Friday, September 04, 2009
Hatty James has embarked on a gap year adventure, travelling by plane, train and automobile around the globe for before heading to university to study social anthropology.
She is back-packing from Shanghai to New York via Bali, Australia and Los Angeles and sharing her experience with the readers of travelbite.co.uk. Here is her eighth blog entry:
After a lazy day, on Friday we set off on a road trip to San Francisco Tour with my travel companion, friend and her room-mate. We set off at 2pm and we arrived eight hours later at 10:30pm. Traffic on the 101. Fun!
We stayed the night in Santa Cruz with relatives of one of the girls and enjoyed the company of a crazy cat named Darwin. The next morning we set out for San Francisco Travel and once again hit traffic, trying to find the Golden Gate Bridge.
An hour of detouring finally found us at the bridge, but as our luck was going, it was foggy once again, and the bridge was obscured. We did have a nice drive over it.
Back into San Francisco, we visited Fishermans' Wharf and Chinatown, before going back to Santa Cruz driving past Height-Ashbury, where the hippy movement started.
We had Mexican food - a must when in LA - and headed back. I'd got my traveling companion hooked on the Twilight series so we'd spent several hours both nights reading it.
The next day we had to get back in the car to go all the way back to LA. This time we were taking a prettier route along the coast, which would take more time but had better views.
Another ten-hour journey ensued, with several traffic jams and an accident involving a motorcycle and car only a few metres ahead of us. We arrived back in LA exhausted after our day in the car, and ready to go to bed early, for we had to get up early the next day to go on a Hollywood tour.
Over-sleeping slightly meant a rush in the morning but we got up in time and arrived at a designated stop for the tour, bought our tickets, had breakfast on the promenade, and went to get on our bus.
We went on a half-day LA - Hollywood tour for the price of $59. We hit traffic at the very beginning of the tour, and went a somewhat convoluted way to Sunset Blvd, and then onto Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, where our tour guide showed us the houses (well, gates at least) of the rich and famous.
I got fully into the swing of the tourist thing, taking pictures of all the houses, only now have realised that I don't know what house belongs to whom. Oh well!
Next we were taken to Hollywood Blvd, where we saw the Chinese theatre complete with handprints and footprints, the Kodak theatre where the Academy Awards are held, then the walk of Fame where we saw the Stars of such famous stars like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse.
Our tour was nearly at an end, next came only the Hollywood sign, and the view of the Hollywood bowl, where the Beatles first performed in LA.
The tour concluded our LA visit and we spent the afternoon packing our spreading belongings, a skill acquired after nearly three months on the road, and settled down to watch Romeo and Juliet.
Tomorrow I fly to New York. LA has been an interesting place, a city of cities spread far and contained by mountains; humid and foggy until the sun burns it off midday or later.
We've explored it less then usual thanks to having an apartment to come back to but that has n't made it any less enjoyable.
LA is a strange place of mixed heritage and wannabe stars - after all we saw Paris Hilton driving by - and although a fun place to visit, I wouldn't want to live here.
What makes it worse, at least for me, is the fact that I can’t drink being underage in America, making the trip at less of giggle then it usually is.
Nevertheless, for those who want to spot celebrities, mix with the in-crowd and get a tan, LA is the place to go.
Source: travelbite.co.uk
She is back-packing from Shanghai to New York via Bali, Australia and Los Angeles and sharing her experience with the readers of travelbite.co.uk. Here is her eighth blog entry:
After a lazy day, on Friday we set off on a road trip to San Francisco Tour with my travel companion, friend and her room-mate. We set off at 2pm and we arrived eight hours later at 10:30pm. Traffic on the 101. Fun!
We stayed the night in Santa Cruz with relatives of one of the girls and enjoyed the company of a crazy cat named Darwin. The next morning we set out for San Francisco Travel and once again hit traffic, trying to find the Golden Gate Bridge.
An hour of detouring finally found us at the bridge, but as our luck was going, it was foggy once again, and the bridge was obscured. We did have a nice drive over it.
Back into San Francisco, we visited Fishermans' Wharf and Chinatown, before going back to Santa Cruz driving past Height-Ashbury, where the hippy movement started.
We had Mexican food - a must when in LA - and headed back. I'd got my traveling companion hooked on the Twilight series so we'd spent several hours both nights reading it.
The next day we had to get back in the car to go all the way back to LA. This time we were taking a prettier route along the coast, which would take more time but had better views.
Another ten-hour journey ensued, with several traffic jams and an accident involving a motorcycle and car only a few metres ahead of us. We arrived back in LA exhausted after our day in the car, and ready to go to bed early, for we had to get up early the next day to go on a Hollywood tour.
Over-sleeping slightly meant a rush in the morning but we got up in time and arrived at a designated stop for the tour, bought our tickets, had breakfast on the promenade, and went to get on our bus.
We went on a half-day LA - Hollywood tour for the price of $59. We hit traffic at the very beginning of the tour, and went a somewhat convoluted way to Sunset Blvd, and then onto Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, where our tour guide showed us the houses (well, gates at least) of the rich and famous.
I got fully into the swing of the tourist thing, taking pictures of all the houses, only now have realised that I don't know what house belongs to whom. Oh well!
Next we were taken to Hollywood Blvd, where we saw the Chinese theatre complete with handprints and footprints, the Kodak theatre where the Academy Awards are held, then the walk of Fame where we saw the Stars of such famous stars like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse.
Our tour was nearly at an end, next came only the Hollywood sign, and the view of the Hollywood bowl, where the Beatles first performed in LA.
The tour concluded our LA visit and we spent the afternoon packing our spreading belongings, a skill acquired after nearly three months on the road, and settled down to watch Romeo and Juliet.
Tomorrow I fly to New York. LA has been an interesting place, a city of cities spread far and contained by mountains; humid and foggy until the sun burns it off midday or later.
We've explored it less then usual thanks to having an apartment to come back to but that has n't made it any less enjoyable.
LA is a strange place of mixed heritage and wannabe stars - after all we saw Paris Hilton driving by - and although a fun place to visit, I wouldn't want to live here.
What makes it worse, at least for me, is the fact that I can’t drink being underage in America, making the trip at less of giggle then it usually is.
Nevertheless, for those who want to spot celebrities, mix with the in-crowd and get a tan, LA is the place to go.
Source: travelbite.co.uk
posted by wilson @ 6:46 PM
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