Los Angeles

Flying over LA and it didn't ever seem to end. I never realised just how huge the city was. When we arrived at LAX we hopped into a cab and headed over to Venice Beach which took about a 15 minutes.

We stayed in Venice Beach Hostel - it was horrific. The staff were very rude and didn't want to help us with anything, the rooms were horrible and the noise was too much. It is right next to bars that are open late which is great if you were on a party holiday, but we were there to explore and were knackered at night and just wanted to sleep. Unfortunately it was waaaay too hot to shut the windows and the noise went on until the early hours. At the time it was the first hostel I had ever stayed in, so I assumed they were all grotty like this one - they are not. I've stayed in a few since then and none of them were this bad.

On our first day we did some exploring. My number one goal while in LA was to see the Hollywood sign - of course! Baring in mind Hollywood is no where near Venice Beach, we headed to the nearest bus stop to get some advice. Luckily the bus drivers were super helpful and gave us the advice the hostel staff failed with. We took 2 buses - the first was to Santa Monica (this was walkable but took about 20-30 mins and we were saving time) the next bus took us fairly near to Hollywood. We did have a short walk, but it was nice to have a look round.

When we got to Hollywood, the first thing I spotted was the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We didn't have time to walk the whole thing. But we did spot famous names such as Orlando Bloom, Michael Jackson, Julie Andrews and Christina Aguilera. We were also there shortly after the death of legendary actor, Robin Williams, so we got to see the little memorial that had been created on his star.



We decided to do a Hollywood Bus Tour. The street was full of people trying to sell tickets for their tours so it was a bit confusing trying to work out what one was best. We went for one of the smaller buses as they got closer to the Hollywood sign. The downside was the seats were in rows of 4 and I was stuck in the middle, next to a stranger with personal space issues, so my photos didn't come out great. Next time I think I would stick with a hop on hop off bus as they the seats are in pairs and worth paying the extra money for. During the tour we got to see some of the main sights in the Hollywood and Beverly Hills area. We went around the celeb houses, saw some famous movie locations and got to get out the bus near the Hollywood sign for a pic.





After the tour we decided to get a taxi to Beverley Hills as we had spotted a Cheesecake Factory whilst driving round. It was pretty surreal sitting in Beverley Hills eating cheesecake and I definitely felt I was living the dream. I'm definitely recommending the lemon meringue cheesecake, it's like heaven on a plate. After stuffing our faces with the biggest slices of cheesecake you have ever seen, we wandered around for a bit and saw all the designers stores and the hotel where Pretty Woman was filmed!

We got the bus back to Santa Monica and explored the shopping complex and then walked back along the beach. Santa Monica has the famous pier that has loads of restaurants and a fairground on it. We strolled all the way back to Venice Beach and admired the views and sunset. Venice Beach is where the 'hipsters' hang out. There is a lot of skaters and a lot of people smoking things that I'm pretty sure would not be legal here. There are a lot of shops and food outlets along the beach front. This the place to get a pizza slice or a corn dog. I also came away with a tie dye top from one of the many t-shirt stores. Also as you walk along Venice Beach there are a lot of artists working and selling their creations. It is fascinating to watch.

The following day we decided to hire bikes. We initially hired a tandem, but we only managed a few metres before we realised it was way too hard so we stuck to normal bikes. We got breakfast at a beach cafe - blueberry pancakes - delish. We cycled down the beach for a while. It was so relaxing, and great seeing the different beach areas. When we found a nice quiet spot we went to relax on the beach. My major fail of my whole trip happened at this point. My sun cream application was disastrous and I got the worst sunburn of my life. The sea breeze is very misleading and I didn't feel like I was burning. After about an hour I started to feel really ill. We headed to a McDonalds so I could cool down in their air con. Eventually I realised I was a complete lobster and had to head back to the hostel to recover. I ended up with crazy burns on one of my legs and it took a few months to heal. It partly ruined my trip to Vegas, and was too painful to even wear shorts.

Remember kids - suncream is vital!

The final day we had to travel to Downtown LA to catch a Greyhound bus. We got on the bus and it took about an hour to get there. Crazy right? One thing I loved about the buses in LA is that people can put their bikes on the front of the bus - its a pretty weird thing to see, but totally normal to the Americans! When we got to Downtown LA, the bus driver warned us not to walk to the bus station - apparently it's not very safe. We got a taxi and managed to get our bus on time. The Greyhound was pretty amazing. There is so much leg room I didn't feel guilty about reclining, so the journey to Vegas was the perfect time to catch up on sleep!