How to live on set

A pleasant discovery: Santa Monica

We arrive at 2:30 PM local time in Los Angeles and look for the free shuttle to the Hilton LAX, the strategic hotel we've chosen for these two days; in fact, it's 5 minutes from the airport and has a free shuttle (so we save on the taxi), plus it has an excellent quality/price ratio, and for excursions they pick us up at the hotel but we pay the same as those staying downtown. Just a shower and we go down to the reception to ask for info about Santa Monica, our first stop to visit. The guy informs us that the bus that takes us to our destination in about 30 minutes passes right in front of the hotel. We pay the ticket on the bus and as soon as we arrive at our destination we immediately understand that L.A. has nothing to do with New York. In fact, L.A.

presents itself as a much more livable city with less smog and many more open spaces; moreover, there's a stunning waterfront and the Californian sun... We spend a few hours shopping on Third Street Promenade (a pedestrian street full of shops and street musicians), a snack in a steak house, and it's already time to head back to the hotel. Tomorrow awaits a day full of commitments, and it's better to rest.

Universal Studios: how cool!

At 9:00 AM they pick us up at the hotel for the excursion we booked, which is a half-day tour of L.A. and half at Universal Studios. They take us to the tour agency's office, and after payment, they sort us based on the trip chosen. Tour of Venice, Santa Monica Beach, Beverly Hills, Hollywood (Walk of Fame), and a snack stop in the afternoon, tons of fun among the house of horrors, Terminator 2 3D, a train ride through Universal Studios complete with explanations and demonstrations of the special effects used in movie sets. We finish in style with Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, we would have needed at least a whole day to visit the entire park, but what we saw was enough for us to have a great memory of this place. We return to the hotel at 8:30 PM just in time for dinner, which we'll have at the Italian restaurant in the Hilton. It was a wonderful day, and we will always remember L.A.

with pleasure.

Another goodbye!

Again with the Hilton shuttle, we go to the airport where we'll take off for Phoenix. Los Angeles was truly a big surprise (positively, of course), and we're sorry we didn't extend our stay in this metropolis with a thousand faces.