Back in the west coast of US yet again! Generally I’m not that keen on LA ( the 2nd largest city in USA) but spring is the wrong time of the year to check out the grand canyons and Vegas so I had time to explore the city.
In LA… one naturally associates it with Hollywood. Land of glamor and stars and the theaters hosting their premiers. Well… I missed the Academy Awards by one day. Still I had to view the Hollywood Walk of Fame which is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood. It’s really nothing that great… just stars on the side walk… but there are about 2000 of them in the 3 and a 1/2 miles of sidewalk.
Some interesting things you might wanna know about it.
– Muhammad Ali had his star on the Kodak Theater Wall instead of on the sidewalk like everyone else cause he didn’t want to be “walked on.”
– Britney Spears and Melissa Gilbert are the youngest people to accept the walk of fame star. They were only 21 years old.
– Mickey Mouse is the first cartoon character to get a star but he had to wait till his 50th anniversary!
Another landmark site is the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre where many premiers and award ceremonies are held. Though the new home of the Academy Awards Ceremony is now next door at the Kodak Theater.
In front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater know as ” The Forecourt of The Stars”, there are 200 cement slabs with various stars hand/foot prints and signatures. It’s not always typical hand and foot prints cause famous horses have had their hoofs printed… Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson of Harry Potter had their wands printed and some other stars have had cigars… ice- skating blades… noses… legs and fist printed.
I took pictures of the more recent stars print… Will Smith’s prints are really nice and deep. And sexy Johnny Depp’s ones are on the right side to the entrance of the theater. The only non-star to have prints is Grauman’s mother. =)
Tourists and touts are galore… with many of them in costumes from shows like Pirates of the Caribbean and Frankensteins. The Johnny Depp look-a-like was really good… but cheepo me didn’t wanna dish out any moolahs to take pictures with them so I kinda just moved aside whenever they approached me.
I went to the nearby Hollywood & Highland Center for lunch and a bit of shopping. Most of your big brand names can be found there. I love how they did this Victoria Secrets store sign in Mosaic with the patterned arch.
Large white elephant Statues can also be seen at the top 4 corners of the center.
Right outside California Pizza Place (where I had lunch) there is this huge bed with viewfinders at each side. On a lovely day like the day I had… you can see the famous Hollywood sign on the hill in the distance.
