A metropolis with different faces
Our ride from San Diego to the south of Los Angeles was not too long, only 2 hrs. We drove directly to my cousin’s place where we also met her parents, my uncle and aunty who we already met last year in July in Kunshan (China). They prepared a fabulous Indonesian lunch, it felt like we were back again in Indonesia ;-) It was a nice reunion and we stayed there until late afternoon.
Mery booked via Airbnb a place for us to stay which was in Hollywood. In case someone is planning to visit L.A., you better not stay in Hollywood, it´s not really a nice place to be over night. The area around Hollywood is quite dirty and shabby, a lot of “weird” people were walking around here, you even get abused when you want to help someone, the people here are really distorted. Also we have never seen so many homeless people before like in this place, it´s really a sad aspect when you consider that the USA is such a rich country. The famous “walk of fame” in Hollywood Blvd. where you can see the stars of the famous actors, musicians or TV stars on the walking path are in some certain area in a very dirty conditions, you can see and smell urine, not really an appreciation towards the stars. Of course the Blvd.is also very glamorous, everywhere colourful advertisement and lights.
Mery also spent a couple of days with her friend from Indonesia, she lives here already for more than 10 years. Of course the ladies had a lot to talk and therefore I took the chance to visit the Universal Studio. I like the Studio Tour, the Special Effect Show and also some roller coaster. Nowadays the projection of motion pictures or holograms are really awesome. You can see a bit behind the scenes and see some film locations of movies and TV series. In Hollywood we also took a celebrity tour where you can see the mansions of some famous and rich people and the surroundings of Beverly Hills, Bel Air and the Hollywood Hills. They also show you some film locations and the famous Rodeo drive where the luxury boutiques in Beverly Hills are, it was a funny 2 hrs. tour.
We also drove to Santa Monica to see the beach area and the famous pier. At this place the legendary Route 66 ends. The beach at this area is really wide and long and a lot of people were here around.
In L.A. we also went to Chinatown to walk there around and had some nice food. We also saw the Union Station, it really looks nice and is clean and also quite huge.
Unfortunately we didn´t see any famous superstars, probably we wouldn´t even recognize them… Our five nights in L.A. went over quickly, this metropole is huge and spacious, and you can visit a lot of sights in this area. But we were also happy to get out of this big city, there are places here where the luxury is so present but also a lot of poverty. Well, our journey will continue to Las Vegas and the Canyons, we will as usual keep you updated.
