Today was our first day exploring Los Angeles. We started late so as to miss the morning rush hour, which apparently is pretty terrible on the freeway from West Hills to Downtown. Our first stop was the Chinese Theatre. Unlike other major cities we have been in, parking was really easy and there was a car park right on Hollywood Boulevard. With validation it was only $2 for four hours! We spent some time looking around the shops by the Chinese theatre, and went for lunch at Quiznos for the first time. They toasted some cookies for us for dessert which were delicious.

After lunch we had a walk around Hollywood Boulevard and the Walk of Fame. It was interesting to see the stars, and we took pictures of a few. We also went to the Chinese theatre to see the footprints, handprints and signatures. Unfortunately some were covered up because they were preparing for a premiere that evening. Another essential site was the Hollywood sign, and we got great views from the 4th floor bridge at the Kodak Centre. While we were on the bridge we were standing near a tour guide and managed to overhear some facts about the sign’s history – very handy!

The rest of the afternoon was mainly spent driving around the Beverley Hills area. Instead of spending $44 each on a tour of the star’s homes we decided that since we have the car we would do it ourselves. The gift shops all sold handy maps of the main homes so we drove around and visited a few including Leonardo DiCaprio’s, Elvis’ last LA home and Michael Jackson’s home. The houses that weren’t behind tall gates were huge, and we were both jealous of the star’s getting to live there! To complete the tour of Beverley Hills we drove down Rodeo Drive and past all the premium shops. Unfortunately we didn’t see anyone famous today but we have a few days yet.

On the way back to Jan’s we made a return trip to the Chinese Theatre to see what was going on with the premiere. The film was Jackass 3D and we drove right past the red carpet (something you can’t do in Leicester Square!), where we saw the backs of some of the actors while they had their photos taken. The rest of the drive back was in mostly stop-start traffic on the five lane freeway for 25 miles. Its unbelievable just how many cars there are in LA!

This evening we tried out another American restaurant chain with the family: Red Robin. It was a diner type restaurant which did really good burgers (good burgers seem to be common in America!). After, we went back to the house and Lindsey made us fresh saucepan-cooked popcorn. It was perfect just like at the cinema, and is something I will definitely be doing back in England.

Photo of the day: Hollywood!