DAY 5 - 06/10/2017

October 6th - 31°

Emil was up with Maj-Britt at 05:00
Isabella was up at 06:00
I was up at 07:00

There has been a lot of early starts and the kids have been tired at the end of every day.
Today Emil was tired and the heat did not help, Isabella was totally finished and did not have the energy for much today and we found this out quite early on in the day.

We left the apartment at 09:00 and set off to the Griffin Park Observatory on the way we found a shoe shop and bought some trainers… I bought three pairs, Maj-Britt two, Isabella one and Emil one… we were all happy to find new shoes as we had been looking for the last 4 days

We continued up to the park and the road was really nice with great views…

At the park there were great views over LA and also the Hollywood sign, the heat was really getting to us now and the kids and Maj-Britt stayed in the car with the air-conditioning on while I waited for the Observatory to open.

Once the Observatory was open I had a quick look around… there was so much to do but it was not fair on the others if I took too long to look around so I quickly took in what I could and got back to the car.

We were all hungry and needed a drink so I set the satellite navigation to union station and we found a "subway" close by to eat.
Isabella was totally finished at this point so we drop the rest of the day to go back to the apartment
We didn’t get to see union station or any of the other things on the list but Emil need the restroom so just over the road was the old Mexican place that was on the list… The Mexican place was really nice with lots of stalls and restaurants… we would’ve loved to look around more but we needed to get the kids back and after I showed the photos to Maj-Britt she really wanted to see the market as well… maybe next time.

At the apartment the kids got their energy back and we took a trip over the road to the shops
In the evening we went out to eat and the plan was to see the sunset at Santa Monica beach and then find a place to eat but we got there a little late so we took a few photos at the beach and then headed to the pier were we got a little bit lost on the way but then found the carpark. 

After a short walk along the pier…  crowded with lots of people who were out and about… after we had eaten we looked around the fairground rides, there was also an open air Cinema on the pier and then after we were finished we drove back as it was late for the kids.

We needed petrol on the way back and we stop at the closest one. I was unsure if the car was petrol or diesel so to make sure I had to smell the tank as I opened it as there is no writing anywhere to show what it was… I had no idea how to tank the car and also had no idea how to pay so I had to ask a guy who was also filling up his car on the way to a strip joint… but in the end I had to go into the shop and then pay a cash deposit, then tank and then get the money back that I didn’t use… strange concept.

At the apartment we packed so we ready to leave LA the next day

The LA apartment in Glendon Avenue - Westwood was the perfect location, it was clean and had enough space for the kids to relax and so we could also relax in the evening... all in all it was a great start to the holiday

LA was much better than expected with great areas to drive and look around at the houses for example Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Westwood and the Hollywood hills…

We will also remember the smell of the trees when driving through Beverly Hills...
and the amount of homeless people around…

DAY 4 - 05/10/2017

October 5th - 28°

It is not getting better both kids up and about at 04:30 in the morning… we were all up, dressed, had eaten and out of the door at 07:00

Today’s plan was Hollywood
I had two great spots that I had found to view the Hollywood sign:
6962-6968 Mulholland Dr.
3387 Deronda Dr.         

We headed for the first place - Mulholland Drive and we had the place for ourselves with nice views of both the Hollywood sign and over LA where we took lots of films and photos... by the time we were finished people started to arrive so we headed to the second spot – Deronda Dr.

On the way over the views were getting better and closer so we stopped off at a couple of places on the way… we also drove past the Hollywood reservoir and Lake Hollywood Park.

The road was closed off to the second spot, by the looks of it, it was to stop people drive up the street to take photos but we just drove around the barrier and parked up... there were two other cars there who were also taking photos… so we stopped to take a few

At this point it was too much for Isabella and she was tired from Disneyland the day before and at this point we also had enough of the sign… but we could not get away from it all day.

From the last point to view the sign we drove to Hollywood and Highland and parked at the Centre and at this point we were all a little hungry so we need some food and drink…
Before we could get to the food we passed the Chinese theatre where we stopped to see who was about with the hands and feet and then follow the stars on the sidewalk to McDonald’s where we ate…

Walking back down the other side of the street we found El captain and the Roosevelt hotel we also looked at the stars all the way to see who we could find we stop at Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, David Bowie, Tom Petty (where there were many tributes because he had just died a few days before) and also Donald Trump’s you could see that lots of people had tried to deface his star as it was not in great condition.

There was so many stars and also a lot of names that we didn’t know.

We finished and looked at heading back to the apartment as Isabella needed to rest... on the drive back we found Rodeo Drive and we took a few drives up and down the street to take a look at all the expensive shops…

Once Isabella and Maj-Britt were dropped off back at the apartment Emil and I set out to complete the day... at this time the traffic was very heavy as it was now 16:00 and our plan was to see the “forever Cemetery” where we had a nice walk… on the way we took a wrong turn and we ended up at the entrance to Paramount Studios where I made a quick U-turn before the security gate…

On the way back we took our route to the tar pits and we found that it had closed at 17:00… yes it was closed but we also wanted to take a look around the grounds and we didn’t want to pay the $12 parking so we found a place to park just a few minutes away.
Close to where we parked there was a $.99 store where Emil wanted to take a look, so we took a look in the shop…

On the way back to the car we walked past the LA County Museum of art and we looked at the lamps outside and the huge stone over the walkway…

It was a very nice day and packed from start to finish… the Hollywood hills was a highlight as it was nice to drive through and a slow pace

Hollywood was not as bad as I thought it would’ve been with some nice sites but there are too many  people trying to give us tour leaflets, music CDs (of course that you have to pay for), film character to take photos with and most of the homeless in LA… this let Hollywood down…

Hollywood is not the fame and glamour that it should be... I would choose many other places above Hollywood to visit again.

We have also seen many crazy people… one time at a crossroads the guy was walking down a very busy High Street in the morning in his dressing gown, pyjamas and slippers - this was one of the best 
I have just reviewed what we are missing from the LA list for tomorrow and we need to see the following:

The Griffin Observatory
Rainbow bar and grill
Old Mexican place
Union station
Angels flight
Walt Disney’s concert hall