California Dreaming Part Two

After our brief stay in Monterey we went on to our next to last destination: Los Angeles. The first thing we did was to venture out of our motel in the Hollywood Hills to discover the north of the city. The sun shone on our heads while we strolled down Sunset Boulevard and enjoyed the sights, like the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater.

On our second day in LA we went to see Disneyland. At first I hadn't really wanted to go there, because I had rather spent the day exploring the city, but my boyfriend eventually convinced me to go. In the end I was glad that we went there, because we did have a lot fun.

After dusk we drove to Mulholland Drive from where we had an incredible view over the whole city. We stood next to the street in the chilly night-air and enjoyed the vista over the sprawling city beneath us. I was surprised that there were hardly any people up there, but on the other hand we wouldn't have gone there either if a waiter hadn't tipped us off. Another great viewpoint is the top-level of the Los Angeles town hall, from where we could see for miles in every direction.

In Malibu we finally managed to spend a few hours on the beach, although the water was too cold for me to go for a swim. Instead I lay down in the warm sand and watched my boyfriend getting nearly crushed by the huge waves.

After getting tired of (sun) bathing we decided to check out another one of our waiter's suggestions, the Santa Monica Pier. It's a long pier leading out into the Pacific Ocean with a fun fair on it. It also houses shops that offer milkshakes, ice cream, and other delicious food stuff.

That evening we followed the Sunset Boulevard in the opposite direction, and there was a surprisingly high number of tattoo- and sexshops to be found. Needless to say that we soon turned back.

Our last full day in LA led us to the Universal Studios. I was rendered speechless by how realistic and cool some of their rides were. I especially loved the Simpsons ride, because I'm a huge Simpsons-fan.

On our last day we drove to Griffith Park in the early morning, but unfortunately it was the day they flew the space shuttle to LA, so what felt like the whole city was up there trying to see the plane carrying the shuttle. Therefore the roads were closed and we didn't have enough time to walk up, because we had a six hour drive back to Phoenix ahead of us.