We left on a sunny Thursday and our lovely friend Ellie drove us over the border to Bellingham. The customs went surprisingly well and soon we (Lara, Svenja, Ella and I) were in the promised land - for me and LaaLaa it was actually the first time ever! The grass was greener of course! Our flights from Bellingham to Seattle and from Seattle to Los Angeles went well, we were listening to some good music (Party in the USA, wohoo) and using our sleeping masks. (They were so cute, especially Lara's Hello Kitty one!).
Party in the USA! Ready to rock LA
At LAX, so in LA we could really sense we were somewhere important because all the beautiful people with high heels, the warm weather.. We took a taxi to our hostel and finally ended up in the right place. The hostel was called "Orange Drive Hostel" and I highly do recommend it! It didn't cost much, it said Marilyn Monroe had stayed there and the best thing - its location was perfect, two blocks away from the Walk of Fame, Madame Tussaud's, the Kodak Theater.. So we were right there, in the middle of Hollywood! On that night we were too tired to explore anything so we just headed to bed as soon as possible..
..to wake up with lovely sunshine next day! We quickly ate something and started to look around - first we bought ourselves tickets for the hop on-hop off bus, something very touristy but smart. We took the tour actually twice, during the first ride we didn't hop off at all, just enjoyed the views; buildings, palms trees, studios.. The atmosphere was glamorous and full of magic, it was kind of feeling "This can't be true. That Beverly Hills or Rodeo Drive sign isn't real". But it all was.
First steps on the Walk of Fame
Chinese Theater
Hop on-hop off bus and some tourists
!
Palm trees everywhere..
During the second ride we hopped off on Rodeo Dr, did some window shopping (even went into a Guess' store and just stared at the prices :-) and looked for the celebrities but couldn't find any.
Rodeo Drive again
My beautiful Bentley
Then we hopped on again and drove all the way to the Farmer's Market where we got off. There were so many cute little stands with eg fresh food and hats. And then there were "real" shops, like Forever 21 (ever mentioned that place before? It's CRAZY. I warn you - if you want to hang on to your money, do not EVER go there because you see temptations everywhere; every wall or corner you look at, there's a new one waiting) and Victoria's Secret. And yes, Victoria showed some secrets to me, too ;-) High quality with kind of high prices but very reasonable, like it!
..
The Sign!
Paramount Pictures (recognize the "watercontainer" on the left)
When we finally got back from the tour we saw a great offer on the door of Madame Tussaud's; you could get tickets to Universal Studios (where we were supposed to go anyway) cheaper if you took a package with wax cabinet tickets. So we got in to Tussaud's for free! And because it was pretty late already, there was no line-up, we got to take as many pictures as we liked and we really did use that opportunity! We even met a finnish exchange student and no offence, I must say she had really forgotten how to speak Finnish, wow it was bad. But her English must've been excellent then!
After posing with every possible figure (from Terminator to Forrest Gump and Lady Gaga) we were ready for some sleep again. If I remember correct, falling asleep took some time though..
Tussaud's!
Dates with Mr. President
Breakfast time!
With my Zackie
Wild woman (with brown hair..)
Sue was pretty scary :-(
Next Tony Hawk
Elton liked my songs!
You wanna fight, huh?!
Terminator..
Better than Beckham
On Saturday, so on 12th it was time to see some beach life! We got on the bus and found some finnish people again (they seemed to be everywhere!) before we ended up in Santa Monica. Then I really felt like movies, the boulevard was amazingly pretty, the sun was shining, it was HOT (+30C in February?) and there were even some talented musicians playing. We walked around under the palm trees, did some shopping and then went to the beach.
It says it all, we really were there!
There we of course took some jumping pictures, ran into the water and... fell asleep. The result wasn't the nicest one, imagine 4 red lobsters and you can picture us. We didn't let it to bother us but headed to a muscle beach.
The beach
They found their talents!
Doing what we do best!
Miss the waves!
< 3
Tanning.. (didn't end very well)
Yes, it was insanely hot but some people were just doing yoga poses and other moves I wouldn't be able to do in million years even if it was be nice and chilly. We thought there must've been some celebrities too (maybe not working out though) because helicopters were flying above us all the time but couldn't catch any.
People with crazy moves
Our muscle girl
On the beach there was also an amusement park (Pacific Park) and I went to the Ferris Wheel with Svenb and Ela. The scenery was spectacular.
