With no easy shuttle access to downtown, we had to find another way to travel around this morning. The metro, to cover the 11 miles to Hollywood, would take over an hour and that didn't include walking to the nearest station. Instead we found a 'mall' which was recommended for parking access, so bright and early (10am), we drove to find it and parked up. It was a typical multistory shopping center car park, but as soon as you walked out onto the street you could see why it was recommended. We literally walked out onto the famous stars in the pavement of Hollywood Boulevard. Even famous pavement gets boring after a while, so after about 10 minutes of walking along we stopped and walked north the the Hollywood bowl. A natural amphitheatre, loads of famous bands had played here over the years. Apparently it was also good for some
views of the Hollywood sign, but the place was teeming with people getting ready for tonights performance so we were unable to walk to up anywhere. It was an interesting walk none the less and we were plenty happy watching the locals going about their stressful days getting angry at all the other car drivers. In the driving rain last night, we had noticed there weren't as many Prius' as we were expecting. Perhaps it was just because their dodgy batteries dont work in the rain, as today there were hundreds of them. Different models and colours, but about 1 in 5 cars was a prius.
We eventually walked back to the shopping centre where we'd left the car, and wandered around for a while. From one of the catwalks we could finally see the Hollywood sign. It was surprisingly small considering the amount of fuss that is made about it - but we had it ticked off the bucket list. Soon, we were back in the car, and heading south to what we had guessed from google maps to be a beach area - to soak up some of the californian sun while watching people exercising by the sea and eating fruit. Long Beach should probably be renamed, as it was more urban than most cities in the rest of the world, and while we saw the water frequently there was no sign of even a shingle beach, let alone the sprawling sandy haven that has been so firmly planted in our minds by the media. Instead we drove right through, and came out the other side heading towards Seal Beach to see if there was anything in its name related to the place. Along the way, we saw a sign for a public library - another free internet opportunity! This would give us the chance to look into campsites and also to checkout the weather. For the first time, we had to register to use the antiquated computers - there was no wifi signal so I couldn't download a map of the area. This would prove to be disastrous later in the day.
As we researched, we discovered the weather was against us camping AGAIN - we really weren't having much luck with this cheaper accommodation option. Based on what we'd found, we decided on a different plan for the night. The new Bond film, Skyfall was out for the first time today and so being in Hollywood we wanted to stick it to the American film industry and watch a British film instead. We looked out where an IMAX cinema was (being LA they had loads of cinemas available to choose from) and chose a hotel nearby. We then wandered along the highstreet of Belmont to buy some lunch. Belmont doesn't have beach in its name, so of course it had one, tucked away at the bottom of a peninsula protecting the harbour. The wind had picked up, and locals were our making full use of the gusts as they kitesurfed across the Pacific waves. We keep coming back to this ocean, but out just seems so powerful - nothing like the waves of the solent, our the north sea our the Mediterranean. Nothing matches it for sheer domineering power. The sandy expanse of beach got too windy for is to continue rearing, so we packed up and say in the car at the mouth of the harbour. It was amazing how calm the water was inside when it was so choppy out. After lunch, we drove of to find the imax cinema to buy our tickets your the evenings show. E headed up onto the highway as the sun was setting, and everyone was leaving work - rush hour. As we drove up the highway, we knew we should be looking out for signs for the shopping centre, or retail park but there was nothing. Eventually we spotted the cinema as we went over it on the highway. By the time we exited, and looked for a parallel road to access it, we had no idea where our was, and over the next hour proceeded to drive blindly up and down, quartering the area. We pulled into a petrol station to ask directions but the attendant had no idea where it was. Finally, tired and frustrated with the city, we found a McDonalds to leach the internet. How we'd missed the cinema and retail park it was in I don't know, it was so close to where we'd been driving, and just round the corner from the petrol station. We bought our tickets, then drove to the motel we'd found. What looked close on the map was actually a 15 minute drive but we were set for the night. We had a few hours until the cinema, do got on with some washing. Unlike everywhere rise we'd stayed and done washing at, this time we needed to use a laundromat just next to the motel. It was everything it seemed to be from the movies. Rows of machines, really cheap to use, and normal people washing here. Sheets and towels being put in by one guy, someone elses kids running around paying hide and seek while the father hung up work shirts. This was working class America. With an hour to spare before the film started we turned up at the cinema to get in line. Lucky we did really as the line was large already. This surprised us, there was about 20 films to choose from at any 1 time, and each film had multiple showings throughout the evening. Cinema is big business here. It was a late finishing film, but well worth it. We slept, ready to face the next day of our Californian road trip adventure.
