This is day 6 of my LA series. This was our last full day in the states and we spent it exploring Hollywood. You can check out the rest of my LA blog posts here and the vlog from the day here.
Wednesday 7th March 2018
We started the day by heading off to Pat and Loraine’s cafe over on Eagle Rock Boulevard for some breakfast. What is really awesome about this place is that it was used in Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Another really lovely thing is that our teachers, Alex and Mike, all bought us a drink. Being British I had to have a cup of tea! The only problem is, is that American tea doesn’t quite match our British tea! I also decided to have breakfast as apparently, this was one of the places to go for a good breakfast and oh weren’t they right! I had the BEST French toast I think I have ever had.
Whilst we were having our breakfast all of a sudden, this Mariachi band came out of no where and played a few songs for us. I think this was a surprise for everyone! It was actually really nice got have some music over breakfast and I don’t know about everyone else, but it made me fell pretty special! After breakfast we had the opportunity to act to a couple of actor friends of both Mike and Alex. It was real nice to talk to someone that is involved in the industry that I am DESPERATE to work in. So a massive thanks to both Jeff Daniel Philips and Poncho Moler for having a chat!
After this we met our crazy tour guide Brian, who basically knows pretty much everything about LA. I feel like he lives and breathes the celeb culture, so you ask him anything about your fave celeb and I bet that he will know it. Brian was great as drove us past some iconic locations such as the Walk of Fame and the Chinese theatre plus he also told us about all the films that had been shot in and around Pasadena.
We were lucky enough to be able to get out at some of these locations and have some cute pics. The first location we went to stop at was The Gamble House. Brian said that the first person to guess what movie this house was in won a prize. I brought my A game to this as I was 100% going to win! No doubt about it! I saw it and instantly recognised it from one of my all time fave movies. It was Doc Brown’s House from Back to the Future. Obviously, I was first to guess and I won a nice box of Starburst which I was a good person and passed to around to my friends and gave them a couple of sweets. This was honestly such a good moment for me, as I love Back to the Future, it was just insane.
We jumped back on the bus and moved on. The next place we stopped was one of the houses used in the film Halloween. (No prize for guessing this one!). This house was really great as they actually embrace the fact that they live in a house that was used in a movie. What the owners do is that they leave fake pumpkins outside the house so you can have a picture with that iconic pumpkin sat on the step of the house. The only thing that they ask is that you replace the pumpkin. I thought that this was such a lovely gesture, considering other houses had put massive gates up outside their house to stop trespassers. It was just different and refreshing to see someone embrace the fact that they live in a movie house.
The next stop was a pub. Joking. It was actually a building that they use as the exterior for Paddy’s Pub in the hit TV show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. At the time, I was not interested in this at all. I had no idea of the show and was not interested. However, ever since I have got back from the trip I started watching the show, and now I cannot believe I stood outside the legendary Paddy’s Pub. WHAT?!?! I am now obsessed with this show and you should 100% check it out on Netflix. Whilst we were there they were shooting some big movie down the road, so unfortunately the view was blocked slightly of the actual building because of all the film trucks. But thats ok, I still went to Paddy’s pub!
We made our way towards Hollywood, but first we stopped off at the Griffith Observatory. This has been in many a film such as Rebel Without a Cause and La La Land to name a few. This was great as we also got an opportunity to have that classic photo in front of the Hollywood sign. Unfortunately, it looks quite small in my photos so I will have to find a location where you can get great Hollywood sign shots for my next visit! The views from up here are insane though!
We made our way into Hollywood itself and drove past all the stars. We then popped into the Hollywood Museum. This museum is FULL of different outfits and props from different movies and TV shows. You name it, they probably have something there for it. It was amazing to look at so many different things from films and TV shows that I loved. I think the few highlights for me were seeing one of Hannah Montanna’s dresses AND seeing the Ruby Red Slippers. I actually studied The Wizard of Oz for my film studies coursework in the first year of film and it was just so emotional to see the real things in front of me. LIKE THOSE ARE THE REAL RUBY SLIPPERS. Unreal! I don’t think I will ever forget that moment. I actually shed a little tear at the site. It was all too much for me!
After this we dropped Brian off after the amazing day and said our goodbyes. We were then taken back to the hostel for a little relaxation time before dinner. When we dropped off Brian, the sun was setting and let me tell you, LA honestly has the best sunsets I have ever seen. There were so many colours in the sky. It was beautiful.
We had some time in the rooms before heading off to dinner. For our last meal as a group together we were going to Bubba Gumps. I think I had been excited about this for most of the week. Only because we got to pick what we wanted to eat beforehand and I went for fish and chips! YAAAASSSSS! I was beyond excited for this food! Also, I was super excited as this was a Forest Gump themed restaurant, and I love me some Forest Gump! This restaurant was so cool and I may have bought a few things from the gift shop for myself! 😂
If you would like to see this day in vlog form them check out my vlog here.
I had another really great day exploring Hollywood. I would like to go back so I can properly see the Hollywood Walk of Fame and take pics of all the stars that I want to see and I would also love to go and explore the Chinese Theatre and have a look at all the hands and feet properly. It’s all an excuse to go back really!
