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Rasmus Holmen
Rasmus Holmen

Rasmus Holmen

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  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2025Traveler

    Salt Lake City - Day 1

    September 25 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    After a layover in Amsterdam, I made my way to Salt Lake City in the US. The flight was a little over 10 hours, but it actually didn't feel that long. Service on board was great, the food was good and there were plenty of movies and TV shows to watch on the entertainment system. They even offered free WiFi, which is quite unusual for economy class on a flight across the Atlantic.

    Upon arrival, it was time for the dreaded immigration control which can take hours of waiting in line, and with the Trump administration, you never know what they might do. This time I was able to get through in two minutes though, and shortly after I was already on a train headed to the city center.

    After checking into my hotel, I was able to make it over to the FanX pop culture convention for the first big panel of the day. Featuring Miranda Otto and John Rhys-Davies, the panel was about the popular Lord of the Rings movies. I have seen John at several conventions before, and he is always very entertaining.

    I also attended a Happy Days reunion, focused on the classic TV show from the 70s and 80s with the legendary Henry Winkler. I also got a photo with Winkler later, and he was super nice.

    Earlier in the day, I got an autograph from Dylan McDermott, who has been in a wide range of movies and TV shows. I remember him best from The Practice, which was one of my favorite shows back 20+ years ago when it first aired.

    Finally, I met Emily Hampshire from the immensely popular Schitt's Creek which won a boatload of Emmy's a few years ago. She was also super nice.

    I wasn't able to explore the convention floor that much today, but I'm also attending tomorrow and Saturday, so there should be ample opportunity to see everything.

    I finished the evening with a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant by the hotel.    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler
    11

    Monarch Beach & Ohana Festival

    October 1, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Last full day in the US! Pretty relaxing day overall. In the morning, I checked into my final hotel of this extensive trip - the luxurious Waldorf-Astoria in Monarch Beach. For this weekend, the rate for one night was over $1,500, which I could never afford, so I was happy to use Hilton points to pay for the short one-night stay. It's always fun to pretend to be rich for a short while!

    I had lunch at an upscale private beach club, only available for people staying at the resort. It's located right by the beach with a great view of the ocean, and the food was really good.

    After lunch, I relaxed at the hotel for a bit and then walked to Dana Point, a lovely area right by the ocean as well.

    Ultimately, my destination was Doheny State Beach, the site of a 3-day music festival called Ohana. I only had a ticket for Sunday, the last day of the festival, to see Foo Fighters, one of my fav bands. The Sunday quickly sold out, and it was indeed packed with many other fans waiting to see Foo Fighters, although several other bands also played today.

    The festival is right on the beach by the ocean, so it is quite a location for a concert, with palm trees and everything.

    Before the Foo Fighters went on, I saw The Pretenders - founded by the legendary Chrissie Hynde about 45 years ago! Her performance was really impressive, and the band was great, even though I am not super familiar with their songs.

    The Foo Fighters also played an incredible show, with many of their best songs in the setlist, and their new drummer did a stellar job. It was a really good show, finishing with my favorite song Everlong - one of the best songs ever, if you ask me!

    Now, one more sleep before the long trip home, back to reality!    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler
    Tiffani Thiessen
    Tiffani Thiessen1Costa MesaBeast in BlackBeast in BlackBeast in BlackBeast in BlackBeast in Black

    Long Beach and Orange County

    September 30, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    I left Hollywood early this morning for a two hour train ride towards Long Beach south of Los Angeles. I went there to attend a book signing and Q&A with Tiffani Thiessen, probably best known from Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210. Now she writes cook books!

    She talked about her book for a while and then met fans to sign her book and snap a photo. It was fun to meet her, especially so shortly after meeting seven other principal members of the 90210 cast. I don't think she has ever done a convention, so this was a rare opportunity to meet her.

    After the book signing, I walked around in Long Beach for a little while and got some lunch at a cool place with a gorgeous view of the beach and ocean.

    In the afternoon, I went to my next hotel in Costa Mesa, not far from Anaheim, where I was earlier this week.

    In the evening, I went to a small concert venue called The Observatory to see Beast in Black, an amazing metal band from Finland. I have seen them live before, but they always put on a great show, including tonight. I listen to them quite a lot, so it's amazing to hear their best songs live. Really good concert, and I was lucky to get a good spot in the fairly packed venue.    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler
    Chinese TheatreChinese TheatreChinese Theatre

    Last day in Hollywood

    September 29, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    So on my last day in Hollywood, I did some of the most touristy things here, starting with a tour of Paramount Pictures Studios, the only major studio actually located in Hollywood.

