LA LA Land

Bright, brash, frantic, flashy, trashy, kitsch, psychedelic, sprawling, smoggy, oozing with old school and 'nu' cool; we have arrived in LA, California.

After six weeks in the relative tranquility of New Zealand and a twelve hour flight, this heavily populated state feels like a rush of blood to the head and has attitude to boot!

We booked a Dodge Caliber through Thrifty Rentals but much to Ric's delight, ended up with a cool black Mustang which sure has a lot of kick! It's possibly the lowest vehicle I have ever sat in and for the first few hours I felt sure Ric was going to scrape the right hand side of the car off along with me. He's never driven on the right before, let alone in a sports car in LA so thank God we got Sat Nav as I was far too terrified to do any map reading.

The first thing I wanted to do after our long flight and lengthily wait for our baggage, even before finding a hotel was to go for a walk so we headed off to Venice Beach, trusting that our new electronic guide would get us there. The beach is a long and sandy and the Ocean Front Walk is a hive of fun and games which reminded me of Brighton Beach. As we walked along the shore we watched huge pelicans dive bomb in to the sea to catch fish, spotted a few Asian women trying and failing to surf and observed the pinky haze spread out like a blanket from one horizon to the other.

I just kept pinching myself - I'm in America! People here are real Americans, just like in the movies, and they are just as loud, proud, demonstrative and characterful as I imagined. I have lots of American friends but to see so many of them and in their own environment is somewhat overwhelming. Does that sound really weird, or rude?

People here talk loudly on their 'cell phones' so broadcasting their private lives. They get in to full-on shouting matches with traffic wardens. They paint their eyebrows on their faces. They have large, impressive tattoos, drive big cars and run red lights. They eat a lot of tacos, pizza, hot dogs, burgers and sushi and are served BIG portions. They walk around with their tiny toy dogs and some dress up as Superman, Homer Simpson, Marilyn Monroe, Johnny Depp and stand outside the Chinese Theatre posing with the tourists. There are more liquor stores and smoke shops than local supermarkets. There are advertisements on the telly for sex drugs, Catheters and 'Personal Massagers' and some radio stations only broadcast religious diatribe.

We are staying in a motel on Hollywood Boulevard right next to the famous Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are held) and various other showbiz attractions. We can't quite see the sign from here but it's behind us. This Motel 6 isn't luxurious but after 42 nights in a camper van it is ace and we're got free wifi!

So far we've driven through Bel Air, past Beverly Hills, down Melrose, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd and Santa Monica and went to see Ric's friend in Pasedena - all these place I have only ever seen on the big screen! Today we drove over to the J. Paul Getty Center, an impressive museum and research institute which houses hundreds of European paintings, furniture, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts and photographs. The surrounding gardens and buildings which housed the artworks were interesting and impressive in themselves and the view across LA were great (except for the smog).

It seems to take at least an hour to get anywhere and parking aint cheap but we're getting used to that. We're also getting better at asserting ourselves in the traffic and not getting caught in lanes we don't want to be in. It would be good if the Sat Nav gave us a bit more warning sometimes so we don't get spat off the motorways by being in the right hand lane.

All is good really and I think I am growing to like this funny place. I LOVE all the vegan restaurants!