Well, here we are in Beverly Hills! Never thought I would be saying that, being as we were supposed to be staying in Santa Monica, but that's another story. Last minute change of plans! It took a few days to get over the jet lag as we flew from west to east from Bangkok, over Japan to Los Angeles. The first few da
ys we hardly slept at all but think we have now more or less got back into the groove! We love strolling along the streets around here and seeing how the other half live! We are only minutes from Rodeo Drive but as far as that's concerned it has been window shopping only as you might imagine! We have lost count of all the Rolls Royces (mostly soft tops!), Bentleys, Ferraris and such like that we have seen every day - more than a lifetime's worth I should think! Here's a couple of the most specta
cular ones - a yellow Rolls Royce parked up on Rodeo Drive and a rather fabulous looking car that we saw today (no idea what kind so if any car mad people out there c
an put a name to it do let us know!) Feel sure there might have been someone famous inside it but due to the blacked out windows couldn't see a thing! Must have been an uncommon sight even for Beverly Hills as everyone else was stopping to stare as well! A couple of days ago we went
on a tour of Hollywood on one of those open top double decker buses. Guess who we bumped into on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe! Fancy that! You can see CK ha
ving a bit of a group hug with
them in the photo! We then spent a bit of time checking out the names on the pavement stars (some of them anyway as there are hundreds of them!) Here's me with Keanu Reeves (the nearest I will probably ever get to him!) and CK with Kevin Spacey. Well, you only come to Hollywoo
d once in a lifetime! We also visited Santa Monica which we loved! We went a couple of times and on Saturday there was an open air food market which you could w
ander through and get samples of most of the food on display - Mmmm! We went for a walk along the famous Santa Monica pier where we were informed (had forgotten this!) that that was where Tom Hanks finished his running stint in the film "Forrest Gump" before he just 'kept on runnin
g'!! There's even a restaurant on the pier called the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company - yes you've guessed it - a speciality shrimp restaurant! Santa Monica has a great vibe to it and is quite refined really compared to its neighbour Venice Beach where we went next! There's a walkway along the beach from Santa Monica which takes about half an hour or so and as you approach Venice Beach the ambience changes to something very different! It's got quite a hippy culture with all kinds of weird and wonderful street performers and oddball characters, a small percentage of which are bumbling along talking to themselves! There's a long road along the beach with all kinds of unique shops on one side and
street stalls on the other side and as you negotiate your way along through the crowds there are bikini clad girls strumming on guitars with their Blackberrys stuck down the side(!) Bob Marley music playing in the background and all kinds of strange smells assaulting your nostrils as you wander along! We wouldn't have missed it for the world - definitely a 'must see' if you are ever over this way! It's like being back in the 60's. in the middle of a Brazilian street market and downtown Kingston Jamaica all in one go! Amazing!
Well, here we are in Beverly Hills! Never thought I would be saying that, being as we were supposed to be staying in Santa Monica, but that's another story. Last minute change of plans! It took a few days to get over the jet lag as we flew from west to east from Bangkok, over Japan to Los Angeles. The first few da
ys we hardly slept at all but think we have now more or less got back into the groove! We love strolling along the streets around here and seeing how the other half live! We are only minutes from Rodeo Drive but as far as that's concerned it has been window shopping only as you might imagine! We have lost count of all the Rolls Royces (mostly soft tops!), Bentleys, Ferraris and such like that we have seen every day - more than a lifetime's worth I should think! Here's a couple of the most specta
cular ones - a yellow Rolls Royce parked up on Rodeo Drive and a rather fabulous looking car that we saw today (no idea what kind so if any car mad people out there c
an put a name to it do let us know!) Feel sure there might have been someone famous inside it but due to the blacked out windows couldn't see a thing! Must have been an uncommon sight even for Beverly Hills as everyone else was stopping to stare as well! A couple of days ago we went
on a tour of Hollywood on one of those open top double decker buses. Guess who we bumped into on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe! Fancy that! You can see CK ha
ving a bit of a group hug with
them in the photo! We then spent a bit of time checking out the names on the pavement stars (some of them anyway as there are hundreds of them!) Here's me with Keanu Reeves (the nearest I will probably ever get to him!) and CK with Kevin Spacey. Well, you only come to Hollywoo
d once in a lifetime! We also visited Santa Monica which we loved! We went a couple of times and on Saturday there was an open air food market which you could w
ander through and get samples of most of the food on display - Mmmm! We went for a walk along the famous Santa Monica pier where we were informed (had forgotten this!) that that was where Tom Hanks finished his running stint in the film "Forrest Gump" before he just 'kept on runnin
g'!! There's even a restaurant on the pier called the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company - yes you've guessed it - a speciality shrimp restaurant! Santa Monica has a great vibe to it and is quite refined really compared to its neighbour Venice Beach where we went next! There's a walkway along the beach from Santa Monica which takes about half an hour or so and as you approach Venice Beach the ambience changes to something very different! It's got quite a hippy culture with all kinds of weird and wonderful street performers and oddball characters, a small percentage of which are bumbling along talking to themselves! There's a long road along the beach with all kinds of unique shops on one side and 
street stalls on the other side and as you negotiate your way along through the crowds there are bikini clad girls strumming on guitars with their Blackberrys stuck down the side(!) Bob Marley music playing in the background and all kinds of strange smells assaulting your nostrils as you wander along! We wouldn't have missed it for the world - definitely a 'must see' if you are ever over this way! It's like being back in the 60's. in the middle of a Brazilian street market and downtown Kingston Jamaica all in one go! Amazing!
3 comments:
Wow another fantastic place and fantastic experiences! Couldn't help but find myself humming the song with the end line of .....'at Santa Monica Boulevard'! No idea of the artiste or song title! Hope you don't think i've lost it! Looks like the weather is fantastic too. We have had our summer I think and we are back to sunshine and heavy showers. Enjoy this next part of your trip! Where are you off to next? Carol, Alan and Rachael xxx
Hi Carol! Don't think I know that song! Am not surprised that Santa Monica inspired someone to write a song about it though - or at least about the Boulevard! Am in San Francisco at the moment as we work our way up the West Coast! Sorry the UK summer seems to have finished - hopefully it will make a reappearance! Hope Rachael is enjoying her holidays though! Love Julie K XX
It's Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun!
xx
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