Los Angeles
2:59 PM
Hi all
Well, I'm off again but this time on holiday with my brother, Mike. We left Perth in the early hours of Dec 20th and flew via Sydney (and a 5 hour layover) to Los Angeles, arriving 6am on Dec 20th (thanks to gaining a day). We first hit up our hotel which was behind the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Nothing flash but very well located. Given nothing in Hollywood opens til 10am, we spend the first part of our morning walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard looking at all the stars and getting familiar with our surroundings.
We entered The Guinness Book of Records store for a tour around there once it opened and then to the Hollywood Wax Museum. Amazing how they can get wax people to look so much like the real things. Next we headed for Santa Monica to visit a ski shop to buy some gear we needed and while we were down there, we checked out the beach and pier. Wasn't a very nice day though weather wise with dark skies and rain. We hung around walking the streets and malls checking out the shops and restaurants, grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. Both of us were pretty worn out and rather jetlagged.
Day 2 saw us head to Universal Studios. We had pre-purchased front of line tickets which were worth their weight in gold. So cool. Literally walked straight in on every ride and every show. Had a great day for it and did all the usual rides + studio tour. Very interesting and parts of it certainly came back from my memory of visiting in 1993. Everything is done there so well with no detail spared.
Day 3 had us renting a car (nothing exciting) and driving (exciting? maybe stressful) to Six Flag Magic Mountain, which is a roller coaster theme park out of LA. This place ROCKS. Biggest, scariest, first, highest, fastest are some of the words that feature in the roller coaster descriptions while names such as colossus, goliath, scream, viper and tatsu are the names of these beasts. By far and away my favourite was Tatsu. This roller coaster loaded you into a chair that hung by the rail above so you were seated. However, once everyone was strapped into the seats, your feet get raised behind you so you are almost in a "flying" position (ie, think of laying on your stomach but with your lower half in a seated position and then dangling looking at the ground). Awesome ride, pulled some serious G forces and had the biggest queues, although we did get through all rides at least twice or more and every ride sitting at the front.
Our final day in LA isn't much to write about. It basically involved me returning the car from the previous day, then Mike and I heading to LAX to check in to fly to Vancouver. Of course, we were selected for a "random" additional security check but otherwise, made it all without fuss. After a rather hairy ride in a bus to Whistler, we made it to our next location.
Sorry folks but as yet, no pics. Stay tuned for my "Christmas Special", live from Whistler.
Merry Christmas!
Dave
Well, I'm off again but this time on holiday with my brother, Mike. We left Perth in the early hours of Dec 20th and flew via Sydney (and a 5 hour layover) to Los Angeles, arriving 6am on Dec 20th (thanks to gaining a day). We first hit up our hotel which was behind the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Nothing flash but very well located. Given nothing in Hollywood opens til 10am, we spend the first part of our morning walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard looking at all the stars and getting familiar with our surroundings.
We entered The Guinness Book of Records store for a tour around there once it opened and then to the Hollywood Wax Museum. Amazing how they can get wax people to look so much like the real things. Next we headed for Santa Monica to visit a ski shop to buy some gear we needed and while we were down there, we checked out the beach and pier. Wasn't a very nice day though weather wise with dark skies and rain. We hung around walking the streets and malls checking out the shops and restaurants, grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. Both of us were pretty worn out and rather jetlagged.
Day 2 saw us head to Universal Studios. We had pre-purchased front of line tickets which were worth their weight in gold. So cool. Literally walked straight in on every ride and every show. Had a great day for it and did all the usual rides + studio tour. Very interesting and parts of it certainly came back from my memory of visiting in 1993. Everything is done there so well with no detail spared.
Day 3 had us renting a car (nothing exciting) and driving (exciting? maybe stressful) to Six Flag Magic Mountain, which is a roller coaster theme park out of LA. This place ROCKS. Biggest, scariest, first, highest, fastest are some of the words that feature in the roller coaster descriptions while names such as colossus, goliath, scream, viper and tatsu are the names of these beasts. By far and away my favourite was Tatsu. This roller coaster loaded you into a chair that hung by the rail above so you were seated. However, once everyone was strapped into the seats, your feet get raised behind you so you are almost in a "flying" position (ie, think of laying on your stomach but with your lower half in a seated position and then dangling looking at the ground). Awesome ride, pulled some serious G forces and had the biggest queues, although we did get through all rides at least twice or more and every ride sitting at the front.
Our final day in LA isn't much to write about. It basically involved me returning the car from the previous day, then Mike and I heading to LAX to check in to fly to Vancouver. Of course, we were selected for a "random" additional security check but otherwise, made it all without fuss. After a rather hairy ride in a bus to Whistler, we made it to our next location.
Sorry folks but as yet, no pics. Stay tuned for my "Christmas Special", live from Whistler.
Merry Christmas!
Dave
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