Loose in LA with a car...

Well, we finally did the deed and hired a car.  We have decided that we are driving from here up to Seattle.  While we could have fooled around renting cars for short periods of time, we have just hired one for the next three weeks.  I decided that we'd pay for one of those satnav things and it is really useful.

After getting the car, a new gold Toyota Corolla (only done 335 miles), we headed up to the Getty Villa for the morning.  This is a recreation by J Paul Getty of the Villa dei Papiri, a first-century Roman country house.  It is very well done, and it houses a treasure trove of various Greek, Etruscan and Roman artifacts.  We saw all sorts of pots, vases, busts, and statues.  Siobhan was particularly interested in the amazing glass work.  Some of the stuff there was amazing by today's standards, yet it was made over 2000 years ago.  The structure of the villa was also quite spectacular with mosaic floors, gardens and fountains.  They had a couple of particularly attractive features in the East garden:



















We then headed back to Gladstones which is a popular seafood restaurant, right on the beach.  It has amazing views out to sea, and pretty tasty food.  Alas, we didn't spot any "stars" who apparently frequent this place - either that or we didn't recognise them.

Siobhan then drove us into downtown LA.  We went all the way along Sunset Boulevard until we reached Hollywood Boulevard.  We got a park not far from the Kodak Theatre and went for a wander.  We saw the stars on the pavement of all sorts of people - we recognised the names of about half of them.  We saw where the plaque is for Lord of the Rings - Return of the King for getting best picture at the Oscars, all those years ago now.  The Chinese Theatre was closed as it was holding the World Premiere of the next instalment of the American Pie movies.  I'm sure that only the cast and their families will be turning up for that.  Just like Vegas, Hollywood Boulevard is crowded with people, and also has more than its fair share of people trying to foist various brochures and bits of paper (read crap) onto you.  At least in LA it wasn't adverts for hookers.  We quickly grew tired of that and as Siobhan had got us there, it was her job to get us back to Jo & Ian's leaving Hollywood Boulevard at 4.45pm.  We got home just after 6pm through the rush hour traffic which wasn't really that bad.

Off to San Diego tomorrow to see the Zoo, Safari Park and Seaworld, and then meeting up with Jo & Ian at the weekend for some Brewery tours.  I'm hoping we get to Ballast Point, the makers of Victory at Sea!