Tag: LA

A Little LA Madness

LA is one of those places that I have never quite gotten. I know that lots of people rave about it, but I’ve always struggled to find the appeal. That’s not to say that I don’t like LA – I do, but I find it hard to say why.

Maybe we are staying in the wrong places or maybe we are just missing the coolest places to go (this is very likely) but I’ve never managed to pick up the groove of the place.

In my head, LA is all rockstars and Whisky-A-Go-Go whereas in real life, it’s felt more like celebrity home tours and closed down clubs. Again – we might just be staying in the wrong places!!

That being said, LA has given us some stories. The funnest of which was the time we met a spaceman outside of one of the cafes. We were sitting eating breakfast outside a cafe, nursing pretty dire hangovers from the night before spent in the Viper Lounge, watching a band place something that was a brilliant cross between hip-hop and reggae.

Out of nowhere, a dude joins our table, telling us about the epic adventures of spaceman. Not ‘a spaceman’ but ‘the spaceman’. I don’t remember the details but the story included a self-made movie, a car and a guy in a space suit. Only in LA right?

We have only ever spent a day or so in LA each time we have been (often just passing through to other places) and each time, we have done a little more of the tourist thing.

The Chinese Theatre and the Walk Of Fame are two of the most iconic tourist locations in LA and it’s always fun to wander up the pavements looking out for your favourite celebrity’s stars.

LA has some beautiful stretches of beaches and we made sure we had time to take a stroll down the pier.

One of the main attractions for us was a visit to Universal Studios. You can read about our visit here.

We also took a celebrity homes tour – a full day spent in a small minivan with around 6 other people. In hind-sight, I wouldn’t recommend this; most of the sites you see are tall gates and walls rather than the houses and really, if I was a celebrity, I’m sure I’d be highly unexpressed that a van full of people had turned up to gawk at my house for the third time that morning. The up side of the celebrity homes tour was that our guide told us he was the dad of the dude from Wheezer. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case (unless anyone can tell us different) but it made for an interesting discussion!

What are we missing in LA – where should we be visiting? How do we make the most out of our next visit?

Transformation

So I discovered a new thing today -The Daily Post’s Picture Challenge. A new theme is set on a Wednesday each week and the challenge is to share photos of your interpretation of that theme. That means a bonus post this week!

This week’s theme is Transformation and immediately it made me think of sunsets. There is something magical about sunsets, watching the sky change through its cycle of colours as the stars slowly become visible. We’ve had a few stunning sun rise/sets on our travels and I thought that we would share a few:

Dubrovnik

This was looking out from Dubrovnik towards Lokrum. A storm had passed, the rain had started to dry out and the sun was starting to set. It was beautifully peaceful, the only sound, the lapping of the waves.

One of my favourite places on Earth – Yosemite National Park. Getting ready for a stargazing evening, we had parked up and stood transfixed as the sun went down, casting shadows on the granite face of Half Dome. As the sun dropped, the sky was transformed from a beautiful blue to a blanket of shooting stars.

This was taken at English Bay in Vancouver. We’d had a hectic day exploring what felt like every inch of the city and as the sun set, we sat down against a log on the beach, slowing down the pace of the day and watching the boats out at sea. It was a scene that would stay with us long after the sun tan faded.

Stuck in traffic in LA, the novelty of a full day’s drive on such huge freeways had worn off and we were desperate to get to our hotel. As the sun went down, our energy was rejuvenated at the warmly-lit skies.

Arriving in Carmel, USA we found a hotel just as the afternoon was getting late. Having spent the best part of a week camping, we were all desperate to get showers. The hotel proprietor told us about the amazing sunsets and the best places to watch down on the beach. It was almost dark by the time we made it down to the sand but we stood there transfixed as the stunning oranges turned into full dark, leaving us exhausted but happy for the next stage of our trip.

Where was your favourite sunset? Tell us in the comments.