Hollywood, CA

We had no plans for today – just to take it easy, have a free day to wander around and do whatever. That can present a bit of a challenge in a city that is really large, very spread out, and somewhat lacking when it comes to public transport options. We eventually decided West Hollywood looked nice when we’d gone past it on our tours, so we jumped in a taxi and headed over to the corner of Santa Monica Boulevarde and Melrose Avenue. We walked into a supermarket and one of staff quickly identified us as being Australian – not because we were yelling “Crikey! stone the flamin’ crows, Ailsa!”, but because, like all Australians (apparently) our jaws hit the floor when we noticed the price of alcohol. A 1.75 litre bottle of Smirnoff for $14? If you buy a six pack, yes it’s only $14 a bottle. Amazing. We walked on, over the rainbow pedestrian crossings that weren’t doing anything to ‘endanger public safety’ – which is the ******** reason Duncan Gay gave for ripping up Sydney’s one… what a stupid excuse. After that we eventually (this is so not New York!) found another taxi to take us back to our end of town. I hadn’t ridden in a Prius before, so it was kinda fun watching the dashboard report when we were running on petrol, and when the engine would shut down and we ran solely on electricity. There isn’t much of a language barrier here – but there is still one conversation I’ve had many times but never quite understood. It goes like this. “Thank you.” “Of course!” Huh? My best guess is that it’s short for “of course you are welcome”… but to my Australian ears it still sounds quite odd. But hey I guess we sound a little weird to most of the ears around this city, so certainly not judging. So that’s about it for our time in LA. To be honest, not quite sure what to make of the place. For a city that seems to be full of glitz and glamour every time you see it on TV, the reality on the street is pretty different. Even the glamour spots like the Dolby Theatre and Rodeo Drive lack the expected sparkle. Ultimately I guess we’re just passing through, so maybe we never had the opportunity to know the real LA – if ‘real’ is a term you could attach to LA. It had its wonderful moments – the Yamashiro farmers market was the highlight for me, just because it showed that there is more to this town than smog and people asking for money. So it can be a nice place if you k ow where to look. Or if you’re a major movie star. Would I be back? I know I haven’t seen all LA has to offer, but for the time being… It’ll do. Another early start tomorrow morning for the flight outta here… Goodnight!