California Dreamin

Part two of spring break found Vlad and I on the other side of the country: Los Angeles, California!

After a 6+ hour flight from New York on Thursday, we got to LA around 10AM pacific time and were exhausted!  The plane ride felt short because we were in and out of consciousness the whole time.  When we arrived, we made the last minute decision to rent a car instead of relying on public transportation.  For the things we wanted to do, we figured spending the money on a car would be worth the time and hassle the car would save (which it did).  The most annoying part was even though I have a clean driving record, because I'm not 25+, rental companies jack up the car prices.

Once we picked up the car, we were leaving the area and noticed an In-N-Out around the corner.  Obviously a lunch break was in order. 

Not the Last Time we Made a Stop Here

From there, we made our way to Hollywood Boulevard in, you probably guessed it, Hollywood, and checked into our hostel.  Yes, the US does have hostels.  I was worried a bit because I had looked up the hostel in the JFK airport and on one website it said you had to have an international passport with you to be able to stay there.  Luckily when we checked in, we found out you just needed to have an out of state license.  Crisis averted.  We stayed in a 6 bed room but were the only ones there (until later that night) and decided to take a much needed nap.  Afterwards, we walked down Hollywood Blvd taking in the sights.

Let's have a little chat about hostels.  I'm not claiming to be an expert on hostel life but I have stayed in a fair few within the last year.  If there is a TV in the room, do not turn it up all the way and fall asleep with the remote hidden.  Do not wake up everyone else in the room because your sheet fell off the bed.  Do not complain about anything related to the room...you're in a hostel!  Talking to yourself is also something that should be done when there are not other people around.

While on a tangent, let's also talk about drivers in the LA area.  The majority of them either drive insanely fast or way too slow, there is no in-between.  No matter the speed, they were all just terrible drivers!  On the plus side, I only got honked at once which was in the parking lot returning the car.  Also, traffic was terrible.

Anyways on Friday, I got to finally have a proper childhood.  

We...
went...
to.... 
Disneyland!  

My only mental images of Disneyland are from this old VHS tape I watched all the time as a kid.  Although the park has changed a lot, it was fun to see some of the places I remember watching on the tape.  Since there was no line, we started off on Splash Mountain followed by the Haunted Mansion.  Some rides later, we rode California Screamin' at California Adventures which was our favorite of the day.  Being Friday of spring break, the park was quite crowded and the lines long but we made it work.

Dreams Do Come True...for $137

#NoFilter

We only had time for one day in the Magic Kingdom which meant we went all out.  Come hour 6, our legs were burning.  Add on all the walking we had done in New York and you have two very tired people.  We powered through and made it to the fireworks show over the castle (which is much smaller in real life) and then finally got to use our 10:30 PM fast passes for Space Mountain.  All in all, an exhausting but great day (with, of course, a stop at In-N-Out on the way back to Hollywood).

On Saturday, Vlad and I decided we deserved a sleep in.  When we were well rested and awake, we headed out to torture our legs again by hiking up the backside of the Hollywood sign.  The hike had a fair incline but wasn't too bad.  The top rewarded us with a complete, although hazy, view of the LA skyline and the backside of the Hollywood sign letters.

Behind the Letters

For lunch we went to a food cart the internet told me had good, authentic, Mexican food.  The internet never lies.  It was delicious!

That night, Vlad and I went to the Staples Center to watch the Clippers play the Pistons.  The Clippers won.  I hadn't been to an NBA game in a long time so that was fun!  Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis were there as well and we got to see them on the "kiss cam."

Basketball

On Sunday, the two of us got up and checked out of the hostel.  From there we headed down Hollywood Blvd again for a bit and then made our way to swanky Beverly Hills.  We both felt out of place and underdressed.  It was like being on 5th Ave in New York but even more uptight.  Sometimes I'm glad I'm not rich.

Vlad needed to film some for the Los Angeles portion of his YouTube video so we made our way back to Hollywood Blvd.  When shooting was done, we drove out west to the Santa Monica Pier.  It was dark by the time we got there which made the lights from the rides stand out more.  After hearing a restaurant owner yell at a patron for not paying, we got seafood at a place on the pier and then headed to LAX for our last airport overnighter. 

So Hollywood.  It was an interesting place to visit but I think a day is all I could take. Hollywood Blvd was the epitome of a tourist destination.  Every five steps you got aggressively asked if you wanted to go on a tour bus, massive crowds of people stood in the middle of the sidewalk unaware of their surroundings, and souvenir shops are as far as the eye can see.  Although we were only in Santa Monica briefly, it had more of the laid back California vibe I like.

Walk of Fame

TCL Chinese Theater

And that was unfortunately the end of spring break 2014.  I had such a great time hanging out with Vlad and seeing sites I may not have had the motivation to see otherwise.  I had forgotten how much I love being in the traveling state of mind and it's depressing to go back to school.  I always get some post travel depression when I get back from traveling.  It's been 5 days since getting back and I'm just now adjusting to normal mode.  On the plus side, only 2ish more months until graduation which hopefully means more traveling!   

Watch Vlad's video of us recapping spring break here.

That's all for now. Bye.