Los Angeles

Hollywood Sign, originally uploaded by Frickley.

We arrived in LA at 6pm local time after an extremely long and tedious journey. Feeling tired, we decided to go out straight away and get some lunch/breakfast/dinner (our body clocks were so confused by the traveling and time differences, we weren't sure what it was!). Just over the road from the hotel is an 'all American' diner called 'Jan's' - with booth seats and a menu with the greatest choice of food we have ever seen. Needless to say the portions sizes were also 'all American' - our table looked as though we'd had an absolute feast by the time we'd finished! They certainly know how to feed a couple of weary jet-lagged travellers!

After a very early night, we got up the following day early as we wanted to make the most of our time in Los Angeles (we're only here for 1 full day before going on to New York) and booked a full day-tour of sight-seeing. The tour took us to all the key places - Hollywood Bowl, Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are held each year), Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theatre (where there are hand & footprints of lots of stars). Did you know that the infamous stars that adorn the walk of fame (all 3000+ of them) are actually paid for by the stars themselves. They actually cost $15,000 each - once we found that out, it took some of the glamour from them. Apparently the hand & footprints are regarded as the real sign that you've made it as a star in Hollywood!

In the afternoon, we boarded a smaller mini bus to go see the 'homes of the rich and famous'. Driving up into the Hollywood Hills, we got a good view of the famous white sign (apparently it used to read 'Hollywoodland' until an avalanche knocked down the 'land' bit) and passed by the homes of Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner, Ben Stiller, Leonardo Di Caprio and Sean Penn. We then drove on to Beverly Hills and Bel Air - where the most exclusive houses are. There, we saw houses where Madonna, Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes, Sean Connery and Paris Hilton all live. Perhaps the most impressive was the home of the late Aaron Spelling - his estate covers 55 acres (including a 159 room house with 30 maids and a private 9-hole golf course!) - all right in the heart of Beverly Hills. It was certainly impressive...

Tonight we are currently enjoying a complimentary glass of wine and a cheese selection laid on by the hotel manager before going out to get some dinner. We leave for New York tomorrow - fingers crossed the plane won't be delayed this time! F&J.x.