We eventually walked back to the shopping centre where we'd left the car, and wandered around for a while. From one of the catwalks we could finally see the Hollywood sign. It was surprisingly small considering the amount of fuss that is made about it - but we had it ticked off the bucket list. Soon, we were back in the car, and heading south to what we had guessed from google maps to be a beach area - to soak up some of the californian sun while watching people exercising by the sea and eating fruit. Long Beach should probably be renamed, as it was more urban than most cities in the rest of the world, and while we saw the water frequently there was no sign of even a shingle beach, let alone the sprawling sandy haven that has been so firmly planted in our minds by the media. Instead we drove right through, and came out the other side heading towards Seal Beach to see if there was anything in its name related to the place. Along the way, we saw a sign for a public library - another free internet opportunity! This would give us the chance to look into campsites and also to checkout the weather. For the first time, we had to register to use the antiquated computers - there was no wifi signal so I couldn't download a map of the area. This would prove to be disastrous later in the day.
As we researched, we discovered the weather was against us camping AGAIN - we really weren't having much luck with this cheaper accommodation option. Based on what we'd found, we decided on a different plan for the night. The new Bond film, Skyfall was out for the first time today and so being in Hollywood we wanted to stick it to the American film industry and watch a British film instead. We looked out where an IMAX cinema was (being LA they had loads of cinemas available to choose from) and chose a hotel nearby. We then wandered along the highstreet of Belmont to buy some lunch. Belmont doesn't have beach in its name, so of course it had one, tucked away at the bottom of a peninsula protecting the harbour. The wind had picked up, and locals were our making full use of the gusts as they kitesurfed across the Pacific waves. We keep coming back to this ocean, but out just seems so powerful - nothing like the waves of the solent, our the north sea our the Mediterranean. Nothing matches it for sheer domineering power. The sandy expanse of beach got too windy for is to continue rearing, so we packed up and say in the car at the mouth of the harbour. It was amazing how calm the water was inside when it was so choppy out. After lunch, we drove of to find the imax cinema to buy our tickets your the evenings show. E headed up onto the highway as the sun was setting, and everyone was leaving work - rush hour. As we drove up the highway, we knew we should be looking out for signs for the shopping centre, or retail park but there was nothing. Eventually we spotted the cinema as we went over it on the highway. By the time we exited, and looked for a parallel road to access it, we had no idea where our was, and over the next hour proceeded to drive blindly up and down, quartering the area. We pulled into a petrol station to ask directions but the attendant had no idea where it was. Finally, tired and frustrated with the city, we found a McDonalds to leach the internet. How we'd missed the cinema and retail park it was in I don't know, it was so close to where we'd been driving, and just round the corner from the petrol station. We bought our tickets, then drove to the motel we'd found. What looked close on the map was actually a 15 minute drive but we were set for the night. We had a few hours until the cinema, do got on with some washing. Unlike everywhere rise we'd stayed and done washing at, this time we needed to use a laundromat just next to the motel. It was everything it seemed to be from the movies. Rows of machines, really cheap to use, and normal people washing here. Sheets and towels being put in by one guy, someone elses kids running around paying hide and seek while the father hung up work shirts. This was working class America. With an hour to spare before the film started we turned up at the cinema to get in line. Lucky we did really as the line was large already. This surprised us, there was about 20 films to choose from at any 1 time, and each film had multiple showings throughout the evening. Cinema is big business here. It was a late finishing film, but well worth it. We slept, ready to face the next day of our Californian road trip adventure.
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