LA, baby
There are only two flights tonight from the airport and they both go to LA. In tradition of picking the wrong flight, I end up on the small, slow plane which leaves 20 minutes before, and arrives half an hour after the other choice. On a slightly decrepit 767, I am only one row behind Business Class, and when I stretch out my foot accidentally ends up under the curtain, and spends the night there. Closest I’ll ever get I reckon!
Sometime after leaving, we cross the dateline, which means that LA is 22 hours behind Fiji, and we arrive 9 hours before we left, shortly after 1 on the afternoon of the 10th. So pretty much a bonus day. Although quite confusing as it’s my second attempt at the same date.
Dreading the usual interrogation at immigration, it all goes quite smoothly, though I do think I rather put my foot in it when the man asked me why I was here. “It’s on my way home” might not have been the smartest answer. But it’s true, you can tell by it taking 11 months and just over 3 weeks to do half the world, and the last half is done in 5 days! Then he told me I should be going to Vegas instead!
LA… well it’s big and polluted, hazy when we arrive. I’m staying a couple of nights just off Hollywood Boulevard. The Walk of Fame stars (which you have to pay for, and aren’t just given in recognition), Kodak Theatre (home of the Oscars for the past 6 years) and Graumans Chinese Theatre (where many premieres are held, and where the hand and footprints are) are just a few minutes walk away. You can see the Hollywood sign from the window in the bar at the place I’m staying- something they are quite proud of. Apart from this, and failing to spot anyone famous, we take a tour round Downtown and the Spanish bit, back up through Hollywood and out along Sunset Boulevard, to Rodeo Drive and Beverley Hills. On the second evening, wander up through the park where the rich and famous might possibly be walking their dogs (but weren’t), and watch sunset over the city on a very hot evening.
Tags: Travel
Nick