Los Angeles - On the Road in the City of Angels

Finally, we arrived in Los Angeles, the City of Angels. We didn't see any angels, but we did see an extraordinary city that impressed us.

We drove to our hotel, the Hilton Universal City, in our rental car. The hotel staff greeted us warmly and allowed us to temporarily park our car in the hotel driveway while we checked in and then continued on to Santa Monica.

So, we quickly went to our hotel room, where we were greeted by this view:

Afterwards, we got back in the car and drove off.

When we arrived in Santa Monica, we headed straight for the famous pier.

There was a lively and relaxed atmosphere here and we were able to spend the evening hours comfortably, enjoying some very good street music and relaxing.

As it started to get colder, we drove to L.A. International Airport to return our rental car and got caught in what was probably the worst traffic jam of our lives. But who drives along the highway in the greater L.A. area on a Friday evening ;) You should definitely avoid it if possible. The traffic is always pretty tricky, except on Saturdays and Sundays.

With good driving skills and a bit of luck, we made it safely to the airport and took an Uber back to the hotel.

The next day, we visited Downtown L.A. Here, you can see the city's skyscrapers, as this is where L.A.'s business center is located.

We also visited the famous Walt Disney Concert Hall, the architecturally interesting city philharmonic.

But then it was time to go to the place that so many dream of, the place of the stars: Hollywood.

We took the subway there. This is the fastest and easiest way to get around L.A. given the tricky traffic situation. The subway network is good and easy to navigate, at least in the city area.

When we reached Hollywood, of course, we went to the Walk of Fame first.

Here, we walked past many stars as we should and took numerous photos until we arrived at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where the Oscars are regularly held. From the adjacent Hollywood & Highland Center, we caught a first glimpse of the Hollywood Hills with the world-famous Hollywood Sign.

On the third day of our stay in L.A., it was time to visit Beverly Hills with the luxury shopping street Rodeo Drive, known from films like 'Pretty Woman'.

Luxury was everywhere we looked. This made us want to see the celebrity villas. A good tip is not to be approached by all the expensive tour operators lurking on every street, especially at the Walk of Fame, but rather, like us, to take the cheap alternative for only $5 per person at Rodeo Drive, namely the Beverly Hills Trolley Tour. The small bus took us to numerous villas of famous people while the tour guide told us all the important things about the houses and the stars who lived or still live in them.

Naturally, we also passed by this charming house, a former film set for some movies, the Spadena House or 'The Witch's House':

After the tour, it was time for us to visit the Griffith Observatory on the Hollywood Hills, the filming location for 'Rebel without a Cause' ('...denn sie wissen nicht, was sie tun') with James Dean.

After a short hike over the Hollywood Hills to a point where we could already see the Hollywood Sign relatively well,