The Ferris Wheel
And the view
Later on that day, after eating at Subway, we also went to Griffith's Observatory which was on the top of the hill so we caught the view of LA in the dark. Only disappointment was that the Hollywood Sign wasn't lighted up so we couldn't see it from there. There was some kind of party at the Observatory so there was loooads of people and we got cold fast and decided to leave.
At the Observatory
When we were back on Walk of Fame we thought to do some shopping and went to a pharmacy to look for some relief for our burned faces. Sale assistant ladies looked scared when they saw us but they were very helpful and gave us all the free samples "You do need them". Well, next day we looked a little bit better except Lara who had got an allergic reaction around her eyes and almost wasn't able to see anything!
How burned can a person be? Just asking..
On Sunday we went to the Universal Studios! We had decided to go there instead of Disneyland and it definitely was worth it. Before that we posed on the Walk of Fame with starts though, I think we found our favorites even if I for example wasn't able to choose only one.
Star road
I found Marilyn!
I love all the amusement parks and especially rides there. It was a beautiful day but we didn't even need to stand on lines much. There were different kinds of areas; about the Simpsons, Jurassic Park, the Mummy, Shrek, Water Park with "ending of the world" feeling.. We were like little kids screaming and having fun, it was awesome!
Then we had some kind "movie tour" so there were sets from the TV-series and movies. We also saw some special effects, stunts, King Kong 4D and so on. And there was "Little Europe" so place where they film when they want to get to France or to Germany etc. The point is that they only change the names of the streets when they change the country, clever!
Welcome to Universal's!
Ah, Shrek, my man!
Simpsons ride
L's new best friend!
Psycho's Theme!
Some sets
(Luckily not our) crashed plane
DeLorean!
Wisteria Lane
Dancing Cars
Water world and The End
It was nice and sunny, ahhhh!
On Sunday evening there was Grammy Awards and we almost got to an after party! We were eating donuts when one guy with tux came in and started to talk with us about how unhealthy those delicious goodies were. Then he suddenly asked if we had nice dresses with us and told about the party he was going to. Unfortunately we didn't have any, which was maybe just good because being on the red carpet wouldn't have been so nice with red faces. Try to always think positive! :-)
Instead of going to the event we went back to our hostel and watched the Grammys there. We talked with some guys who had come from Mexico (correct me girls if I'm wrong) for an acting school. One of them even gave us red roses "because it's Valentine's Day soon". It was so nice and thoughtful!
Next night it was time to leave the hostel around 4-5am and we ordered a taxi and made a deal it would cost $50. Well, the cab came on time and drove us to LAX as promised but then. "It costs $70 because of the night price" Then we started to fight for our rights and Ella even started: "According to universal laws..." But we should be able to trust what we've been promised, right? Then Lara gave him fifty dollars and said we don't have more. Svenja didn't hear it and didn't see how much L had already given to him and was offering $20 bill. Luckily we got our stuff quickly together and ran away before he took the rest of the money. Maybe mean but I still think we should pay the amount we've promised to pay.
The flight from LA to Seattle was nice although Ella was separated from us. But she was tough: "I'm used to travel by myself", good girl. THEN - from Seattle to Bellingham. It was the scariest and most awful flight any of us has ever been on. It was windy and the whole plane was just trembling, the pilot couldn't get the plane down but missed the landing twice. Svenja started to puke and I was holding the paperbag for myself, too. We were flying over the sea and we were all sure that we are gonna end up there but, thank you Lord, we got down safely.
E who drove us to Bellingham was supposed to pick us up too but she had something and instead of her there was one of our friend's mom waiting. (And she noticed us by my flower headband, just saying ;-) She is one of the loveliest lady I know. It was such a blessing it was her and no one else who drove us over the border back to Canada because the officer who talked with us was her old school friend. How amazing is that? God is good.
We got back home to Chilliwack and because of 14th we were supposed to watch the movie "Valentine's Day" in the evening. I had been waiting for it since September but I had to wait for one more day because we were all way too tired. (But the movie was worth it, very heart-warming one!)
The trip was one I will never forget, all the yougurt eating, red roses, hanging rings.. Thank you girls, I miss you and our vacation! LA was a place I always wanted to go but I think one time was enough, I saw everything I "had to". And next times I did go somewhere else, I'm gonna tell you about the Spring Break and New Orleans soon. (And this time I mean soon, not in 7 months!)
