-- Well, just popped in for a coffee and hey guess what - I wrote a review! Its been a while, but I...
-- Well, just popped in for a coffee and hey guess what - I wrote a review! Its been a while, but I think I've still got the hang of it....
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Any review of Los Angeles - unless contained within the covers of a City Guidebook - can realistically merely ‘prick the surface’ of what is to offer in this sprawling metropolis on the West Coast of America. I’ve tried to cover what I have personal experience of during two brief visits to the ‘City of Angels’
• HOLLYWOOD – MOVIE MAGIC
On our first visit to L.A, we stayed at the Holiday Inn, right on HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD. Alas it is no more – it was demolished last year to make way for a huge development to include Cinemas, Shopping and a new home for the Oscar ceremonies. But it was pretty neat to stay there all the same and could almost literally step out onto the ‘WALK OF FAME’. You’ve seen it on TV, documentaries etc – all the way along Hollywood Boulevard there are golden ‘stars’ inserted in the paving slabs, with the names of all kinds of stars, from Film, TV and all branches of Showbiz. Actors, Directors, Producers and even wonderdog ‘Lassie’ have their names inscribed on the Walk of Fame’.
The other famous ‘monument’ along this stretch is GRAUMANN’S CHINESE THEATER. It is still a working Cinema showing the latest releases, but more famous for the handprints of the stars on the forecourt out front. When we visited we searched out our favourites – Jill, my wife, HAD to have her picture taken by Bruce Willis’ ‘plot’ – alas, no handprints for her real favourite Kevin Costner, but such is the price of ‘fame’. Tourists galore flock to the Chinese Theater and make sure you have plenty of film, because after the handprints, the pagoda-style Theatre, finished in red, is a photo must (and don’t run out of a lithium battery for your camcorder or camera – I did, and I had to pay $20 for a fresh one, which would have cost me a fiver back home!)
• HOLLYWOOD – HISTORY AND MORE
Another must-see place to visit is right across the road from Graumann’s – the ROOSEVELT HOTEL. This used to be the plushest, the most first class hotel
around and ALL the movie stars of the 1920s and 30s would stay there. It’s even were they held the very first ‘Academy Awards’ – the ‘Oscars’. Just take a walk inside the hotel entrance and smell the history. You are free to roam around the foyer and go upstairs to the gallery. Photographs on the wall of all those legendary Hollywood greats that your parents – or even grandparents - talked about. Pure nostalgia. The ‘Roosevelt’ should be back to it’s prime condition nowadays, because in our last visit several areas were close for redecoration and refurbishment, tarpaulins and scaffolding were all over the place.
There is also a fairly small ‘HOLLYWOOD MUSEUM’ around 100 yards up the Boulevard from the Roosevelt – but it’s OK for a quick visit. The highlight for any trekkies out there is the chance to sit in the original Captain’s seat from the deck of the U.S Enterprise. Just imagine… your bottom could nestle nicely in a seat designed for Captain Kirk’s nether regions! Plus they have the original bar from the TV series ‘Cheers’ – another must for fans of that show.
Plenty of shops along Hollywood Boulevard, but in all honesty it was a touch disappointing. A tourist trap really and once you’d experienced the initial excitement of ‘being there’, not much more to add.
• HOLLYWOOD – THE STUDIO TOURS
The fact that you are browsing around the Hollywood area would indicate that you are a movie fan. What better that to visit a Film Studio or two? You could head off to UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, but that – though excellent – is much more of a Theme Park. You can go on a ‘backlot tour’, but they no longer house actual ‘working‘ studios. Great rides, loads of souvenir shops and restaurants galore, but you want movies – head for WARNER BROTHERS STUDIOS.
The Studio complex is up in Burbank, towards to the north of this sprawling City. You can only gain entrance to the lot if you book a VIP STUDIO TOUR. Relatively inexpensive at $35 each, but the tour really does give you an insight into how films are made and the history of the industry. But the really cool bit is that you may get the chance to bump into some stars as they roam around the lot, or get to see some filming taking place. After signing in, your guide collects you and mounts you up on a tour truck (a bit like a golf buggy for 16!). They book tours each hour throughout weekdays and have a maximum of 16 in each party. The day we were there they were filming an episode of E.R on the lot and had just finished shooting an episiode of ‘West Wing’. We went on the famous ‘Stage 16’ – the largest soundstage in the world. They actually filmed the storm scenes from ‘Perfect Storm’ there – that’s how big it is!
Then onto the props department – absolutely millions of $ worth of antiques, artworks, furniture, plus just about every kind of small utensil you could imasgine and hundreds of each. There were a few familiar things in there I can tell you.
• HOLLYWOOD – ‘FRIENDS’
We were taken onto the sets of a couple of sit coms you may be familiar with ‘The Drew Carey Show’ and….’Friends’. Now as both my wife and I are big fans of Friends, it felt so great to be standing their right where they film the show. OK So nothing was going on, but there you are 8,000 miles from home and standing in Joey and Chandler’s apartment. WOW.
After the tour we asked if anything was being shot in the studios that evening and we were offered the chance to be in the audience for ‘Suddenly Susan’ starring Brooke Shields and Eric Idle. Anyone that has been at a British TV Studio for a taping will know that it takes around 3 hours to shoot a 30 minute show. The time flew and as we were near the front we could almost have reached out and touched Brooke or the other members of the cast – and all for FREE!
