Los Angeles, California

2 and half hours on a bus and we've made it. We walk for a bit to get the metro bus, that takes us to Downtown where we hop on the subway. Who said travelling is easy?

We arrive at our destination, a huge house with heaps of rooms which the owner is renting out in a dorm type situation. Our plan was to head out to an Aussie bar seeing as it's Australia Day back home but they don't seem to have any here. New York wins in that department.

We grab some dinner at Chipotle and people watched for a bit. There is a huge skate culture in certain areas of the US, looks like LA is another one. They are everywhere.

We buy some beers and head back to the apartment and tune into the hottest 100 and have our own little home away from home party to end the day.

Day 2

We wake up early, it's studio visiting day. It's a toss up between Warner Brothers which is just a TV and movie studio and Universal which is a studio plus a theme park. We go with Warner Bros as it has more productions we are familiar with, including one of Court's faves, Gilmore Girls.

A subway and 30 minute walk through richville suburbia and we're there. We're touring on a Sunday and our guide informs us this is good news as no one works on Sundays so we've got free reign over the studio. Woo hoo.

We hop in his electric cart and off we go. First stop is an outside set which is a really small looking jungle with an even smaller lagoon. Scenes from films such as Free Willy and some Tom Cruise movie have been filmed here. There are a couple of cabins around also which are used in various productions including True Blood, Million Dollar Baby and some Muppets film. It's interesting to note that one set will be used in a number of different shows or movies, they will just place signs in the front or lights so it wont look the same in every show.

Next we enter a car museum which is home to the Scooby Doo Van, Batman vehicles and the Harry Potter and Great Gatsby car, amongst others.

We move along to a set which has been set up permanently for visitors to look at. Central Perk from the show Friends. Even though neither of us is a Friends fan and Courts not even having watched a full episode we still can't help but be impressed.

It's a real life freaking set that real freaking actors acted in. It's sweet.

We check out the props department. Apparently Warner Bros has the biggest one in the business. It's pretty cool.

Along the cruise through the studios our guide points out that there is no studio number 13 due to it being an unlucky number. Fair enough.

We move on to some more outdoor sets. We see the front of a court which was used in the Batman movie. Apparently they filmed one shot of Batman and Robin running up the stairs and used the same take 72 times. They also have a 'Central Park' which is about the size of sandbox, but you couldn't tell from seeing it on the big or small screens.

Next we move on to the moment Courts has been waiting for. We drive through a street of sets which again are used in heaps of productions, one being Gilmore Girls. Courts is practically peeing her pants, she is virtually Rory in Gilmore Girls right now, just hanging at the gazebo.

Next we check out the sound stage where The Big Bang Theory is filmed. Again, neither of us are fans of this show but we cannot help but be blown away by how well, real it looks. No cast here today unfortunately but if there was, we wouldn't be allowed in without a ticket, which are difficult to get. We learn that if there is a person with an unfortunate sounding laugh in the crowd they will turn off the speaker in that section so it is not heard on the telly.

Second to last stop is the Warner Bros museum where they have memorabilia from productions including the piano from Casablanca and a menu from Luke's diner which excites Courts to no end. And for those who like Harry Potter, the whole second floor is dedicated to this franchise. It's filled with lots of Harry Potter... things.

We're nearly at the end of the tour. We drive by a street which looks like something out of New York. Fun fact: it isn't just tv and movies filmed here, they also do music videos. Beastie Boys and LMFAO both produced videos here.

Tour now over, we both decide we want to live if not at the very least work in a studio. It is too cool for words. We head into Hollywood for lunch then wander what is probably the most tourist ridden place in LA, Hollywood Boulevard. This is where the Hollywood walk of fame is, a heap of people selling celebrity sight seeing tours and just general odd balls.

We wonder around for a while then head back home for a nap. The excitement of the studio tour was too much for us to handle.

Today is also the the Grammys award ceremony so we head on down to the Staples Centre to celebrity spot. Shouldn't have had that nap, we've missed it. Oh well.
We wander around down town until we find a pub that has some activity going on. We order some beers and Courts finally wins a game of pool.

After this we head home. Last night's Hottest 100 indignities and this mornings set hopping has really taken it out of us

Day 3

It's Man Vs Food time. We skip breakfast and head to Downtown. The name of the place is Philippe the Original and they have their signature dish The French Dip. This is a lamb/turkey/beef roll dipped in broth, or au jus. You can get it single dipped or double, or completely drowned.

