Our first full day in Los Angeles and we started on Hollywood Boulevard. The apartment we were staying in was only one block away which turned out to be very convenient for organising things and sightseeing.
We started by walking the length of the boulevard checking out the stars in the pavement. Along with the name of each person, the star also has a symbol to show which area of the arts they won the recognition for. A little tv for television (obviously), a clapper board for movies, the sad/happy masks for theatre and a microphone for radio. Some celebrities have a star in more than one category and only a very select few have all categories.
A star is earned by completing five years in the chosen area. The person then has to be nominated and approved by a huge panel. They then have to pay for their star and the cost of the presentation ceremony, plus costs to actually put the star into the pavement. I think it is around $30,000 per star. Sounds like a lot of money, but to these people it is just small change.
While walking along Hollywood Boulevard there are just heaps of characters and star impersonators. Some are there to promote a new movie, others just to give people photo opportunities. We saw everyone from Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Johnny Depp, Marilyn Monroe, Chewbacka and Charlie Chaplin through to heaps of superheroes including Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman and lots of what looked like Transformers (they are probably from a new movies that I have not seen!!!)
There are also many recording artists trying to sell you their latest hip hop or reggae cd. We did get some photos taken with some characters but if you are ever coming here my best advice is, do not speak to anyone or take anything from anyone UNLESS you are prepared to pay!!! The character actors are usually happy with one or two dollars but the singers/rappers believe they are worth lots more. We were able to negotiate with a couple, down to $5.00 but I heard about others who were handed a cd and then asked to pay $20!!!
In the afternoon we were lucky to get tickets on a "Tour of the Stars Homes". Now I know this is tatally naff, but I have wanted to do it for as long as I can remember and boy was I excited. There were about 10 of us in what looked like a convertible Tarago van (or something like that). It was very comfy and gave great views of everything.
After a quick drive down Sunset, Melrose and some other pretty well known streets, we headed up Mulholland Drive and had our first view of the famous Hollywood sign.
It was then on to the very plush suburbs of Beverly Hills, Hamby Heights and West Hollywood. We saw so many homes of famous people including Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire, Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Meg Ryan and Tom Cruise. We also saw the hedge where Lindsay Lohan crashed her car and started all her troubles, the houses where Britney Spears had her big breakdown and where Michael Jackson died.
One big highlight for me was seeing Dr Phil's house. It is just gorgeous. One of my favorite homes was the new place Simon Cowell has built. It is very modern, sleek and clean looking. He has two huge palm trees on each side of his driveway which cost him $10,000 each ..... yup $20,000 just for two trees!!!!
We finished off our day with a quick look at Madame Tussauds and dinner. Great day.
Monday and Tuesday were spent in Santa Barbara and I will write a separate blog on those two special days.
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