California Part 4: Hollywood Hills

Statement of fact: you cannot visit the Los Angeles area and not see Hollywood. It's at least a one-time experience! We drove up from Santa Monica through the hills, passing through Beverly Hills and Bel Air along the way. Needless to say, passing through these extremely luxe neighborhoods was a beautiful experience. Yet, it was surreal to see so many gated houses, perfect streets, and everyone driving Porsches (seriously...).

This photo is not mine. View original image here.

We headed to the Griffth Observatory, a beautiful building that sits on the edge of the Hollywood hills. From there, you could see the Hollywood sign and look over the city itself. We honestly could have spent hours sitting on the lawn people watching. It was so beautiful. When we walked around the back of the observatory, we noticed that there was a fashion photo shoot happening on the side of the building.

 

We had to see the Chinese Theater, of course. I could not believe how many people were in Hollywood. The closer we got to the theater, the more people seemed to crop up. Also, side note: did you know that Shirley Temple is still alive?? I didn't either...

This is the El Capitan theater where tons of movie premieres are held. When we visited, they were setting for the premiere of Planes.

The Dolby Theatre is where the Academy Awards (aka the Oscars) are held each year. I really wish I could have gotten more pictures because it was so massive and beautiful, but again, the amount of people around made it impossibly to stand and observe for more that a few moments. Also, this theater is right across the street from El Capitan, and sits next to the Chinese Theater so there are three major theaters right in the same location. I definitely knew I was in Hollywood!

The Walk of Fame was pretty cool to see; I had no idea how many stars there were on the sidewalk! When we decided that we had soaked up as much of Hollywood as we could, we turned back and ate lunch at a great little restaurant called Urban Masala. It featured Indian cuisine and they even had a tandoor oven! It was great to find a place that was set apart from the McDonalds, Popeye's, and other fast food chains that seemed to dominate the block. Plus, their food was pretty darn good!

Stay tuned for more!

California Part 3: Universal Studios

On our third day in California, we had to visit Universal Studios! I was surprised by how massive their studio lot and amusement park was. The park/studio was on two "levels," as it is mostly on a large hill. In the above picture, you can also see their neighbors, Disney and Warner Bros Studios.

We started things off by taking a studio tour that takes you through their lot (hosted by the great Jimmy Fallon!). This tour is a must if you go to their amusement park. You get to see external sets from some of the most famous movies like Back to the Future, Psycho, Jurassic Park, and many others.

This is the city hall from the Back to the Future movies (minus the clock on the top) where the lightening had to strike.

This, of course, is the Bates Motel from Psycho. They even had the creepy house on the hill behind the motel. It was really creepy...

This is an example of a facade. In fact, in many movies when you see people walking down a street, or in an outside setting, it may simply be a facade. This scene from Bruce Almighty was filmed in front of a facade that was also on the Universal Studios lot (the inside scene was shot on another sound stage). 

Remember that movie War of the Worlds? This is a actual plane crash set that they used in the movie. It was pretty cool to see!

Sound stage where The Voice is filmed. 

If I may gush for a moment, the Transformers 3D ride was AMAZING. Yes, we waited in line for almost 2.5 hours, but it was worth it! I forgot that I was on a ride for a minute... Also, I've got to give Universal Studios credit- they know how to keep you entertained while you're waiting in line. They had an entire scenario built into the ride itself to make you believe that the ride you were waiting for was some kind of mission. The waiting area was also decorated like the set of Transformers. 

Also, the guys who dressed up as the Transformers were crazy good. I kind of felt bad for them though... It was SO hot and they had to entertain a crowd of people who wanted to get their picture taken with them. A.k.a my worst nightmare.

We finished off the day with a few more rides and some shows. Guys, the dog up there played Marley in Marley and Me!! He was awesome.

Have a lovely Labor Day weekend!