Beverly Hilton, a very glamorous celeb friendly hotel that hosts the Golden Globes each year. All was going well until Steve decided to get up mid breakfast and pop over to the nearby lobby shop for the newspaper. As he pushed his armchair back from the table things started to move in slow motion. The back of his chair collided with a 5 foot tall antique lamp, I screamed... but it was too late.....the lamp went tumbling over, smashing into a thousand pieces on the marble floor, the sound echoing throughout the hotel!!! Then the nightmare began...the whole lobby stopped dead, a huge collective gasp and hands over the mouths of the onlookers, I just wanted to sink into a big hole in the ground and I was sure if my face went any reddy it would explode! Staff rushed over while I apologised profusely, wondering in the back of my mind exactly how many thousand dollars worth of damage Steve had just caused. Then a male staff member approached me, "The Manager said that he is going to have to add the cost of this to your bill" he said. I felt the colour drain from my face and a lump in my throat. "Only kidding.." he laughed. Hilarious...I thought, as my heart started to beat again. We got up and left as I couldn't take the stares any more...and later in the day I bought a packet of muesli bars for our breakfast tomorrow morning...
Louise, and I are big fans of the "Hop on, Hop off" red double decker buses, which we used in Europe to get around to see the tourist sights. The concept is spread all around the world, including fortunately, Los Angeles. Today we took the bus around Beverly Hills and Hollywood, seeing such memorable sights as; Manns Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Wax Museum (where Louise got up close with Elvis - pictured), Guiness Book of Records Museum, Hollywood Cemetery, Melrose Avenue, Chateau Marmont Hotel, Sunset Strip, and Paramount Studios.We had lunch and then went shopping at the famous Farmer's Market and the Grove. Everything is about half the price it would be in Australia, and the customer service is simply outstanding. From the custom officers at the airport, to the hotel housemaid, everybody does their job well, and nothing is too much trouble. We also saw the "Viper Room"(pictured) , an insignificant black door with awning is the entrance to the bar, and is notorious as it is where River Phoenix dropped to the pavement and sadly died. A very unglamorous way to go...
