Getting to Know the Stars (6-17)

We woke up early today, to get a head start on all of the things we wanted to see in Hollywood. Our first stop was to go and get tickets for the LA City “Stars” Tour. Fortunately, when we arrived we were able to get on the first tour of the day.

On the tour we saw a lot of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, BelAir and the Sunset Strip. Our tour guide told us about all of the different celebrities that live along the route, including Michael Jackson, Monica Lewinski, Sharon Stone, Ozzie Osbourne, Christina Aguilara, Tom Cruize, David Beckham, Michael Tyson, Britney Spears, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and a few others. We didn’t get to see any of them but it was interesting to see where Michael Jackson died and the Elvis Presley estate. We then drove down Rodeo Drive and saw all of the fancy shops and boutiques that we could never afford.

After the star tour we headed over to the Hollywood and Highland Center to grab something to eat at the French Crepe Company. Michael had crepes filled with eggs, cheddar, sour cream, and spinach, while Jacqueline had a piece of pizza. We split a desert crepe filled with strawberries, bananas, nutella, and whipped crème. They were great!

After lunch we wondered along Hollywood Blvd. and looked at all the Hollywood Stars on the ground. We also saw the Kodak Theater and Chinese Theater. We then headed over to Madam Tusauds Wax Museum to see the fake stars in person. It was a lot of fun.

 After the wax museum, we made our way over the hill to Burbank where we took a tour at Warner Brothers Studios. At the studio we were brought all around the back and front lots. We saw the set for “Pretty Little Liars”(where they we actually shooting a scene!) We were able to ride right next to A’s house. We also saw the set of the show “Chuck”. On the lot they also film “Big Bang Theory”, “Two and a Half Men”, “Mike and Molly”, “True Blood”, and many of the movies that we have seen including the Harry Potter movies, the Batman movies (new and old), and “The Hangover”. We also got to see the set of "Friends" and sit in the cafe set! It was really cool to see all of the different ways they create a set and use the same set for different places. We also got to see the props and costumes from many of the movies and TV shows at the WB Museum. We even got to try on the actual Sorting Hat used in the first Harry Potter movie! According to the hat, both of us are in Gryffindor.

After the studio tour we got Chipotle for dinner, which was almost right next door, and headed up the mountain back to the Griffith Observatory to see the telescope and LA at night. It was beautiful to see the sunset and then all of LA’s lights turn on. You could even see the grid of street lights from our view over the city. At the observatory we also got to look through the huge telescope at Saturn!

After we took some pictures of LA at night we headed back down the mountain to the LA Museum of Contemporary Art, where they have an outdoor exhibit of 42 street lamps. This exhibit has been in many movies including most recently “No Strings Attached”. After our long day we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. See you tomorrow.