California trip diary: Day 5

Hollywood -- a town that is known more figuratively than in reality. The biggest movie-making machine of the world operates in and around here. We reached around the middle of the day and couldn't take a package tour. Ultimately that was a good thing though.

The world-renowned sign resides on a small hill. Though we didn't get to see it from close quarters, we caught it from a bridge in the Hollywood & Highland Center, on a gloomy day. [Just a couple of days ago, we watched the sign being smashed by a tornado in The Day After Tomorrow!]

Now, if "Hollywood & Highland Center" doesn't ring a bell, does "Kodak Theatre"? The venue of the Oscars ceremony is part of this complex.

As we enter, there are pillars featuring Best Picture winners (with room for future expansion, of course). You get a feel of the place -- how the stars descend every year and how grand it would be at the time of the Academy Awards. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go inside the theatre as we were late.

Just outside is Hollywood Boulevard, which boasts of almost all things Hollywood. I guess the 'street' (as compared to regular roads in the US) started buzzing with activity about a century ago.

Along one side is the Walk of Fame side-walk / foot-path. In addition to movies, it also honours music and TV personalities.

The Chinese Theater, also in the same complex as the Kodak Theatre, boasts of hand and foot prints of stars in its front. I clicked a some of my favourites.

The setting inside the theatre goes with the name. I was just wondering how interesting it would be to watch movies in such theatres in Hollywood itself.

We walked along and hit the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. Though it wasn't as exciting as I had imagined, the place had a few interesting items.

There was a Star Trek room featuring props from the original and the new shows. It was cool to sit in one of the seats which once had Captain James Kirk on it!

As we were waiting for the tour inside to begin, we came across some cut-outs -- check out Hitchcok and Spielberg above on the right side -- and old movie cameras, among other things.

Whew, that was a quick tour of Hollywood! We drove through Beverly Hills. Though we couldn't see much, as it was becoming dark, we noticed the huge houses buried in gardens.

Finally, we reached Rodeo Drive -- where Hollywood stars shop. A calm and cosy place to live and a glittering place to shop -- wow!

We walked almost the entire stretch and were amazed by the stuff sold there. The illuminated palm trees and the classy lights painted a pretty picture.

What a starry day!

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 & 4 | Day 5 [To be continued]