Yet another beautiful day in L.A! Today we are heading back into Hollywood to go to Madame Tussauds. We went to the same location in New York last year so are curious as to how this compares.
On the way we decided to stop at a Pet Smart store. We had visited one in Arcadia yesterday also after having found they have an amazing store when we visited last year. The Pet Smart stores not only have the very best of everything to spoil your pet with, but they also have a Pet Hotel; a "Doggy Daycare" and a Veterinary Hospital. On top of this they also have a cat adoption agency and have a number of kittens and fully grown cats which are to be adopted out. I tend to make a bee line for the "doggy daycare" and the Bear makes a beeline for the cat adoptions given that these are our preferred four legged friends (yet as we all know canines are loyal, loving and the more personable of the domestic pets where as cats are disloyal, arrogant and require servants). However yesterday I would have been extremely happy to support the Bear in his decision should he have chosen it, to bring home a young Siamese female who was dainty yet full of character. If it wasn't that she would have needed to spend 6 months in quarantine I daresay she would be coming home with us. She was just beautiful. Alyx, when you read this, I have to say I am sorry, but we have left Pet Smart only with a selection of dogs toys; some cat food that we thought Chester might like; and two coffee mugs with "I love my Dachshund" on it. However if we had our way, we would open a Pet Smart franchise in Australia in a heartbeat!
We parked the car in underground valet parking in Hollywood (the only place that there really is to park) and head up to Hollywood Boulevard. The sun was absolutely blistering and I found it hard to imagine the extreme cold back home. I think the heat was accentuated by the fact that there were 6, 000, 000, 000 people on the block at the time, and 5, 000 000, 000 dressed up characters shoving themselves in your face in order for you to request a photo with them, before they would try to hit you up for a handsome tip. In fact if you were taking a photo of something completely irrelevant to them, however they just "accidentally" photo bombed you shot, this is also considered a circumstance where they will hit you up for cash given that they were in your photo without their permission being asked first. We were extremely careful to not take a photo where one of them might appear in the shot.....or in my case.....just be sneaky enough not to get caught photographing them. Not that I had any interest in photographing 2 Captain Jack Sparrows; a Green Lantern, a Superman and Wonder Woman, 3 x Michael Jackson's, 1 Betty Boop; 2 Wookie's just to mention a few....but I DID have an interest in photographing Batman. Now why would I possible want to photo Batman when one of the Captain Jack Sparrows might have been more interesting? Because this one was black! A black batman! Not that there is anything wrong with that! Now if black batman had have tried to hit me up for money given that he will have just been the star subject in one of my photos....I would have told him I was photographing something in the background (and yes, I did make sure that I had something in the background) and I had no idea that he was either in the shot or meant to be Batman....because of course the caped crusader was Caucasian! Ok so there may have been some flaws in my thought process, however I was thinking on my feet and was heat affected!
We went into Madame Tussauds which fortunately was cool and quiet (well for a little while anyway) where we were pleasantly surprised. We loved Madame Tussauds in New York but I think this one was better. There were more statues and some of the ones that were the same as in New York might have just been a little bit better. Well....will the exception of George Clooney. In both New York and L.A he looks like an inbred cousin of the real deal. Also at the L.A location there were props that patrons could use to dress up with when posing with the "Stars". When one is caught up in the fun and festivities upon realising that you are being given free reign to dress up whilst being an adult, one tends to forget about the likes of nits and cooties, or even a poorly placed S.T.D. Never the less, one has fun with it until the scratching starts. We had enormous fun and took lots of photos/bribe shots which are actually allowed to be taken free of charge. There are an awful lot of places that refuse to let you either have a camera, or use a camera because it just might rob them of 10 cents that they feel they could have robbed us of, or because they feel that a tourist might photograph their best kept secrets (for heaven sake, its not like we are about the learn the eleven herbs and spices in Kentucky Fried Chicken!) an make a zillion off them.
After having a tonne of fun in Madam Tussauds we figured we might have a bite to eat. On the opposite side of the road, we saw a "Baja Fresh" which looked inviting. It seemed to specialise in Fish Tacos. Given that Alyx had set us the challenge of having one of these on our last trip to the USA, and we hadn't found one to have, I figured now was as good a time as any. Also it looked cool and modern which are two qualities that you are not necessarily guaranteed to experience in L.A. We went in and found a table and placed our order. When the Bear came back with the food, he said "wow....who would believe what we are doing?". I know that I have said this countless times over the last year but figured that my reasons in saying this may not be the same as the reason why he exclaimed this today....so I asked him what he meant. He said "having an amazing lunch in L.A, opposite Manns Chinese Theatre (at which time I also noticed that the "star" outside the window was Bette Midler) and with a clown sitting at the next table". I looked over my shoulder and sure enough there was a heavily made up clown sitting eating a fish taco. Well hey....I guess clowns need to eat as well. I need to make mention of the fact that I have a new favourite food - fish tacos. They are severely yummo despite the fact that these ones were laced with jalapeños and had me singing "Burning Ring of Fire".
After lunch we took a walk down the boulevard because I was on a journey to find Glendon, Brad Pitt. Seeing as this was his only request when agreeing to do a shift swap with me this week, it was the least I could do for him!
Tomorrow - Malibu!
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