O.C. California
After leaving San Diego we booked a motel room in Newport Beach which is part of Orange county. Orange county is technically not a part of Los Angeles but it kind of belongs to it. Together those two counties build the Los Angeles metropolitan area with a population of over 13 million people.
Newport Beach
One day we went to the beach. On the map the drive to the beach seems to be a small deed. But the traffic makes the trip a little bit more time consuming than we thought. Luckily it was Sunday and the parking spots in front of the school were free – both for us to park and we didn’t have to pay for it. I think it was the first time for me to enjoy the sun burning in over 30-degree (Celsius) hot weather in the middle of November. We even had to buy sun cream.
Shopping Day
The internet told me that one of the biggest shopping malls of the states is here in Orange County. Naturally we had to go and see it. The South Coast Plaza isn’t small when you look its size but the real greatness lies elsewhere: By turnover this mall is the biggest of the US with 1.5 billion dollars per year. If you walk through the mall you get a feeling why they have the highest turnover. All the expensive brands I can think of are found there. The prizes are high and therefore our wallets weren’t that loose =)
We both were looking for something specific to buy, therefore we drove to an outlet center nearby. I found the thing I was looking for: a replacement for my sneakers. In a Nike factory outlet, I found the next generation of my Free Runs with an even fancier color.
Extreme hiking
The extreme in the title might be an extreme exaggeration. The hour before sunset we were doing a little bit of hiking in a park we found on our way home to the motel in Newport beach. The park had its own small version of the Grand Canyon built out of mud =).
Transition to Hollywood with stop in Long Beach
After three nights in Orange county our urge to explore lead us to our next stop. On the way to our Airbnb accommodation we stopped in Long Beach. At first we were looking without internet guidance for a parking spot near the waterfront and we ended up in the industrial port. After having consulted “the google” we were successful in finding an affordable parking spot.
Before we wandered along the waterfront we had to strengthen ourselves. There was this restaurant with an owl in its logo. Never before have I been in one of them. But what was its name again? Hmmm, an owl makes huuuuuu-huuuuuu sounds, right? Hmmm, I think it might be something with the sound owls make, like huutili, huuumus, huuuutart, huuters. Huuters? It MUST have been something like Huuters, but I can’t remember what exactly =) Well, it was nothing special, but the curly fries were good.
Hollywood
My path lead me once again to the epicenter of the filming industry. And I wasn’t surprised by the traffic that welcomed us into Hollywood. This time I resided much closer to the Walk of Fame. 200m walking and you are standing on the pavement covered with named stars. Another 500 meters and you are standing in front of the famous TCL Chinese theater.
Warner Bros Studio
While Fabio was visiting the Universal Studios I went to the Warner Bros studio tour. Compared to the Universal Studios theme park it costs much less and consists of only a studio tour without any rides like you get in the Universal Studios.
A group of twelve including myself were driven around the WB studio while listening to our guide Courtney. The tour is much more immersive than the tour offered at Universal. From time to time our guide had to turn the microphone off because they were filming nearby. This tour felt more like a museum tour compared to the 3D-entertainment-ride a few miles’ south-west.
I very much enjoyed the tour and snapped some interesting photos at some historic places. I would recommend to go to the Universal studios and take the studio tour there for everyone visiting Hollywood the first time. The studio tour there isn’t on the same level as at Warner Bros but the package you get is much more appealing at Universal.
The Getty
The number one thing to do in Los Angeles was still a thing to do when I left LA the first time: the Getty center. The Getty center is a very big art museum that thrones over Los Angeles on a hill. The only thing you must pay to visit the center is the parking. Everything else is free to see. Once parked in the parking garage you enter a tram that takes you to the top of the hill. There the Getty center is waiting for you.
Paul Getty was a very wealthy man that enjoyed art. He decided to share his joy with other people for free and show paintings, sculptures, etc. with the people of Los Angeles. He no longer lives but his heritage continues. The center is comprised out of many buildings, together with the garden they build an artwork itself. There are 5 museum buildings that house changing exhibitions.
I casually walked through a few of them – like you might know, art isn’t really something I’m interested in. But I totally agree with the top rating of this place. There are a lot of people that help you out, everything is spacious, it looks fantastic and the view over Los Angeles are great. Definitely worth the visit.
On my way back to the apartment I drove through Beverly Hills. Nice curved roads and a very nice place to live =)
LA Kings
It took a long time until I got to enjoy my first NHL game here in the states. Yesterday I was there when the LA Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers 4 goals to 2 goals. I’m not the most frequent hockey match visitor but this game was something completely different from all the games I have seen.
For example, the stadium is mostly silent during the game, only when something happens they go crazy. No loud fan chores during the game, only when the music tells them they chant. Or when the home team shoots a goal, as you can see in the video below.
Another thing are the breaks every 5 minutes to clean the ice. Likely introduced to show some ads on the screens at home some skaters start to clean the ice after every 5 minutes played. All the breaks ended up making the game last nearly 3 hours with only 60 minutes of playtime =)
We spectated the game from a bird’s-eye perspective, our tickets were in the mezzanine. The tickets were relatively cheap with a little more than 30 dollars, the beer on the other hand with over 12 dollars not. A nice experience to see Americans in action watching sports. The stadium was packed with most of the 21’000 available seats occupied.
TSL Chinese Theater
Today we were where all the stars were before us: in the Chinese Theater. Not only for sightseeing but for a movie. For an affordable 22 dollars, we saw the newest Harry Potter film. Without Harry Potter in it but in the same “universe”. The film features the author of a book Harry Potter used to study magical creatures.
The film itself was awesome and worth watching but OMG, this theatre! It is the largest IMAX cinema of the world (by seats) and has the newest laser technology beaming a perfect picture to the screen. And the speakers aren’t only on the sides. You get your dosage of sound from the ceiling too. And to have a look at these speakers you don’t have to turn your neck in an uncomfortable position, you just lean back.
During my travel across North America I have been to a few IMAX cinemas but this one was the best by far. I can’t imagine what you can improve from this point on. It kind of sucks to go back to Switzerland and have to watch the newest movies in the Cinestar in Konstanz. There you only go to watch them, but here in the IMAX cinemas, especially in the one we have been today, you don’t ever get at home. You can go to such an IMAX on your own without hesitation, it’s not as much a social event. You are here to enjoy movies. Chinese Theatre – Just perfect, gotta love it!
Griffith with better sight
The day my parents and I left Los Angeles we went to the Griffith observatory in the morning. The view was great but the “real-life-drawing-distance” (visibility for non-gaming people) was bad back then. Today the visibility was much better and we stayed there for the sunset. Have a look yourself.
