Day 7
In contrast there are no signs of poverty the next morning as we cruise through Beverly Hills in the beautiful sunshine. Here, it is all affluence - Mansions, well kept gardens. Despite having little rain, there is no water restrictions, so sprinklers are working overtime even in the middle of the day. The cars are Porches, Mercedes, and the celebrities favourite; black Range Rovers with heavily tinted windows.
We took a taxi to the Hollywood Museum on Hollywood boulevard, which contains sets, clothing and props from the movies. Louise enjoyed the Marilyn Monroe exhibition. There are 10,000 items from the movies, including the Hannibal Lecter prison set. A quote from the actress, Lara Turner read "A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man"
We had lunch next door at the famous Mels drive, a 1950's diner (pictured above) - featured in the classic movie American Graffiti. The waitresses were all dressed in 1950's outfits with Varga girl tattoos.
Then it was back to the Kodak Theatre shopping centre for some shopping, and people watching. Louise bought some tops and dresses, for, well, again at least half the Australian price. I disposed of my stinky running shoes, when I bought a new pair of Sketchers walking shoes for only seventy dollars. Louise asked for the old pair to be sealed in a hazardous material bag!
In the forecourt of the Kodak theatre the Do Something Awards (pictured above) were being held. Louise and I waited outside the red carpet snapping photographs with the rest of the paparazzi. Remember Elizabeth Berkley from Saved by the Bell and Show Girls? No. Well, she was one of the celebrities we photographed, along with the cast of the TV series, The Hills. Even Andrew Van De Kamp (pictured below), who plays Bree Van De Kamp’s son on Desperate House Wives, was there. Lauren Conrad, from The Hills television series (pictured below) was there, cheered on by hundreds of young kids. In fact, we saw so many celebrities we have lost track of who is leading our celebrity spotting contest. To be fair, we didn't know who they all were, but the kids did. Perhaps we're too old for this caper!
Today is our last day in LA, the place they call the 'City of Angels'. However we didn't see any angels last night when the bus went through East LA and downtown on the way back from Disneyland. The one thing I was surprised to learn about America was how many poor people there are, and you don't pick this up from the movies or television. There are literally homeless people on every corner in some areas, scavenging through bins or talking to themselves. There is also a huge population of working poor, living in the sprawling suburbs of east LA, and with the minimum wage at $6.50 you can understand why. If you think about that for a minute, that’s only $260 week, so many people have to work two jobs to make ends meet. It makes you appreciate how well we have it in Australia, and how we don't want to end up like America.
In contrast there are no signs of poverty the next morning as we cruise through Beverly Hills in the beautiful sunshine. Here, it is all affluence - Mansions, well kept gardens. Despite having little rain, there is no water restrictions, so sprinklers are working overtime even in the middle of the day. The cars are Porches, Mercedes, and the celebrities favourite; black Range Rovers with heavily tinted windows.
We took a taxi to the Hollywood Museum on Hollywood boulevard, which contains sets, clothing and props from the movies. Louise enjoyed the Marilyn Monroe exhibition. There are 10,000 items from the movies, including the Hannibal Lecter prison set. A quote from the actress, Lara Turner read "A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man"
We had lunch next door at the famous Mels drive, a 1950's diner (pictured above) - featured in the classic movie American Graffiti. The waitresses were all dressed in 1950's outfits with Varga girl tattoos.
Then it was back to the Kodak Theatre shopping centre for some shopping, and people watching. Louise bought some tops and dresses, for, well, again at least half the Australian price. I disposed of my stinky running shoes, when I bought a new pair of Sketchers walking shoes for only seventy dollars. Louise asked for the old pair to be sealed in a hazardous material bag!
In the forecourt of the Kodak theatre the Do Something Awards (pictured above) were being held. Louise and I waited outside the red carpet snapping photographs with the rest of the paparazzi. Remember Elizabeth Berkley from Saved by the Bell and Show Girls? No. Well, she was one of the celebrities we photographed, along with the cast of the TV series, The Hills. Even Andrew Van De Kamp (pictured below), who plays Bree Van De Kamp’s son on Desperate House Wives, was there. Lauren Conrad, from The Hills television series (pictured below) was there, cheered on by hundreds of young kids. In fact, we saw so many celebrities we have lost track of who is leading our celebrity spotting contest. To be fair, we didn't know who they all were, but the kids did. Perhaps we're too old for this caper!
We went back to our favourite restaurant, the Cheese Cake Factory (pictured below), the next street over from Rodeo Drive, where we saw the Australian actor, Costas Mandylor coming out, who was in the TV series, Picket Fences. I had the Ranch House Burger, for the third time this week – the tastiest burger in the World.
Back at the hotel it was time to pack our bags, in preparation for our 7am bus in the morning to take us to Las Vegas.
HOT BREAKING GOSSIP: REMEMBER THAT PHOTOGRAPH ON DAY 3 OF DR PHIL'S MANSION. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU WILL SEE MEN REMOVING FURNITURE. IT TURNS OUT THAT WAS HIS WIFE LEAVING HIM! THAT'S RIGHT YOU HEARD IT FROM US FIRST!
