothered and, like the good Canadian I am, I just smiled and nodded and moved on by. He gave me a quick nod back. On arrival at LAX, we ran into a paparazzo who explained that Hugh was travelling with his family, who he tries to keep out of the public eye.
Our other celebrity sighting was John Stamos, who was taping a talk show in Hollywood. We waved at him and my family got some excellent pictures - alas, my camera was dead that day. He's never been one of my favorite actors but I must say he looks absolutely gorgeous in person. It's just as well I never saw Tom, because I probably would have had a stroke from the excitement.
For a link to all my favourite photos from LA, check out my Facebook album. Note that you don't need to have an account to see the pics, although I don't think you see all the comments if you're not. LMK if you want to friend me.
