Sunday – Los Angeles: The Grand Tour!

We were picked up by our tour guide Pablo and started out on the ‘Grand Tour’ of Los Angeles.

First stop was around the corner from the hostel, at the end of Route 66, which snakes its way across the country from Chicago, ending on the west coast overlooking the Santa Monica pier.

Our first celebrity ‘pad’ was just outside of Santa Monica, heading north on route 1, overlooking the beautiful beach and ocean.  Britney Spears and Anthony Hopkins both own a whole floor in the below apartment building. The entertaining feature is the floor below Britney’s, where they put out Britney look-a-like mannequins on their balcony to confuse the obsessive celebrity spotters.

We drove up to Pacific Palisades, an area thick with Hollywood's hottest celebrities, most of which were on private roads with high fences and tight security.  A few we did manage to get a snap of were; Arnold Schwarzenegger’s house (one of four that he owns on the same street).

Bill Cosby’s place, with a dedication above the doorway to his son who died.

The house where ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ was filmed.

We then drove through Brentwood and Westwood to Bel Air, and on the way we saw Charlie Chaplain’s former house, which is now a girls school.

We saw the iconic Bel Air gates,

and driving around the estates we saw Elvis’s former house(left), and the house where Michael Jackson died(right).

 

We then entered Beverly Hills, and saw the recognisable sign, which has been used over the years in many movies and shows.

We stopped for half an hour at Rodeo Drive to explore the exclusive boutiques which are home to many designer brands.

Back on the bus we drove along Sunset Strip to see the grungier side of Los Angeles, home to some of the most famous clubs and comedy stores in town.  ‘Mel’s Drive In’ was where the ‘Grease’ movie was filmed, ‘The Viper Room’ owned by Johnny Depp and the tragic scene of River Phoenix's death, and ‘The Laugh Factory’ where many a Hollywood comedian has tested their new material.

 

Passing the entrance to Paramount Pictures we headed in to Downtown Los Angeles.  The most striking of buildings we passed was the Walk Disney Concert Hall, which is home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

We stopped at Olvera Street, Los Angeles’s oldest street, and had a burrito from a traditional Mexican restaurant.

Along the narrow crowded street was Avila Adobe, the oldest existing house in Los Angeles, built in 1818 by Don Francisco Avila.  The rest of the street was lined with colourful stalls, restaurants, bands and people.

Next stop was Hollywood Boulevard, where we did the Walk of Fame…seeing many famous names under our feet.

Here is one for Mum Smith (below left), and one for Nicola (below right)!

We stopped at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre , built in 1927 and inspired by Chinese Imperial architecture.  We took our time looking at all of the famous footprints and handprints, young and old.

Last but not least was the Kodak Theatre, where the red carpet is unfurled every year to host the Oscars.

As we got back on the bus there was only one thing left to see, the famous Hollywood sign.  We headed out to Mulholland Drive, as we looked across the valley to where the sign was supposed to be all we saw was thick fog and rain.

We ended the tour at Universal City, and caught our bus transfer back to the hostel.  We will return to Universal City tomorrow for our day at Universal Studios.