Last stop Los Angeles. Flying into LAX with Virgin US and out with Virgin AU, so both times I got to experience one of the worst terminals ever. There's like two places to buy food and that's it.
The hotel offered a shuttle again so got that, dropped off bags, no sign of my relatives who were also staying in the hotel that weekend, so came up with a quick plan to visit Hollywood. From the hotel in Hawthorne near the airport, you have to take a train east, another north then another west to get onto the North Hollywood line, but it only takes a little over an hour.
Got off at Hollywood-Western and walked up to Griffith Park. Wasn't really sure how long and arduous the hike would be but I figured it couldn't be too bad (please not another Grouse Grind). The trail was very dusty but took half an hour or less, and didn't require too much effort. At the top there is an observatory, and you can get a decent view of downtown LA, West Hollywood I think is the other recognisable skyline, and also the HOLLYWOODLAND sign.
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| Exit planet dust. |
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| Hollywood Hills. |
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| Your reward at the top. It's an observatory! |
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| The underwhelming LA skyline. |
Walked quite a few blocks down Hollywood Boulevard afterwards, to get to Highland Avenue. I don't think I had been this far east on Hollywood previously, it seemed like there was a lot of new development underway. Despite this, it is very surprising how close to the prime Hollywood Walk Of Fame area you can still find some really crappy run-down places, or simply vacant blocks of land.
I was going to stop into one of the places like Guinness World Records that I hadn't been to before, but was running a bit short on time. Shopped for a few gifts, including a coffee mug that Jason managed to drop and almost break within five minutes of purchasing.
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| Some fun artwork and the Capitol Records building. |
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| Hollywood & Highland. |
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| Hollywood & Don't Know. |
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| The Hollywood & Highland Center. |
So that was it for LA and the trip, as the final day I just spent catching up with some relatives on their way to New York - and getting stuck in Hurricane Sandy, and finally getting a chance to watch a few hours of NFL during the day!
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