The rolls were great. The side were ok. The coffee was cheap and tasty. The atmosphere was awesome. Very busy. Very American.

Jeff's favourite show is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. While we were in Philly we saw a few spots where stuff happens in the show. The actual Paddy's pub is filmed in LA, however. We find out where the front of the pub is filmed and walk there. Jeff pulls out a few Mac style karate moves for the camera and we walk back.

The next thing on the list is the Hollywood sign. We are planning on walking up to it but we aren't sure if we can. We set out on foot and we make it up as we go.

Near the top of the hill is a horse riding place called Sunset Ranch. We decide that this would be the ultimate way to see the sign and the rest of LA. We saddle up and head up the mountain on horseback with our guide Benito.

The views are incredible. But the actual trail we are on is so cool as well. Exactly like you picture in the western movies. We catch a glimpse of the Hollywood sign and head up to the end of the trail. We can see all of LA. It's very spread out. Looks like 3 or 4 areas of high rise. We think we can see Santa Monica in the distance at the beach. But it might not be.

We head back down the trail to the ranch as the sun is slowly going down. This is why everything around is called Sunset this, or Sunset that. It's beautiful.

We hop off the horses and feed them some carrots before getting a few more shots of the sign. We didn't make it all the way, but pretty close.

We walk back to Hollywood boulevard and stop in at a Mexican bar for happy hour. A few songs on the jukebox later and we are done. We grab some cheap maccas for dinner (we're on a budget after all) and meet an interesting character. He calls himself the Talk Show Pimp. He's a South African who basically hangs out on Hollywood Boulevard selling bracelets so he can meet strange people that would be good on talk shows like Jerry Springer. He gets some sort of commission or finders fee for this.

He asks me if I have any ideas for shows I might like to pitch to him. This is his other source of income. Apparently he's earning $8k a month from all this, but we find it a bit hard to believe. Although, from what we've seen so far, LA - specifically Hollywood boulevard has enough weirdos to sink a ship.

Day 4

There is a Zambreros equivalent all over America called Chipotle. I think we may have mentioned it. It's so awesome we are having it just about every day lately. We have it for breakfast today before jumping on the bus to head to Santa Monica.

It's a lot further away than we realise. An hour or so later and we arrive.

We walk down the 3rd street promenade, which is like an outdoor shopping mall.

We head to the beach. There is the Santa Monica Pier with amusements that we go and check out. We play a little air hockey and venture to the end of the pier. It's huge.

We head back and keep walking up the beach. We watch some people play volleyball for a bit. Just down the beach a bit is the famous Muscle Beach. There are lots of set ups for excersie, including ropes to climb and gymnastics rings to do stuff on. It's pretty busy, but not a lot of eye candy for Courts. Ha.

Courts has been talking about doing some Roller Blading all trip. We didn't get to do any in Miami, so LA is a must. We hire some blades and long skateboard and off we go. A little hesitantly at first, and not very fast (how do you stop again?). We find our skate legs soon enough and we head on down the bike/skate/running track towards Venice beach.

The whole experience is pretty surreal. So much to see along this track. But it's hard to look at it all while you're trying not to stack.

We get to a skate park in Venice beach in about half an hour. It would have taken us forever on foot. We watch the masses skate and take a few photos.

We head back, much faster this time. We are pros now.

We drop the stuff off and head back to the mall. The Ducks are playing tonight and we want to watch so we can figure out who the good players are etc. for when we go to the game in a few nights.

We stop in at another Mexican place with the same happy hour and all you can eat tacos on Tuesdays (it's the same franchise as the other day called Cabo Cantina). We watch the game and hog the jukebox again. Courtney finds a friend.

William is a commercial pilot with Delta airlines. He tells us he's 50. We don't believe him until he shows us his license. He used to be a pilot in the navy.

William is full of wisdom and offers us many anecdotes with a deep meaning. We figure out the secret to his youthfulness is that he is not married and has no kids. He does have a 73 year old German girlfriend who hates the British though...

We share stories of our home countries and chat until happy hour finishes. What a cool guy.

We get the bus home. We walk past a food van for the homeless and are struck by how many there are. Yet another contrasting city in the US. So rich, yet so poor.

