efore I came to LA, I hadn’t heard the greatest stuff about it. I obviously didn’t let this deter me or put any preconceived notions in my head. I’m from Canberra and I’ve heard so much bullshit about how much Canberra sucks and the most vitriolic complaints usually come from people who have never been there. I’m not a girl that takes anyone’s word for it and I came to LA with a totally open mind. Honestly? I quite like it here. I can’t imagine myself living in LA but it’s a very interesting, diverse and entertaining place to be. Here are a few thoughts I’ve had about La La Land.
– It’s less manic than I expected. We spent our first evening on Sunset Boulevard and it was practically empty, which I rather enjoyed. I was expecting something like Times Square but the streets were totally bare. It was lovely because I don’t think anyone likes crowds that much. We had full access to all the stars handprints outside the Kodak theatre and I didn’t have to shove anyone out of the way to get my moment with Michael. Win.
– The weather is every bit as awesome as everyone says. I’m very weird about weather because if it’s hot, I’ll get too hot and if it’s cold, I’ll get too cold. I’m really not built for outdoors but LA weather is sublime. You don’t even really notice it, it’s just exactly the temperature you want it to be all the time.
– Everyone is really chilled out. I kind of expected the locals to be a bit Barbie-esque and ladder-climby but everyone I’ve met has been awesome. We’re staying at an AirBnB place and our hosts are rad – we hung out with them, drank beer and chatted about what a dick Trump is. Is was great. LA locals are the best.
– You can’t really walk anywhere. This is a bit of an issue for me because I’m a huge walker and I have to get 10,000 steps in every day. If you walk for a mile in New York, there’s a mile worth of awesome stuff between you and your destination. If you walk a mile in LA, there’s pretty much nothing between you and your destination. Hiring a car was the best decision we made.
– LA isn’t that great for gluten free food. The supermarkets are okay but we’re staying a little bit out of the main city areas and getting any kind of certified GF food is proving difficult. Thankfully we’re not that in to food so we’re surviving on cereal and salads.
– It’s really colourful. There are beautiful houses in bright blues, pinks, oranges and yellows. I grew up in a planned city where you can’t fart unless you have permission from town planning. Brightly coloured houses with weird and awesome architecture are practically non-existent there. LA looks like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory to me and it’s just a feast for your eyes.
Here are a few things to do in LA… or rather stuff we’ve done so far…
1. Visited the stars outside the Kodak theatre (which is now called the Dolby Theatre apparently)
I know it’s on every tourist list but honestly, you can’t miss this. I’ve been wanting to ‘meet’ Michael Jackson for years and it was a pretty cool moment to finally stand in his foot prints. I was a little annoyed by the hierarchy of the hand print spots though. Twilight has a spot front and centre and Harry Potter is kind of shoved in next to it. Not cool Kodak (or Dolby). Wizards before vampires. Always.
2. Went for a walk down Hollywood Boulevard
Depending on where you’re coming from you kind of have to walk down Hollywood Boulevard to get to the Kodak theatre but it’s worth it to check out the stars on the sidewalk. I got my photo with Marilyn Monroe which was pretty special. I’m such a dag but I really enjoyed it.
3. Visited Santa Monica Pier
This place was off the charts. In Australia, piers are piers. There might be a cafe or one dude with a trolley selling ice creams but that’s it. Santa Monica Pier is full of shops, rides, restaurants, cafes and street hawkers selling physic readings and terrifying sculptures of tourists faces. It’s all kinds of tacky fabulous. Definitely worth a visit.
5. Saw the Hollywood sign
It’s a must. I admit it was pretty thrilling seeing it in real life. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Hollywood for most of my life so it was pretty rad seeing it for the first time.
6. Was on hardcore celebrity watch
I’ve been hardcore on the hunt for the celebrities and I spotted Tim Minchin at Dreamworks. I was visiting my mate and we were literally talking about how Tim Minchin works there now and he walked right past. It was pretty cool. I wanted to shout out to him how I thought he was awesome in Jesus Christ Superstar but I didn’t want to be a dick at my mate’s work. Next time though. Definitely.
7. Hung out in Echo Park
It’s full of cool shops and coffee which is awesome because I’m from Fitzroy. Cool shops and coffee are totally my jam. Also the outdoor section of the Glendale Galleria mall is actually awesome. They have all these cute cafes and there’s music piped outside. It’s like being on a movie set.
I also heard the funniest conversation over lunch today. There were a group of young, gorgeous American kids beside us and they were speaking really loudly about all these ‘meetings’ they were having and ‘conventions’ they were going to. I could hear every word they were saying (I’m considered a very loud person in Australia but I’ve got nothing on Americans, they have some serious vocal projection going on here) and it turns out the were Disney YouTubers. They basically sing Disney songs and upload the songs to YouTube and that’s their niche and there was a whole group of them. Only in LA right?
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Have you ever been to LA? What did you think? Are there any local LA Smaggle readers who would like to weigh in?
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