USA road trip, Post 10: Lifestyles of the rich and famous

Wednesday was our one and only full day in Los Angeles. We hadn't put a strong emphasis on it in our trip planning since (a) I hadn't heard too many glowing reviews of LA, and (b) it's the easiest place on our itinerary for any of us to return to (since LA is the most common US city to fly into from Australia). It was interesting to spend a day there, but in hindsight we definitely made the right decision when we decreased our LA time so that we could fit in a visit to the Grand Canyon!

Our day started with a browse through a great bookshop called Book Soup (didn't take any photos, unfortunately), and the world's largest new and used record store, Amoeba Music. The two shops are just a few miles apart, both on West Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. This is the impressive Amoeba Music store... anything you can think of, they're likely to have!





After a fast food burger lunch, we drove around following our noses until we eventually found a great vantage point from which to see the famous Hollywood sign...









And then we took a stroll along the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Note the five symbols that indicate what genre the person received their star for (motion pictures, broadcast TV, audio recording, broadcast radio, or live theatre)...

Louis Armstrong...

Just for you, Roxy...

The Beatles...



Big Byrd with Big Bird...



Encountering the nicest type of Bugs for a change...



Houdini...



On the HWOF, we came across Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The cement in front of the theatre was teeming with people, which we soon discovered was because it featured the handprints and footprints of various celebrities! This tradition started in 1927 and is still continuing... it's a pretty awesome visitors' book!









Delle standing in Julie Andrews' shoes...



Another one for Roxy...

Note Humphrey Bogart in the bottom left corner...

Before you go there, it's easy to imagine LA as being somewhat removed from real life... but in spite of all the familiar suburb and street names (Beverley Hills, Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard etc), it's just a city like any other.

To be continued...

PS. This is the 300th blog post!