Hollywood and Beverly Hills

Looking at the “glitz and glamour” of Los Angeles, let’s peep into Hollywood…..

Hollywood

This neighbourhood of LA needs no introduction. Well known for it’s association with the US film industry, it is home to many of the famous studios like Paramount pictures, Sony , Universal and WarnerBrothers.

As we drove along Melrose Avenue, we saw some of these renown studios…

Paramount and Universal studios

Steven dropped us off near the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.

The Walk of Fame lies on Hollywood Boulevard where more than 2700 stars are embedded along the sidewalk. These stars bear the name of achievers in the film industry including actors, musicians, singers, directors and fictional characters. Some have multiple stars in their name…

Hollywood Walk Of Fame with the embedded stars

Hollywood Boulevard and one of the stars!!

We walked along the sidewalk looking at the embedded stars trying to find familiar names and there he was, a cut out of Micheal Jackson near one of his stars.

If one wants a picture with one’s name on the star, it can be done on payment.

Cutout of Micheal Jackson and having a picture with one’s name on one of the stars!!

At Hollywood Boulevard near the Walk of Fame is the famous Chinese Theatre.

The Chinese Theatre premiers many of the hollywood movies and is also the venue for birthday parties and corporate events. One of the peculiarities is the forecourt where concrete blocks on the floor bear the signature , hand prints or foot prints of famous motion picture personalities.

The Chinese Theatre

The signatures and limb impressions outside on the walkway

Another attraction on Hollywood Boulevard is the Dolby Theatre which is a live performance auditorium and also the venue for the annual academy awards.

Dolby Theatre

The El Capitan Theatre

Owned by Walt Disney Company, this serves as the venue for premieres of Walt Disney films.

El Capitan Theatre

Hollywood Wax Museum

Featuring wax replicas of celebrities, this museum is one of the attractions on Hollywood Boulevard.

The Hollywood Wax Museum and Marilyn Munroe in wax…

Besides this, the Hollywood Museum featuring memorabilia from Hollywood and Madame Tussaud’s are other attractions at Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Museum and Madame Tussaud’s

Hollywood Boulevard also hosts many restaurants and pubs besides plenty of street vendors selling a variety of food items.

A cafe and street food

Besides this, shopping opportunities are also plenty here. Most of them deal with Hollywood memorabilia and souveniers. Tourists throng these shops and they do brisk business!!

But I must admit that my mental picture of Hollywood was not what I saw. I had imagined it to be more posh and stylish. Much to my surprise, the Walk of Fame was like any other street except for the stars. It neither looked posh nor clean. Most of it looked dated and worn out!! As we walked along, touts kept thrusting pamphlets at us for various shows which kept us tense as we had been warned of pickpockets. All in all, my impression…overhyped place!!!!

A variety of shopping experiences !!

Soon, we were headed to Beverly Hills….

Hollywood and Beverly Hills are inseparable. Home to the rich and famous from Hollywood and elsewhere, it has an upmarket shopping street named Rodeo Drive. Celebrity homes are the speciality of the area. Some high end hotels and restaurants dot the roadside and Steven had a story to say about each of them and how they were connected to a celebrity!!

Parking is extremely difficult here with heavy penalties and so Steven took us around and dropped us off at a spot promising to pick us up again after an hour. So we walked along looking at the shops and hotels.

The Beverly Hills Hotel with its poolside cafe and Beverly Gardens Park with the pink “Beverly hills beautiful” sign was a photo spot….that is my featured image today…

Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Hotel which was supposedly President Obama’s favourite

Upmarket shops and a wine shop where one has to fix an appointment to enter!!!

Steven was waiting at the appointed time for us and we all got back into the bus with memories of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Dropping us off at our hotels, he bid goodbye to us as we bid goodbye to Los Angeles. We flew back to India from LA marking the end of a wonderful trip to Alaska.

So, with this episode, the series on Alaskan Adventures concludes. However much I enjoy the country I visit, the feeling of flying back to one’s motherland is something undescribable….See you next week in Bharat….our own Bharat….

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