Trip to the US - October 2019

This morning I went for a walk around the lovely Toluca Lake area, mostly to visit a couple of cool shops that I’ve been to before. One of them sells clothing that has been used in various film and TV productions. Often good quality stuff, with the biggest brands, but for a much lower price.

I also went to an interesting bookstore, mostly focused on the occult/horror side which is very apropos now that Halloween is coming up next week.

Before leaving for my next destination, I had lunch at the Novo Café again where I also ate yesterday. Great place!

Eventually I made my way to my final stop of my trip: Hollywood! I’m staying at the Magic Castle hotel for three nights. It’s consistently been rated as the best hotel in Los Angeles, and it is indeed very good. I’ve stayed here several times before so it’s nice to return.

My room - a suite, really - is very spacious. There is a living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom so it’s more like a small apartment. With a view of the pool! Not bad.

The hotel has many amenities like free snacks and drinks. They also have an ice cream machine that you can use freely, but alas it’s broken at the moment. Sadface.

After I got settled at the hotel I went to Paramount Studios, the last of the big studios actually still located in Hollywood. I’ve done their studio tour several times before, most recently two years ago. But every tour is different and it’s always a fun experience touring one of the legendary lots where so many productions have filmed over many decades.

We saw the soundstage used for Dr. Phil, a popular show here. I also saw the beach house set used on the show Grace & Frankie. I have only watched the show a little bit but it was fun to see the main set that they use a lot on the show.

A show that I do watch, and like a lot, is “This Is Us” which was filming on the lot today. The tour is not allowed to get close to the filming, but it was cool to be so close to where such a popular show is filmed, and see the soundstages from the outside. We also saw the trailers where the actors hang out when they are not on set.

Overall a great tour on another very hot day in California. Apparently this heat (32-34 degrees C) is indeed unusual for the reason, and apparently much warmer than it was in the summer.

I then relaxed for a bit in the hotel and later in the evening I went to the famous Chinese Theatre for the Hollywood premiere of “The Irishman” by Martin Scorsese. The movie stars some of the biggest Hollywood legends of all time: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, who came out of a long retirement for this movie.

After we got settled in the theater, Martin Scorsese came out to introduce the main cast. It was pretty unique to be in the same room as these guys, and see them stand there a few feet away, and then watching their movie afterward. Wow. A very Hollywood experience for sure.Read more