As we were staying only around the corner from PARAMOUNT STUDIOS, we tried their studio tour the next day. But this was hugely disappointing, you never got to see anything. Our tour guide was new and although he knew everything about anything – he just could not show us anything and didn’t really know if anything was being filmed that day. I believe one or two of the other studios also open up to the public like Sony Pictures and NBC.
Talk Hollywood and your mind turns to BEVERLY HILLS. That’s where all the stars live, of course. Well you can get to take a tour of the stars’ homes or buy a ‘Star Map’ and try and track them down yourself – but be prepared to see nothing. All of the big houses are fronted by gates or high trees. Yes, that house over there belonged to Star X and is now owned by Star Y – but that’s ALL you will see. But at least you can say (to quote Max Boyce) “I was there!”
Star spotters would do better to take a wander over to RODEO DRIVE and look at the shops – look mind you, don’t BUY. Far too expensive - all the top designer names there, Jewellers like Cartier, Fashion Houses from Paris, New York and Milan, the works. The stars are seen shopping and hanging out in Restaurants and Cafés in the area and on WILSHIRE BOULEVARD. It was there that we sampled the delights of our first PLANET HOLLYWOOD. I’ve still got the T-Shirt. Typical Burgers, Ribs, Pizzas a-la Hard Rock Café and the like, except that the Restaurant is dressed will all kinds of Movie Memorablia and you are eating in the Capital of the Film Industry, of course. It’s not too expensive, the food’s fine, without being ‘gourmet’ (you can’t honestly imagine the ‘A’ list stars eating there) and once again it’s another place you can talk about when you get home.
• SHOPPING
You can find more Shopping experiences at the BEVERLEY CENTER. A recently built Shopping and Leisure mall built on 12 stories. All the big U.S names are there – Bloomingdales, Saks 5th Avenue and Macys to name but a few.
There are plenty of places I cannot cover in this article, DISNEYLAND, of course. The Grand-daddy of Theme Parks. Certainly, a must visit if you have kids with you. More shopping, but with a difference at the ‘FARMERS MARKET’. Not a mere market, but a real hive of bargains from local U.S sellers to Hispanics and other ethnicities. We actually bought two very nice watches there two years ago – they looked a million dollars, but cost around $40 for the two. And they are still going strong today.
• SPORTS
And then there is the Sports. We took in an NBA Basketball game the last time we were there. The L.A Clippers took on the New Jersey Nets at the magnificent STAPLES CENTER. An indoor colossus, a stadium holding over 20,000 people and regularly selling out when the Lakers are at home. Much more chance of a ticket for the Clippers, and we saw a good game, closely fought with the Nets running out 8 point victors. Of course there is the famous DODGER STADIUM to see, if you are into Baseball and it’s during the season, or the even more famous L.A COLOSSEUM. They held the Olympics there and it is one of the most famous Sporting venues in the World.
• BEACHES
There are beaches and resorts galore in the L.A area, MALIBU, LONG BEACH, VENICE BEACH and SANTA MONICA to name but a few. Basking by the Pacific Ocean, with the weather most of the year at least around the 70 mark and often much higher, L.A is definitely a mecca for the sunworshipper too
• EATING
If you want to eat you can always find somewhere. Every street corner has a KFC, McDonalds, Dennys (for breakfasts), IHOP(International House of Pancakes), Carls Jr, Boston Market, Sizzler and coffee houses like Starbucks or whatever your culinary desires are. I would heartily recommend the Sizzler chain. Steak is the main thing on the menu – and I mean STEAK! Big ones and bigger ones, cooked to perfection any number of ways. Heap of side salad, baked potato, fries or whatever for less than $10. I’ve eaten in three and they have all been excellent standard, clean, comfortable with friendly service and a consistency of quality.
• YOU NEED A CAR
L.A is so vast that to really see the place properly you need to stay a while – AND Hire a car. You can use the Freeways to get around – six lane monstrosities, but the amazing thing is the traffic moves at a pace. Hardly ever – even at the peak of the rush hour – do you get many jams and snarl ups. They could certainly teach us Brits a thing or two – M25 ???? To gauge the scale, we flew into to L.A.X Airport and got a cab to take us to our hotel, on our second visit. This was just an Econolodge a quarter of a mile from Hollywood. It cost us nearly $50 and took 40 minutes! There is a public transport system, but it’s not to be trusted. The transits tend to be used by the lower working classes (without being snobbish) and as such are fairly unreliable, because everyone in L.A has at least one car.
So there it is, as best as I can describe it for now. If you are going, you will have plenty to see. Nightlife, I’ve not touched on – but there is plenty, from Rock Venues, Shows, Great Bars and more, but you’ll have to discover them yourselves. Just have a great time – I know I will when we go back to L.A, hopefully later this year.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I've given you an E cos you've given me loads of ideas about what to do in LA. People have kept on saying that there's nothing to do there - it's all in Vegas or San Fran but I see there's plenty to do in LA and I WILL be taking a trip to the stars houses - even if I can't see anything. You've also made me glad we decided to hire a car in LA now. I don't know what we would have done without it! amy
j_mcb 23.06.2003 01:18
I've re-read this since I've visited LA and you have capture the essence of Los Angeles excellently! I did almost everything on your guide - though I wished I'd visited WB studios instead of Universal! Grrr.... An excellent and informative op. I don't think you missed anything out! :o) Joe
mbmb11 19.11.2001 13:01
Yet another excellent op flash ..........!!!
Mel x
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Mar 8th, 2001
(Nov 16th, 2001)
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