Los Angeles

LA is over hyped but it still is a quirky place where you can do much more than your average American town. We were couchsurfing in Hollywood which meant we could have a place we treated like home. This was a big factor in us being able to have a more chilled week.

We made sure we did at least a few novel things each day and thanks to help from our host we were able to live more like locals rather than tourists. It's indubitable that I've mentioned food too much but as it is so engrained into the culture it would be rude not to get familiar with it. Chilis, Carls Jr, Baja Fresh, In N Out, Jack in the Box and IHOP were this weeks selections. All were incredible. Special mention has to go to Roscoes: a restaurant chain in LA dedicated to the dual service of chicken and waffles. In case you were wondering, no, they don't go together.

As a former proud holder of an Alton Towers annual pass, going to 6 flags magic mountain (the best theme park in the world) was a highlight of mine. I forced Joe to go on all the rides even X2 which was apparently a 5th generation roller coaster - how is that even possible? In typical American fashion the descriptions for all the rides provided a lot of amusement as we left wondering how 5 of the rides could all be the fastest, tallest and longest in the world. 

Living in Hollywood, the wall of fame and sign lost it's impact after the second day. Venice beach, however, on a Saturday afternoon was crazy. Bohemian and hippy central it had pretty much everything. I was the only white witness to a 'historic rap battle', the street basketball players would probably have all made it into the GB team and the cyclists would have gladly killed anyone who dared to step into their lane.

On other days we were in the audience in a Hollywood studio for a late night talk show. The late late show with Craig Ferguson on Tuesday May 22nd was our claim to fame. We saw a premiere, chilled on long beach and went to the Getty museum. The Getty museum is definitely worth a visit. A billionaire left most of his money to a trust who were instructed to build the best art museum they could and with a few billion you can do a pretty good job. He also only liked pre 1900 European art which gave it a reminiscent feel of the National Trust.

The biggest news of the week of course came on Saturday afternoon with the Champions League final. Watching it with 3 Germans gave it added intensity which was probably to blame for my slightly excessive 10 minute celebration. It was a fitting end to 19 years of 'so close yet so far', although it was a shame I couldn't enjoy the moment with my Liverpool and United friends back home. It was an enjoyable end to our time in America and having crossed time zones we have now arrived in Fiji.