Day 5

We decide to do one last full on American style breakfast. It's our 3rd last day, so why not. We jump on the subway and head out to a place that's rated highly.

We walk past a church of Scientology that looks more like an asylum. So gross.

The food, as predicted was awesome. Probably the best breakfast of the trip. They have bacon infused caramel sauce to go on the pancakes and bacon and egg. Incredible. Courts has the French toast and we are both feeling great on our carb high when we are done.

We wander back to the main street and jump on the first bus heading west. We want to check out Sunset boulevard and Rodeo drive. A couple of must sees in LA.

The bus drops us off in the middle of richville and we walk for about 20 minutes through the suburbs or Beverly Hills. It's pretty swanky, as you can imagine.

We reach Rodeo drive and it's one expensive shop after the next. We don't even feel comfortable going in to look. We take a few photos, like one of a lady carrying a Gucci shopping bag bigger than her! (what's in there? Gucci himself?)

We get the bus back to a Subway station and head out to Hollywood boulevard briefly to sell Jeff's laptop. Then it's out to the suburb of Commerce. The Commerce casino is one of the most famous poker venues in the US. Anyone who is anyone has played here and many professionals live here. Jeff has to see what it's all about.

A Subway and a bus and a long walk through backwater LA and we are there.

Jeff's jaw drops when we step inside. There is literally hundreds of tables in action. Poker everywhere. It's ridiculous.

Jeff gets a seat and plays for an hour or so and comes out down a few bucks, but up a few souvenir chips for the collection. What a place.

We get a more convenient bus back into town and head home after a quick late night 6 inch. And no, not that kind.

Day 6

This is it. Our last full day of the Americas. We are heading out to Anaheim later today, which restricts our plans a little. But we have pretty much seen everything we wanted to see. So the pressure is off.

We decide to head back to Santa Monica because we liked it best and there are a few trendy cafes down that way for breakfast.

We get the bus out there again and Jeff has waffles and fruit and yoghurt and granola. And Courtney has a beef hash. We have 2 of the biggest Spanish lattes to go with it and we are feeling good.

We were planning on hiring roller blades and a skateboard again, but unfortunately time has got away from us. We make our way back to the bus stop after a quick detor past a hat shop.

On the train to Anaheim for tonight's game. It's about a 3 hour trip via public transport, or 40 minutes via the Amtrak train. We take Amtrak and are there in no time. The Los Angeles Angels baseball team's Stadium is right across the road from the train stop.

We find a pub and have a few drinks and find out that the Honda Center is walking distance. The pub soon fills up with other supporters getting ready for the game.

We are a little nervous that there are so many Philadelphia Flyers supporters around. The Flyers are one of the best teams in the comp, but the Ducks are top of the ladder and favourite for tonight.

We make our way to the game and head straight for the merchandise store. Courtney has been a fan of the Mighty Ducks movies for years and has always dreamed of being a duck. The store has the original Mighty Ducks jerseys there and we have to get it. Courtney's face is worth every penny. Now it's time to see them win.

Our seats are awesome. Only about 15 or so rows back. Again we are surprised at the number of away fans. Slightly confusing as well because:

1. Both teams have bright orange in their colours and
2. The only chant anyone knows in American sports is "Let's go X" clap clap, clap clap clap.
   So it's hard to know who's chanting what. Pretty unimaginative.

The game kicks off and the Ducks score early against the run of play. The quality of the game is very high. You can tell this a top of the table clash. Very fast and brutal. Some really big hits going down.

First period ends 2-1 to Anaheim. Courtney gets a photo with the Ducks mascot, Wildwing. She is as excited as a school girl.

Second period takes them to 3-1 and looking in control despite Philly having more shots on goal.

The Flyers score early in the last period and then have a power play (the Ducks a man down for 2 mins). It's pretty tense since teams will often score during a power play. But true to the Ducks fashion (according to the movies), they manage to get a break away up the other end and score to make it 4-2. Amazing. The crowd goes wild.

The Flyers fans are starting to make their way out as they sacrifice their keeper in a last ditch effort. The Ducks score an easy one without any defence. The Flyers get one straight back with about a minute to go. Game over. What a great game.

We leave. Courtney suggests Jeff calls her Larry from now on, as in "as happy as".

We grab the train home and grab another late night snack from Denny's. It's about what you'd expect from an establishment like this. Nothing special.

What a great last day. What a great trip. 10/10, would do again.