The Good: Downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Farmers Market.
The Bad: Not enought time .... again
The Ugly: American Immigration
Lets start with the Ugly cause things do get better.... American Immigration ... what can I say except not consistant.... Ft Lauderdale was a breeze.... LA another story.... Gosh you would think with their current financial climate you would think they would be welcoming 2000, can’t wait to spend their money foreigners with open arms...
The face to face immigration interviews were to be held on board this time. Princess do the right thing with allocated group times. Maybe if they police this little better things may have run a little smoother, lines were a lot longer than anticipated mainly because people from groups 5, 6, 7 were queuing up before groups 1, 2 and three had a chance. I believe the last to be processed was at 11.30am... not bad when allboard is an early 4.30 pm........... this must be because 4 seadays across to Hawaii is not enough to be able to leave say a couple of hours later.... hmm!!
Anticipating delays in getting off we decided on the dreaded Princess Tour....... There always seems to be alot of waiting around when on a ships tour and whilst sitting in the princess theatre waiting to be called, all you can think that there is precious port time going begging...
On saying that the itinerary of the tour was great.... if it was a private tour of say 6 or 8 it would have been excellent.... Once on the bus we headed into downtown LA. Didn’t take too long as the roads were not as caotic as we thought they might be.... We drove around the financial district and significant buildings and sites were pointed out to us.... There is a haze that sits over LA and unfortunately the windows of the bus seemed to have developed the same haze which made picture taking a little impossible.... the photo’s may look blurry but that is exactly what we were looking at....
Our first stop was at a quaint old section of the city with a real Mexican feel. We walked down a little pedestrian street called Olveria St. Down the middle were lots of stalls and in the old buildings where shops and restaurants. Here any souvenir you missed out on the Mexico could be snapped up here.
Now we were on way to Hollywood Boulevarde..... it is amazing to look around and see names and signs of places you see on Tv or you hear about in songs.
The bus dropped us off just around the corner from Manns Chinese restaurant and I am sure this span of the street is the most busiest. Our guide weaved us through the crowd pass Madam Troussaudes, pass Manns, into the Kodak theatre up to the platform where you can get the best picture of the Hollywood sign. She left us there and gave us half and hour to get back to where the bus dropped us off... Just not enough time to walk back and take in the Stars and the Hand and foot prints along the way... Lots of buskers and people dressed up as the stars that are commemorated on the sidewalk.... but be warn these people are bit more ruthless than the ones in Europe that ask for “ 1 dollar” for a photo.... Garry nearly got chased by a man with a hand full of snakes after filming and walking away .... lucky I could see it coming and was ready with a hand full of change to throw into his hat.... Or you see that nice photo of Mickey Mouse and me..... well while he was snuggling up to me taking this photo he is quietly whispering to me that I have to tip him. I told him “Yes I know.... Just smile for the camera”... there is so much to see along this strip but we had to get back to the bus. Which we were happy to do as we knew that we had other things to see....
We waited and waited for the bus as he could not remain parked at this spot and you could see this look of concerned on the Guides face... She had left her phone on the bus and couldn’t contact the driver.... She couldn’t use another phone as didn’t know the number and didn’t even know the name of the bus company the bus was from.... Not sure how we found him of if he just turned up.... but there was a precious half hour wasted here.... ( I know it doesn’t sound like much, but in some places that is all you get).
Now that we were safely back on the bus we did the drive by touristy thing again.... we drove down sunset strip and saw all the famous night spots like whiskey a go go, comedy club etc.... then it was off to Beverly Hills to drive down the famous Rodeo Drive... The story goes as to why all the famous actors live in Beverly Hills is that Actors and Actress’s were deemed as undesirable neighbours due to the hours they kept and I presumed the parties they had.... Mary Pickford was the first to build a mansion in this area and soon others followed forming an estate that became “Home to the Stars”.
Our last stop was at the Farmers Market.... This area has been done up and is a real hive of activity... the front part is the original area that the Farmers Market was opened up for the local growers to come and sell there produce.. Now this area boasts lot of restaurant and takeaways to satisfy any palette.... Even if you are a dog... the Dog Bakery is sure to have a biscuit for you... The area has been extended and there are now shops of every kind to be found... The area at the back is called The Grove with lots of fashion shops and lovely old tram that runs up and down the middle....
Who ever thought that we would sail half way around the world .... walked down an avenue to stop and watch a live performance of our every own Guy Sebastion.... Just note that that photo was specially posed for me.... What a thrill..... While I was taking pictures this man walked up to me asked who this was and I told him that he was Aust First Idol.... “ oh he must be really famous there “.... I smiled and agreed....
After our allocated hour we were back on the bus and on the way back home to the ship....... Back up on deck for sailaway drinks, the horns sounded and we were off heading to Hawaii under the new command of Captain Vincenzo Lubrano.......( We do miss our 5pm Captains Toddies Updates )
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