USA Day 9. Griffith Observatory

We took it a bit easier today as I had some feet that were feeling rather sorry for themselves! We didn't waste the day though as once the midday sun had pasted and it wasn't quite so scorching we set out on a little walk up to Griffith Park. We did look into catching a bus or a metro but they just didn't really go up that way. As it was it was a really nice walk!

We looked into (for quite a while) alternatives for doing the hour long walk, but the metro doesn't go up that way and the only time a bus ever runs to the Park is on the weekends. As it was, it was a really nice walk that had a couple of lovely views along the way up 

I definitely didn't force Damien to let me take this pic :D

The view on the way up out over LA

And when we finally reached the top and saw the domes of the Observatory up close

We had a walk around the base, taking in the views (and the art deco architecture) in daylight before the sunset where the landscape would completely change 

I really loved the view from the Observatory - you can really get a bit of an idea of how sprawling Los Angeles actually is, it seems to just carry on endlessly on the flat plane

I also might have got a bit giddy about getting to see the hollywood sign!

Our Subway picnic :p 

I really loved the picnic spot out over the lawns and Hollywood hills - the timing was also perfect so that it wasn't too hot to enjoy sitting outside but it wasn't cold either!

Afterwards we decided to head inside the Observatory itself since Damien wanted to see a view bits inside, and a couple of the exhibits were actually quite interesting 

Out of all the different scientifically interesting sections they had, the one that got me excited was this little screen. It's a heat sensor/detector thingy that shows the temperature of whatever is in front of the camera! I was just fascinated by it and Damien might have had to drag me away so the children behind me could have a go… This pic is of Damien's sunburn that's gone past red all the way to white!

And to show the difference in temperature between my hands and Damiens, mine is the yellow one and Damien's is red! What was really cool was once he let go of my hand the screen showed red impressions on my skin where his hands had warmed mine up!

There was also this coil thing, that I really should find the name of that was used or sending electricity wirelessly, and looked pretty cool when it was turned on!

 The downstairs space exhibits were really interesting and I'll probably include more photos later.

The  interactive section where you could find out your weight on the various planets, so how the gravity varies from planet to planet was pretty cool too. 

But as soon as I noticed the sunset I dragged Damien outside to watch the sunset over the hills! There's just something about sunsets that I absolutely love and the one over LA has got to be one of my favourites, it was all red with touches of orange

Once the sun was down the view over LA really became amazing! I completely adore this photo and it captures the moment perfectly!

And to finish off, a little picture of me, looking slightly scary because of the flash! 

Today was really lovely, I can only hope tomorrow is just as good!!

USA Day 8. Santa Monica

We managed to fit quite a lot in today and make the most of the beautifully hot weather! After breakfast (where they have a little omelette stand where you pick what you want in it and a chef will cook it for you) we jumped on the Metro down to Hollywood Boulevard!

we technically got off a stop early, so we got to see the majority of the walk, and managed to spot a fair few famous people! My favourite bit was definitely seeing the bit in front of the Chinese Theatre though where their are hand/shoe prints

(he's got small feet!)

After comparing hand sizes we were distracted by this 'little' shop - the biggest candy shop in America apparently! There were all sorts of bits and pieces, the best bit was definitely the stairs outside though

I didn't even notice until Damien mentioned it but it's a giant piano! There are little motion senses so you make noise as you walk up and down (no small part of me was tempted to spend the day running up and down making a racket!)

From there we found the bus stop and jumped on two buses to Venice Beach (I let Damien figure it all out so it's entirely thanks to him that we got there). Look at the size of this gummy bear!

As we walked along the little shops lining the beach I spotted this little menu in a fast food place… I don't even know what to think about deep fried oreos and twinkles, I feel a little ill thinking about it!

After grabbing some water we made our way to the beach!

With a quick stop at this skateboarding park

before quickly heading down to the waterfront to avoid the hot sand and paddle in the Pacific Ocean

Couldn't resist taking a cheesy photo of our footprints in the sand

We decided to walk from Venice Beach up to the Santa Monica Pier and it was a really lovely little walk along the beach!

it was weird seeing the little blue life guard houses!

Santa Monica Pier was a lot smaller than either of us imagined but it had really pretty views over the beach and it was nice to just stand and enjoy the view for a little bit

Damien also spotted quite a few fish swimming about underneath us!

After mooching about on the pier we headed into Santa Monica itself and wandered around the shopping areas

loved this Dinosaur fountain

Now there's a bit of a story that occurred between these two photos…

We eventually saw everything we wanted to in Santa Monica and we were getting hungry so we googled the directions and set off back down to Venice Beach to find the Cheesecake Factory. I really wanted to go there since it's often featured on one of my favourite TV shows and it was only meant to be an hour or so walk, all I can say is I've no idea how long we were actually walking but it felt like a life time.

I'm not entirely sure why, but just getting to Venice Beach seemed to take an age, possibly because it was along uninspiring roads instead of the ocean, or the lack of ocean breeze, or maybe it was just because we were hungry but I swear it took us 3 times as long as it did in the morning!

The fun really began when we started looking for the restaurant. We followed the directions google maps told us to but after walking for what felt like hours (although it was probably just 20minutes) we were pretty sure this was taking longer than it should have, so we checked the map, and then checked it again, and again.

Eventually we realised the map must have been wrong as we had definitely gone past the point the map said the restaurant was at.. Eventually Damien asked a librarian (we stumbled across a library) and turns out google maps had told us to go the wrong way down the road! We were about half an hour in the wrong direction!

Long story short we got there, and thankfully we got a table! there was quite a big queue and a lot of people were told it was a 45minute wait, but since it was just the two of us they squeezed us in! Dinner was delicious. And dessert? Decadent is the only word I can think to describe the incredible cheesecakes we ordered (I got Chocolate Tuxedo and Damien ordered the Oreo one)

Want to know the best bit about our little adventure to get to the restaurant? We print screened the directions and in the opposite corner to where the directions told us to go was a little label showing where the cheesecake factory. All I can say is it just shows how much sun we had that we both looked at that map countless times and neither of us spotted that the directions led away from the label. 

USA Day 7. Hello LA

Today wasn't necessarily the most interesting day to write about, but it was fun and my first day in LA! I woke up and checked out (not before managing to wake up everyone in my hostel room, despite attempting to be quiet) and caught a shuttle to the airport. Check in was smooth and before I knew it I was on my way to LA. From LAX I caught another shuttle to union station.

The drive from LAX to Union Station deserves a little mention, the driver was utterly crazy. It was one of those vans that picks up a couple of people at the airport and then drops them all over town well this driver had a screw loose. Ignoring the insane driving (I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to make it) a guy managed to just jump off at his stop without paying, and the driver didn’t even notice. In fact 10 minutes later when we’re down the road he screeches the breaks yelling at me and the 3 other passengers that 2 people not just the one girl (who he saw and made pay) were supposed to get off at that stop. When we finally convinced him none of us wanted to get off there and that 2 people had in fact gotten off there did he drive on.

Then after getting a suitcase out for a woman he drove down the FREEWAY with the backdoors wide open! It’s a miracle that we all survived and we didn’t lose any luggage! He was also pretty grumpy I didn’t have exact change..

Anyhow I got to Union Station alive, and spent the next hour or so in Starbucks attempting to cool myself down since the building didn’t have air con and it was beautifully hot in LA.

Damien arrived and we then set about figuring out the metro system to get to our hotel, it looks pretty simple so we’ll definitely be making use of them! That’s it for today – tomorrow we’re off to the beach!