Hollywood, Los Angeles - Part Dos

Saturday, we took the hop on/hop off bus which does a circuit of the greater Hollywood area. While we waited for the bus, I got to meet Cat Woman and Sha got to meet Elvis.

The bus allowed us to see many great Hollywood sites (from the bus) such as:

The Viper Room, where River met his maker

Strange but oddly alluring art work in Beverly Hills

In Rodeo Drive, the street lights are so flash they keep them in glass cases

Farmers Market toffee apples

The stop that really took our fancy was the Farmers Market (no, not because of the toffee apples). There was a store (among many others) called Shine Gallery which specialised in retro and vintage Americana - Dave, I think you would have really liked this.

We also popped across the road to a giant organic/whole food market and this was amazing - while we hunted for fresh organic produce the sound of rolling thunder was piped over the vegetable section, we saw kosher wine (very handy Pauline!) and it’s obvious that NZ has a monopoly on lamb (well, the really ‘good stuff’). It also becomes obvious that the food labelling here is far better than in NZ which goes to show what consumption worship and litigation can do for a country. Other things that caught our eyes were lime, lemon or orange flavoured ice cubes (all natural of course) and we also picked up a bottle of California Chardonnay to try later.

Further things on interest on the bus after the Farmers Market were:

Statue of a woman on a bull with a baby clinging to her neck...what is going on here?

Is that Jimi?

Shirley Temple is a Star...

Me at one of Sha's idols...

A few other things…

• The number of people who are walking around with Bluetooth headsets is astounding and reminds me of the Rise of the Cybermen episode from Doctor Who.
• Beggars seem to be everywhere asking for spare change and some asked us for money for marijuana ‘research’...well at least they're honest.
• American football seems to be more about running rather than tackling, but we only watched 20-30 minutes of highlights.
• We can recommend La Cantina on Hollywood Blvd for half price starters and drinks from 3–7 pm every day of the week. The food was excellent, so if Mexican is your thing and you’re ever in Hollywood, check them out.
• The whole tipping thing is pretty straight forward – add 15% to the total food or drinks bill. Add more if the service is exceptional.
  

We capped off the evening by going to see the Guy Ritchie film RocknRolla. It's a brilliant film, especially for those of you who enjoyed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. It starts well, although I felt it flagged a little in the first half but picks up about halfway and then just rolls. Fingers crossed the sequel is made as I was left wanting to know what happens next.

That's all for now. Tomorrow - Universal Studios!