Days 2 & 3, 14 -15th April. Madame Tussauds, Baseball Game & Santa Monica

Day 2
Gotto bed about 2am last night, so we were a tad jet lagged & tired at 8am when we set the alarm for breakfast! The hotel serve a complimentary continental breakfast that you can have in the dining room or you can take it back to your apartment on trays. Patricia who runs it is lovely. They are mostly Mexicans & very friendly. They offer as much or as little as you want, yoghurt, croissants, bagels, toast, muffins, boiled eggs cereals and fresh juices. Oh! And vegemite which impressed Graeme!!Very nice and all fresh.

This morning we decided to visit Madame Tussauds which is literally just down the road. Its set up differently to the one we visited in London - the rooms are in themes. My late but great Patrick Swayze was in attendance, which made me happy! along with the surprisingly tall John Wayne and Lady Gaga who is so incredibly short & tiny! We had lots of fun as they also had props for you to wear in the photos.

'Psycho - for Mum' !

John Wayne was so big & tall. Graeme is 6'1"!

Stand-in's for Sandy

Life is like a box of chocolates & sombre 

 Kiss me Mr Cowell 

E.T - phoning home

Hunger Games - a sombre thought

Jim Carrey with the Collis's

Thor was no match haha

She was lucky we let her out of Hannibals jacket!

Hmmmmm....

Gray ready to go flying with Howard Hughes

That is SO rude to Bruce Lee, Graeme!

Oh Patrick!

Spent a couple of hours there then we wandered home, got some fresh sandwiches on the way and had a nap for an hour as we were buggered again!! Danni came and woke me - thought it was the next day haha!

We caught the metro to union station, which is a work of art in itself. Its huge and like yesteryear with the marble floors, ornate chandaliers and the shoeshine men who work at the massive leather chairs up on platforms. We read that there were express coaches from Union station to the LA Dodgers game we are going to, so went and got our bearings at about 3pm, then wandered over the road to the Mexican market which also had an event on with it being Easter Friday. A beautiful day again today, so it was lovely meandering around the stalls in the sunshine. There are so many colours in this type of market, so it was very nice.

 Bouganvilliea  at the Mexican markets

bright colours

This is a bottle holder?!!

Outside Union Station

The station is immaculate inside 

Wandered back to Union Station to wait for the 5.30pm bus as you are advised to get there 90 mins before the game starts. Everyone waits in queues here very patiently and there is no pushing or jumping  the line  - Americans are very fair. Absolutely everyone was wearing dodgers gear- we had t-shirts and a sweatshirt too. Graeme saw a guy with a all blacks shirt on & went up to him to chat - it was a couple from Auckland over to see ice hockey & baseball games on a short trip over here.
The bus only took 10 mins to the massive stadium, we all loved the atmosphere and seeing something on this scale! Makes Melbourne even look small lol. We talked to a vendor we bought caps from - we were only the 2nd Kiwi's he had met! Everytime we have been asked where we are from, they have suggested we were English, then Australians as a 2nd guess lol!

We bought dinner - Graeme and Danni had dodger dogs (hot dogs) with mustard and ketchup! We bought some beers which are so expensive, this is where they make the revenue I'd say, but all part of it! I had bought seats up in the top tier so we could soak up the full atmosphere and appreciate the sheer size of it all and they didnt disappoint.  They had all sorts of things going on with commentary - kiss cams, smile cams, service person of the month etc. A little boy who had lost his hands and legs to sepsis, came out to throw the first ball. He was the 1st child to receive a double hand transplant and he threw the ball great. Love the way they honour people here and are very patriotic too.

The game was the L.A Dodgers vs the Arizona Diamondbacks were some great plays and an exciting home run, although it was a very long game with lots of swapping over batting and fielding and it got really cold surprisingly. Finished about 10.30pm after the Dodgers won and we got the bus back to Union station  with lots of cheering dodgers fans and the subway to Hollywood. It was a great experience and Im glad we took Danni as she loved the game (and the fact that most of the players are over 6ft!)

Dodgers Stadium

Great seats for the atmosphere 

Perfect evening

Baseball virgins no more!

Everything is on the large size- yum 

Day 3
Woke at 4:50 am & thought that was it after another late night last night, but nope- crashed out & woke 1st at 10am!! Flew out of bed as this is the time brekky finishes here, so whipped downstairs & got breakfast for everyone & brought it back to the apartment. We tidied up then caught the metro out to Santa Monica. The subway here is incredibly easy as it is done on line colours and each is straight, so we caught the red line then the light blue expo line out to the seaside, took about an hour. Interestingly,  they have passed a law that recreactional use of cannibis is legal here, so some take it as a given. Young guys lighting up in the underground stations or when they get off the train, then you are walking in their smoke - bleh. So many people off their faces no matter what time of the day around the subway too and the homeless hang out there to sleep.

There was a definite spanish style of architecture as we travelled out to Santa Monica - some lovely buildings. Got there and wandered with the crowds down to the pier. We bought tickets to the ferris wheel and had a lovely ride that took us up and over it all on a perfect clear day.

Santa Monica 

The Pier 

Along the boardwalk 

On the Ferris wheel

We wandered arouond & soaked up the lovely spring break atmosphere. There are a lot of Asians living in Hollywood & many Mexican and Negroes - its a real melting pot of culture & ethnicity.
Booked in to the famously busy Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant from the movie Forrest Gump - we had planned this from home & it is mad busy. Had a lovely lunch of every thing 'Shrimp'over looking the sand and ocean. Got to keep the glasses from our drinks too!

Get to keep the glasses

The glass lights up (& yes the drink was THAT blue!) 

Tempting 

Then we walked along the boardwalk area, admired the buildings and the beautiful people out doing all kinds of yoga, lifting & acrobatics.

Flexibility!

She just sat there for ages!

Then went back to the train station and came back. One guy came on the train with a small radio & no headphones & proceeded to play his rap full blast while he shook up a bottle of liquid with a pink pill floating around in it - o.k..a.y. Pity the lyrics werent a bit better though.......something about a "nigger taking drugs & f'ing your momma" noice!@#@

Bought a nice fresh sandwich for dinner & Danni got a waffle with cream, strawberries & chocolate! Then back to the apartment to relax! Another great day :)

So Fresh