Los Angeles Day #6

My last full day on this trip was a bit more quiet and relaxed than some of the others.

In the morning I got some breakfast at the hotel and hung out by the pool for a bit. Then I went up to the world-famous Griffith Observatory. The building itself has free admission, where you can explore various displays related to science and space, and you can look at the huge telescope.

Mostly, due to its unique placement on Mount Hollywood, it has very impressive views of the city from every side, including Downtown and Hollywood. The location has also been used in a number of movies.

Speaking of which, later in the afternoon I went on one of those “Celebrity Homes” tours. I’ve done them lots of times before, but I usually book via Starline which is the most well-known of the tour operators here. This time I tried a different company called Ultimate Hollywood Tours.

The tour was pretty good, and the guide was entertaining. I mainly take the tour, not so much to see the driveway or the outside of someone’s home, but mainly as a chance to see a bit more of the city, especially the fancy neighborhoods. Indeed, we passed by Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Mulholland Drive and some of the other swanky locations where most homes cost $10 million and up. Pretty nuts.

We saw the homes of Taylor Swift, William H. Macy, Michael Jackson, Elvis and many others along the way.

In the evening, I went for a walk on the famed Sunset Strip and eventually had dinner at the Saddle Ranch, a western-style chop house where they have a mechanical bull inside. Only in L.A.! (I didn’t try it).

After dinner I went to the Laugh Factory for a comedy show. For a little over two hours, around 6-7 different comedians would do their routine. They were all pretty good, some more than others of course. I hadn’t heard of the comedians before, except for one Pablo Francisco who was the headliner for the evening. Ironically he was the one who got the least amount of laughs 🤷‍♂️

Overall a good show though and a nice way to end my last evening in Los Angeles.Read more