LA, Day 3



Inside California Adventure

It was an early start today to see G’s last performance and as we entered the parking garage to collect our car, we saw a film crew assembled. Someone clapped the board and shouted ‘Action’, then a car flew around the corner and into a parking spot, and out leapt Kiefer Sutherland! Seeing a star in action in LA – perfect!

G dancing with her troupe

Today G was performing at California Adventure Park, across the way from Disneyland. Same parking lot, same entrance fee. She danced under another hot blue sky at the Hollywood Backlot stage, watched by all of the families and friends of the dancers who had come from all over Australia. It was another excellent show and G did a fabulous job. We saw her afterwards to congratulate her, and left her with her sisters and friends to tackle the rides.

The transport from the carpark at Disney

We wandered back through the park and it does look like a great place to spend time. We’d agreed to see it all another visit, as we were so short on time this holiday and were more interested in seeing other parts of LA. I liked the look of California Adventure Park more than Disneyland, but I think that is because of my age. Both parks were full – it must be a sensational money maker. Parking costs $15 per car on entry, although we didn’t pay the first day when we arrived at 6pm. Disney closes around 7 or 8pm, but California Park stays open til around 11pm, so many of the people leaving Disney at night went straight across and into the other park.

The staff certainly know what to do and are friendly and efficient. It all works well.

We left just after noon and went in search of the Hollywood sign. We didn’t get as close as I’d hoped to, so I’ll have to investigate for our next visit. We drove through some fabulous neighborhoods, past beautiful houses and luxurious cars, up windy, narrow roads.

From there we started to encounter a little trouble with our navigation systems. I couldn’t get her to understand where we wanted to go and the map I had didn’t have sufficient detail to allow me to navigate without her. In frustration we stopped for coffee and came across ‘Five Guys Burger and Fries’. Dom had heard they made great burgers, and they really did. Highly recommended.

Fortified, we located Coldwater Canyon which led us to Mulholland Drive and some fabulous views both north and south. We drove down Benedict Canyon to Beverly Hills, admiring the beautiful houses along the way. It was a small and windy road, with a single house on each side wedged into the canyon walls.

We walked down Rodeo Drive and looked in the windows of the high end shops. There was not much there for people without Hollywood star bank balances, so we went back to Santa Monica to do a little more shopping, and have an early dinner at Trastavere, a restaurant I’d wanted to eat at since my first visit here in 1989.

We made our way down the coast road and found a carpark at Venice Beach in time to see the sun set on another glorious day. We watched the guys in the skate park for awhile with awe, and wandered the beach. The shops and stalls were all closing up for the day, so we didn’t stay long. There were no muscle men to be seen. Obviously it’s a place to visit during the day.

Continuing on down the coast we passed Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Rendondo Beach, which all had lovely ‘town’ centres with inviting restaurants and bars. All to be investigated at another time.