    Due to the strike, there is currently nothing filming on the Paramount lot, so it was rather empty there. But it's always interesting to get a guided tour of such a major movie studio, where countless films and tv shows have filmed over the years.

    Among other things, we saw a location that was used for a scene in the 4th Indiana Jones movie, and The Godfather movies also shot several scenes there.

    After Paramount, I went on another tour - this time a guided bus tour around the Hollywood and Beverly Hills area. I have actually been friends with the tour guide since first doing a tour with him back in 2011. He is quite entertaining and has a wealth of knowledge of all things Hollywood.

    He is now doing a brand new tour called Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares. I think today was the first day they did the tour actually, and there were only two of us on the tour!

    While I have previously visited most of the areas we passed on the two-hour tour, the tour guide pointed out many points of interest along the way, and lots of fun facts. We also visited a cemetery (!) where many celebrities have been laid to rest, including Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin.

    In the evening, I had dinner at Yamashiro, located up in the hills, with a stunning view of Los Angeles.

    I ended the evening with a movie at the Chinese Theatre, the one used for most Hollywood red carpet premieres over the past many decades.    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler
    1Delivery robot!Chinese Theatre

    Hollywood

    September 28, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    After relaxing at the hotel this morning, I went to Walt Disney Studios for a tour. I have previously done tours of Warner Bros, NBC, Paramount, Sony and Universal but this was my first time doing the tour of Disney's studios, where countless Disney productions over the years have come to life.

    Among other things, we visited the animation building where animated classics like Cinderella and The Jungle Book were created. It was fun to hear more about the laborious process from pre-production, production to post-production, and how much things have changed as technology has evolved.

    We also visited the rooms that served as Walt Disney's private office for over 25 years. It has been restored to resemble the exact way it looked in the late 60s, with all of Walt's original books, scripts, etc. Very fascinating to visit this historic place.

    We also saw the outside of several massive sound stages where Disney productions, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, filmed scenes.

    After my last Disney activity on this trip, I made my way to Hollywood to stay at the Magic Castle hotel, one of my favorites.

    Then I did what nobody else does in Los Angeles: a long walk! While I have often passed by the same locations on previous trips, it was fun to walk by many legendary spots on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Many rock bands started out in venues like the Whisky, Roxy, and Rainbow - all of which still exist.

    In the evening, I had dinner at Musso & Frank Grill, the oldest restaurant in Hollywood, which also appears in many movies and TV series. Very cool place with a rich history.    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler

    Halloween Horror Nights

    September 27, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    This morning, I took the train from Anaheim to Burbank and checked in at my hotel in the Toluca Lake area near Burbank.

    After lunch, I went to Universal Studios , which is both a theme park and one of the biggest movie studios in the world. Many of the biggest movie classics, TV shows, and much more was filmed right here on the Universal lot.

    Indeed, one of the rides in the theme park is the studio tour, where you ride on a tram around a portion of the backlot. Since it is a theme park, the ride is more focused on entertainment than movie history, but it's fun to be in the very location where many of my fav movies filmed, including Back To The Future.

    I also visited Super Nintendo World, a new addition to Universal studios I hadn't seen before, focused on Super Mario and other characters from Nintendo. A new ride inside this area features new technology, allowing you to interact more than usual.

    In the evening, the park transformed into Halloween Horror Nights, a special themed event taking place on select nights in September and October. Among other things, there are 8 haunted houses and horror movie characters roaming the park. So when you are walking around, it's not uncommon to be chased by a madman with a chainsaw!

    The haunted houses each have a specific theme. One was focused on The Exorcist, for example, as a new Exorcist movie is coming out soon.

    When I walked around The Exorcist house, there would be rooms where scenes from the movies come alive with actors in very scary outfits reenact terrifying scenes, in rooms dressed to look as creepy as possible.

    It's all done in a very impressive way. The sets, costumes, makeup, and special effects - combined with skilled actors - really make it feel like you are inside a horror movie. This year, they also had houses themed on Stranger Things and The Last of Us.

    Later, I visited a different "scare zone" where they had used the Bates Motel set to provide the backdrop. Usually, when doing the studio tour, you drive by the Bates Motel portion quickly, so it was fun to see it more up close - especially on foot.

