Three days in Los Angeles

Without thinking much about it, while we were in the bay we chose a hotel via the internet that was close to the airport...this did not turn out to be very wise since we found ourselves far from everything and the cost of a taxi is truly extremely high. We stayed anyway in a good hotel: THE ADVENTURER SUITE HOTEL at 4200 Century boulevard

laadventurerhtl@yahoo.com

I say good because it provides good services: -breakfast with coffee or tea and a very good muffin free (if you eat anything else you pay for it). -the afternoon snack. -at six to seven the champagne party all free. -24 hours a day there is hot tea or coffee available and a machine with popcorn always ready. -there's a heated pool running continuously that gave off its steam in contrast with the cool outdoor temperature. -free shuttle to the airport 24 hours a day. -they have lockers with a key at a cost of $1 where you can leave your backpack in case of early check out before flight time.

The rooms are truly spacious, the two we saw were both with two rooms, one like a living room, sofa, tv, fridge, and sink, and the other with a double bed and bathroom. They cost $79 per night. In the area there are lots of restaurants or fast food places to eat and there's no lack of choice: although honestly the food is by and large all the same. In the end we weren't unhappy with the choice of hotel anyway, also because in the end due to bad weather over Paris they cancelled our night flight and we had to wake up at five and having the shuttle waiting for us and getting to the airport in fifteen minutes was convenient; if we had been far away we would have had to get up even earlier. You assess your own circumstances and choose whether it suits you or not.

We take a walk along Century and we find lots of shopping malls and fast food places with the most unlikely and far-fetched names: Pollo Loco, Panda Express… not even a pizzeria where we can sit down (we're in withdrawal crisis). We go back to the hotel and ask about ordering one for delivery and they tell us you can also do it via the internet and since there's free wireless in the hotel we order a couple from Pizza Hut which arrive in about half an hour; naturally the service is excellent and the pizza almost fit to throw away... we make do!

We found ourselves with two and a half days to see Los Angeles and so, not having informed ourselves beforehand about what to do and see in Los Angeles, we opted for the only alternative offered by the brochure we found in the hotel lobby. ( They offered us various options for tours of various durations and therefore with various prices... We chose number 9, at the price of $230 (€164) for two people. City tour and Universal Studios, departure at 9:00 from the hotel and return by 19:30. They come to pick us up right on time and take us to their office where we pay and we're all sorted onto the various vans according to the tour chosen It's a beautiful sunny day, and the driver also acts as our guide explaining everything about the streets and neighbourhoods we pass through, but rightly we don't understand a thing.

The first twenty-minute stop is Venice Beach, there are guys surfing, guys playing basketball, just like we're used to seeing on television the stereotype of the Californian guy, baywatch tower included... It would also deserve a visit to its little alleys and its shops, but the twenty minutes are already over...we get back on and pass Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and the most expensive street in Los Angeles: Rodeo Drive, it feels like being in a '90s TV series or on the set of Pretty Woman We get off for lunch at the Farmer's Market, a forty-five minute break....there really is everything: a small market full of lots of little stalls to eat the cuisines of all countries, little shops with souvenirs and more...here too time flies quickly. We then head to Hollywood boulevard and the Walk of Fame, the street where on the ground there are the pink stars with the names of famous artists.

We get off for half an hour, time for the ritual photos with the Hollywood sign from afar, a walk along the Walk of Fame among lookalikes of superheroes and famous actors and a look at the Chinese Theatre. So much hurry though, not even time to buy a souvenir in peace! We dash off immediately towards the Hollywood hills… Skyline splendid, Los Angeles is an immense city closed between the sea and the hills and from the centre the skyscrapers of down-town rise up creating a spectacular effect… shame about the haze!

There's also an excellent view of the much-photographed giant HOLLYWOOD sign, we snap a few photos, "ten minutes, no more" and we get back on the van heading for Universal Studios... We immediately realise that an afternoon won't be enough for us... what to do? We decide to keep attractions like Gardaland "as a last resort" and focus on the actual Studios, where they show the special effects or how they train animals for films like "Evan Almighty" and in the end the tour of the sets such as Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives, the crashed plane from War of the Worlds or the Bates Motel from Psycho. We arrive at closing time, we only manage to do the House of Horrors... very nice, above all because instead of dummies or robotic movements there are real actors who jump out at you when you least expect it, giving you a heart attack...

not suitable for the faint-hearted! Shame we didn't get to enjoy all of it! We go back to the hotel, we're a bit tired... a look at the confirmation of tomorrow's flight... all ok, confirmed, now off to bed!

Today we have the whole day available, we put our backpacks in the security lockers and set off for our last day in L.A. We have a taxi take us near the museum from where we should catch the Hop-on Hop-off bus (which will take us around the city and which with a single ticket will let us get on and off at any stop along its route. We wait but nobody can be seen, we know it comes every half hour but so far not even a shadow of it. We set off on foot and reach the Farmer's Market where we have breakfast (again!) at Starbucks and finally we find the red open-top double-decker bus we were looking for. We buy the ticket ($30 each) and since it's a beautiful sunny day we sit on the open top deck, ready to snap our last photos of this trip.

After passing Melrose, the Fox Studios and the celebrity cemetery, we arrive in front of the Chinese Theatre where we get off to do a bit of shopping among souvenir shops and various megastores (Virgin!). We get back on and arrive at Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive where there's a concentration of luxury that's truly frightening! (interesting the woman with a personal shopper and a bulldog in a tulle skirt) We arrive at the more approachable Beverly Hills Shopping Center where we've decided we'll have lunch. Just out of curiosity I go over to the Apple Store where there's a wi-fi corner, just for one last check of our flights; they've told us there's a lot of snow at home and we wouldn't want any nasty surprises! Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong it will! Flight LAX-PARIS cancelled, and naturally nobody told us anything….

And now? We find a public phone because from the mobile we can't get through to Alitalia's automatic switchboard, and thanks to an interpreter from the telephone service and our credit card, we're on the phone for 40 minutes for $112 with an operator who didn't even know about the cancellation. In the end they rebook our flight with an LAX-NY NY-MXP departing tomorrow morning at 8:30… let's hope for the best! We end the day shopping and go back to the hotel where we get another room for tonight and book the shuttle for the airport (free) for tomorrow morning at 5:30… now off to bed, tomorrow will be a long day!

We arrive at the airport right on time and discover that we have to do the self-service check-in… thank goodness there's a Delta woman who assists us and everything goes smoothly in no time. Flight to NY uneventful, the only downside is that with the new year they've made the films pay-per-view and if you want to watch one you have to swipe your card… fine, music and satellite channels it is… At Kennedy airport a moment of panic, a one-hour connection and we don't even know which terminal we're in (there are 9 if I'm not mistaken!). We sort it out quickly and we're in front of the Alitalia gate… We're going home…the snow is waiting for us L