Los Angeles - Downtown

We were stoked to find how flash our hotel in downtown LA was. A good choice was made.

We made full use of the gym and the pool after all the food we’d eaten at Disneyland.

On Saturday we went on a bus tour of LA which we highly recommend. It is such a huge city that without a tour we wouldn’t have known where to go, or seen half of what we did. Highlights include Venice Beach, Beverly Hills and Hollywood. We saw various buildings used in movies (eg the Daily Planet and a few action blockbusters) and a number of locations used in Pretty Woman which Lou enjoyed. We were a bit disappointed not to see any stars’ homes, but got a good feel for the city and learnt some interesting trivia.

We’d booked tickets to a basketball game before leaving NZ so had a great time watching the LA Clippers v Portland Trailblazers that night (the Lakers were playing the next night but were way more expensive!). The stadium was huge and the entertainment amazing * cheerleaders, kids dance squads and the spirit crew (guys and girls, like off the cheerleading movies).The home team lost the game but it was really fun to be part of it. We reckon that if you are going to a game, try and go to one where the crowd will be closer to sold out than 1/2 full, would really add a lot to the experience.

Sunday it was back on a plane and onto London. After such amazing hot weather we were a little shocked to arrive to snow!!! Dean foolishly decided to arrive in shorts and a tee-shirt, but we survived.