    Halloween Horror Nights is a very popular event and quickly becomes super crowded. One of the haunted houses had a line so long that the wait was 3 hours, just for one attraction!

    So ultimately, I didn't try that many of the rides and the entertainment at Halloween Horror Nights, mostly because it was so crowded, but still a fun experience overall.

    This also makes my sixth and final theme park in a week!    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler

    Disneyland

    September 26, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Quite a long day! I spent around 15 hours at the two Disneyland parks and walked some 30,000 steps in total.

    I started at Disney's California Adventure, which is the newest and smallest park, but it has some pretty cool rides. The most recognizable one is the big ferris wheel with the Mickey face at Pixar Pier. They also have a popular ride, themed on the animated movie Cars, where you race a car in a desert landscape.

    One of the new additions to the park is an area dedicated to the Marvel movies, also part of Disney now. I did a fun Spiderman ride where you shoot virtual creatures with your hands, much the same say that Spiderman would sling his webs!

    After lunch, I made my way to the main Disneyland park, just across from California Adventure.

    Disneyland, opened in 1955, was the very first Disney park and the only one that Walt Disney envisioned and designed, and frequently visited before he passed away.

    Of course, much has changed since then, but some of the original rides from the first years still exist today.

    While Disney World in Florida is more comprehensive, it's fun to visit the original park that started it all and try rides that are not in the other Disney parks.

    Some rides, like Haunted Mansion, exist in some form across multiple Disney parks, but I quite like this version of it. At the moment, it is transformed into a holiday theme, which also makes it very different from the "usual " version that I tried in Magic Kingdom last week.

    Disneyland also has its own Star Wars land, Galaxy's Edge. The one in Disney World is pretty much identical but it's still extremely impressive.

    One of my favorite rides of the day is based on the Indiana Jones movies. You ride in a vehicle that brings you through several scenes similar to events in the films, for example, being chased by a huge boulder. It's a very impressive ride with amazing effects and surprises.

    I did around 25 rides in total across the day, only a few of which were the same at Disney World.

    There's so much to do at Disneyland, though, especially if you include both parks, but overall, it has been a pretty productive day!    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler

    Downtown Disney

    September 25, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    So this morning, I took a flight from Salt Lake City to Orange County in California. In true California fashion, the airport is named after John Wayne!

    I then made my way to my hotel close to Disneyland in the Anaheim area.

    I didn't really have any plans today after arriving in California, so I relaxed by the pool for a bit and then walked around the Downtown Disney area. This is similar to Disney Springs in Florida, with various restaurants, shops and entertainment in one place. While much smaller than Disney Springs - it is closer to the Disney parks.

    In Florida there are four main Disney parks and here in California there are "only" two. They are right across from each other as well so it's much easier to go from one park to the other, which is the plan for tomorrow.

    I had an early dinner at the Grand California, one of the few official Disney hotels right next to the parks.    Read more

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023Traveler

    Salt Lake City tour

    September 24, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    This morning, I joined a guided bus tour around Salt Lake City. We first stopped by the Utah State Capitol, a very impressive building that looked much like the capitol building in Washington D.C.

    The building is the home to the Utah state government - housing the Supreme Court and House of Representatives, among other things.

    When driving around in the city, we also passed by several venues used in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

    The tour ended at Temple Square, home of Salt Lake Temple, which is the largest temple in the world for the mormons, aka. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)

    Utah and Salt Lake City, in particular, are the world headquarters for the LDS church, and their presence in the city is huge. They own many businesses and buildings around town.

    I have seen the massive temple in pictures, and it is very impressive, but currently, it is undergoing a major renovation, so it was completely covered in scaffolding.

    It was interesting to visit this very religious city on a Sunday. Virtually everything was closed, and the downtown area was practically empty in the afternoon. Very surreal to be in a major US city in the middle of the day with almost no people around.

    I did eventually find a place to get lunch and then checked out some exhibits at the planetarium, which was also open.

    Since I had no other plans, I decided to drop by a local movie theater to see the latest Expendables movie with Sylvester Stallone. It was not as good as the first 3 movies - for sure!

    The weather was lovely today, so after the movie, it was great to finish the day with a walk around the city. It is a really beautiful place, with the mountains in the background and many historical buildings.    Read more

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