The Last Weekend: Friday

July 25

 

Today marks the start of the last weekend I have here in L.A. So I decided to do as much as I can, starting with a tour of Sony Pictures.

 

 

There were a lot of props to see.

 

Including some famous vehicles...

 

Then we went around to some ADR studios and scoring rooms, and to some sets, including: Ray Donovan, Queen Latifah's talk show, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy.

 

After the tour, I climbed the Culver City Stairs.

 

Then went for lunch at Johnny Rocket's.

 

Then I checked out the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I wasn't able to take many pictures there, but I did see thousands of amazing painting, sculptures, and other pieces.

 

...and checked out the Tar Pits in the daytime this time.

 

Then I went back to Hollywood and ended the day by going through Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

 



Night Busses

July 23

 

Tonight after work I endured the LA transit system to see a few new places. First I checked out the motel featured on My Name is Earl.

 

 

Then I went to Burbank and saw Bento Box.

 

 

Also, today I tried Twinkies for the first time. They're okay I guess?

 



Fourth Time's the Charm

July 22

 

Tonight I finally I got in to use the telescope at Griffith Observatory.

 

 

I ended up getting a pretty good view of Saturn and its rings.

 



Santa Monica Walk

July 20

 

Today I decided to take the entire afternoon and walk from Hollywood to the Santa Monica Pier (about 25 kilometres, with some detours). The first notable location was Beverly Hills...

 

 

...where I explored Rodeo Drive.

 

 

And managed to see a Picasso in a gallery there.

 

 

After that I went to see Fox Plaza- notable for being Nakatomi Tower from Die Hard (and also Fox Studios).

 

 

For lunch I stopped by Fat Sal's Deli on a reccomendation - it was huge and delicious.

 

 

Eventually, I got to Santa Monica Pier again.

 

 

And explored a bit,

 

 

...while waiting to see the sunset.

 

 

Then I kept exploring the pier and the promenade at night. 

 

 

 

And finished off the night with dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp on the pier.

 

 



Jam-Packed Day

July 19

Today I did a heck of a lot, starting with the Warner VIP Tour.

Right away in the lobby, there were a lot of Harry Potter props.

After going around the studio for a while, we got to a museum of costumes and props from the Batman and Harry Potter franchises.

 Outside we spotted a famous car...

Before heading back inside and seeing the various Batmobiles of history.

To cap it off, we stopped off some sets, including Friends, Pretty Little Liars, Ellen, and the Big Bang Theory.

After the Warner Tour, I went back to Hollywood to check out the museum.

It was full of props and costumes, including Hannibal's dungeon...

...and the Reeves-era Superman costume.

Then I went downtown, and accidentally found the oldest house in LA.

Later I popped into a bookshop on a whim, The Last Bookstore, which had an incredible look and vibe.

The second floor is called the Labyrinth, and featured mazes of shelves, this tunnel of books, and other oddities. Plus several art galleries.

Then I headed to the LA Library.

It also featured some art galleries and a huge working model train set.

Later I tried to get in to see the Observatory telescope again, but was still unable to because of some extremely poor management there. On the way home I happened across this sign.

Which was interesting, because of what I'd seen earlier at the museum...



The Observatory 2

July 17

 

Thursday night I went back to the Griffith Observatory, and this time got inside!

 

 

There were some interesting educational displays inside.

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to use the telescope because of long lines.