I’ve been very lucky through a mixture of holidays and business to travel in the last two years to the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy, Norfolk Island and particularly this year to the United States, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.
Given this site wasn’t active at the time of these trips, I will post a series of articles on at least the more recently visited destinations over coming weeks. Visits to the Asian countries were part of a 16 day cruise my wife and I went on in March/April, 2010. The trip to the United States was a 10-day business venture when I was working for New Holland Publishers.
So to start, how do you see Los Angles in half a day?
Well, those familiar with the city might have a variety of answers to that question and having only spent 24 hours of my life in L.A I am not going to profess to be an expert, so this is really more of an account of one half-day tour which I found fantastic for someone who is literally on a stop-over.
I arrived at LAX after the 14 hour flight from Sydney, which seemed longer than it really was because United Airlines haven’t caught up with the times for international flights and there is no personal entertainment unit, just the shared screen for their non-flexible movie schedule. Well, at least they are cheap.
By the time I found my way to the hotel and had checked in it was about midday and my initial idea – I had given it enough thought or research to call it a plan – was to get a taxi or some other form of transport to Hollywood Boulevard, get something to eat, roam around for a few hours and come back to my room and get some rest. After all the idea of the stopover was so I would be fresh for when I arrived at the conference I was attending in New York.
After a quick freshen up, on the advice of the concierge, I changed tact and opted to take a tour with VIP Tours of California. As with a lot of concierges, there was obviously a kick-back for him, but it was worth it. The cost of the 4.5 tour was US$55.00 – the same as advertised on their website- with $20 payable cash only to the concierge and the remaining $35.00 able to racked up to the credit card once at the tour company depot.
One of the benefits of VIP Tours of California in my case was that they operate this tour for people who are obviously staying over in airport hotels. I was picked up from my hotel at the Four Points by Sheraton near LAX, taken to their depot where we had to wait for about half an hour for other hotel pickups to arrive and off we went. By this time it was shortly before 2pm.
A Venetian canal - L.A style
The first destination was Venus and Venus Beach. After a quick drive around the suburb we were given about 20 minutes to look at the beach and the surrounding shops. This was about the right amount of time given the limited tour. As for the suburb, this is apparently a replication of Venus, Italy, with man-made canals. Having been to the real thing it is mid-twentieth real-estate marketing tackiness galore – welcome to America! We were told by the guide of the Venus Beach area being known for its surfing counter-culture and as being a place where people dropped-out, but you get the impression that reality has passed and what apparent counter-culture there is left is largely tourism dependant. Unfortunately we didn’t get to visit the most famous of L.A beaches, Malibu, but only saw it from a distance as we proceeded toward our next stop, the Farmers Market.
The drive to the Farmers Market took about 30 minutes, via Beverley Hills, the 20th Century Fox Movie Studios and the former MGM studios. Farmers Market was pleasant enough and a great spot for lunch. We were there about an hour and given this tour had to manage a balance of rest and sightseeing for the stop-over traveller it was an asset to the schedule. It was my first experience of what I have found as some of the best and worst aspects of American cuisine. The best: pizza by the slice. The worst: really bad coffee. There is also great shopping in fashion and other goods around the Farmers Market and the neighbouring The Grove precinct.
Our third and final destination followed a drive, but no stopping, down Rodeo Drive. We were on the coach for quite a while between locations, but given the landmarks flying by, no one seemed to mind.
That final destination was Hollywood Boulevard. To be fair on the tour company, our 4.5 excursion ended up being over 5 hours, but there simply wasn’t enough time in this location. We were dropped off near the Kodak Theatre and had about 40 minutes. By the time you visit the exterior of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with its famous celebrity hand and foot prints, have a stroll down the Avenue of the stars, have a look around the Kodak Theatre (exterior only) and absorb fleetingly the atmosphere of the single block that contains all of these icons and much more, you find yourself scrambling to get back to the coach.
Who is this - Justin Bieber?
One special aspect of the particular day I did the trip was the celebrations for the launch of the new Alice in Wonderland movie starring Johnny Depp. There was a teenager playing on-stage in the courtyard at the Kodak Theatre and I showed this photo around for weeks before working out (I think) who it was. It’s Justine Bieber -isn’t it? This was before his fame totally took off to the point where he was known by anyone beyond puberty.
Anyway, it took us a while to get back to the airport precinct, by which time it was after 7pm, time for dinner, bed and up and off to the airport.
The tour guide and quality of the coach was excellent and I really felt at the end of the day as I had the best slice of L.A as I could have in the time available.
That is my L.A in half a day. Any comments on what whether the limited time could have been spent better, if there is a better tour option from the airport would be appreciated.
- Date:
- Tour: VIP Tours of California
- Destinations: Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Farmer’s Market, Hollywood, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Walk of Fame, Century City, Avenue of the Stars, Sunset Strip.
- Cost: $US 55.00
As an Australian in the United States for the first time, this day was also my first introduction to a full-on tipping culture. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind tipping when that is what is done. This issue is more the embarrassment and the awkwardness of knowing who to tip, how much and when.
I got the hang of most of it during the rest of my trip – It is harder I think when largely travelling alone – but I still haven’t worked out the hotel doorman bit.
Ok, so it’s about a buck or so a bag. You pay the guy who brings the bags to the room. But are you also supposed to tip the guy who gets the guy to bring the bags to your room?
I was anxious and stuffed some cash in the first guys hand and he looked at me like an idiot, but I still haven’t worked this one out.
Don’t ask me for advice on this one, but if you have a clue, please let me know!
