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Trip to the US - October 2019
  • Rasmus Holmen
  • Rasmus Holmen

Trip to the US - October 2019

Une aventure de 20 jours par Rasmus En savoir plus
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  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - October 2019Voyageur

    Las Vegas Day #2

    20 octobre 2019, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Long day here in Vegas!

    This morning I went out for a walk along The Strip, visiting a number of the enormous casinos/resorts along the way, such as: Caesars Palace, The Mirage, The Venetian, MGM Grand and others. These are basically some of the biggest hotels in the world, and they are indeed massive.

    Aside from the casinos, they also house a number of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues for comedy, theater, magic, concerts etc. While I have been to Vegas before, it’s always super impressive how everything is on such a grand scale. Totally over the top.

    At Caesars Palace I had a nice lunch, and later I visited the local Madame Tussaud’s museum. I was also contemplating visiting exhibits dedicated to the Avengers and Hunger Games movies, but both were fairly expensive.

    I also visited Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. A nice little enclave as part of the Mirage; they have pools for the dolphins, and cages housing white tigers and lions, among other exotic animals.

    Siegfried & Roy used to have a popular show in Las Vegas, involving actual tigers and lions as part of the show.

    I actually saw Siegfried himself today! I don’t think he usually hangs out there so that was a nice surprise.

    Later in the day I also got a chance to hang out by my lovely hotel pool for a while to enjoy the sunny weather.

    In the evening I went to the MGM Grand to try their famous buffet for dinner. They have a huge selection of dishes, as well as an extensive dessert menu. Always fun to try!

    I then headed over to the Hard Rock Hotel which is located in a fairly weird location away from the main Strip area. Anyway, they had an interesting exhibit at the resort, and I concluded the evening by watching the show “Raiding The Rock Vault”.

    It was basically a rock band that played covers of some of the biggest rock classics from the 70s and 80s. They played a lot of songs, covering music from artists such as Queen, Def Leppard, AC/DC, The Eagles, Bon Jovi and many more. The band did a great job and it was a good show!    En savoir plus

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - October 2019Voyageur

    Los Angeles Day #1

    21 octobre 2019, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A bit of a quiet day today.

    This morning I left the bustling Las Vegas for a very short 40-minute flight to Long Beach in California (not very long from Los Angeles).

    I’ve been to California a lot of times by now (10 probably?) but this is my first visit to Long Beach.

    I arrived at my hotel around 1 pm and was able to check in early which was nice. Additionally, my reservation had been upgraded to a very large room that actually spans two floors (sounds like I’m still in Vegas!). On the first floor, or on a sort of landing, the bedroom is placed while there is a living room on the ground floor. Very fancy.

    The room also features a nice water view, where the famous Queen Mary and the cruise ships can be seen in the distance.

    After getting settled at the hotel, and getting some tacos for lunch, I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, a large aquarium and animal sanctuary near the harbour. It was a pretty big place, with lots of fishies to see. They had otters too - one of the cutest animals ever. Nice place for sure.

    After returning to my hotel, I enjoyed the pool for a bit, and the lovely weather. It was over 30 degrees here Celcius, which is a nice change from the other places I’ve visited where it has been fairly cold for the most part. Even in the evening it’s warm and comfortable which I love.

    Closing out the day, I had dinner at a nice seaside seafood restaurant close to the hotel 🐟    En savoir plus

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - October 2019Voyageur

    Los Angeles Day #2

    22 octobre 2019, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    In the morning I spent some more time at my lovely hotel in Long Beach, hanging out by the pool for a bit as well.

    Then I went to the see the Queen Mary - a retired British ocean liner that sailed from the 1930s until 1967, and it’s now a museum and hotel.

    When I first arrived, I went on an hour-long guided tour focused mainly on all the ghosts that apparently haunt the ship! The guide showed us some of the places around the ship that are said to be occupied by ghosts, or where there’s been sightings and strange occurences..

    Whether or not you believe in such tales, the guide was great and it was fun to hear all the stories from the ship’s past, and all the legenda who have sailed on it. The ship primarily functions as a hotel today.

    After leaving the Queen Mary, I made my way to Santa Monica to check in to yet another hotel - the Hampton Inn.

    I thought it was a bit of a budget hotel, but I ended up in a huge suite, featuring a very large balcony with views of the city to one side, and the ocean on the other (albeit quite in the distance). The room itself was very nice, with a separate living room and bedroom, and it looked like it was recently renovated.

    In Santa Monica, I had lunch at Bubba Gump’s at the pier, a restaurant chain based on the movie Forrest Gump! The food was great, actually.

    After a long walk around Santa Monica, in the very warm and sunny weather, I ended up watching the sunset over the beach. Lovely!

    After that I went for a walk around the third street promenade shopping district, and then ended my night by watching the latest Zombieland movie. It was a bit nuts, but pretty entertaining.    En savoir plus

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - October 2019Voyageur

    Los Angeles Day #3

    23 octobre 2019, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Today I started the morning with a bike ride around the lovely areas of Santa Monica beach, Venice Beach and Marina del Rey. It's very hot here at the moment, so it was a bit of a workout with a long bike ride, but it was an amazing experience to bike along one of the world's most famous beaches, and it was also fun to see the Marina del Rey area again where I stayed for one night about two years ago.

    After leaving Santa Monica, I went to one of my favorite areas in Los Angeles: Toluca Lake which is close to Burbank. I checked into my "usual" hotel “The Tangerine” where I've stayed maybe 8 times now? It's a very no-frills, simple hotel (closer to a motel, actually) but there's a certain charm to it, and it's located in a very nice area. The room is a bit small, but has all you need.

    I had lunch at the Novo Café across the hotel - a very nice pasta dish with salmon and a spicy vodka sauce - and then walked to the nearby Warner Bros. Studios for a tour. I did the tour for the first time almost ten years ago, and I've done it a lot of times since then, but the experience is different every time. It’s awe-inspiring to be on the lot where so many of the biggest TV shows and movies over the years have been filmed!

    Among other things, I saw the archive exhibit where they currently display costumes from Aquaman and Wonder Woman, and props/costumes from the Harry Potter franchise. I also saw the prop warehouse, where they have thousands of props and set designs used in many movies and shows like The Matrix, The West Wing, etc. Another stop we made was the picture car museum which is currently displaying a number of batmobiles and other vehicles used in the various Batman movies.

    Finally, aside from driving around and seeing the studio and soundstages, we also visited the set of the show Lucifer, which I haven't watched yet, but now I'll have to! It's really fun to see an actual set used for something that is currently filming. Apparently we saw the main character’s apartment.

    The tour concludes at Stage 48 - a relatively new tour center that exhibits various stages of the movie-making process. They also let you visit the main sets from Friends and The Big Bang Theory and get photos. I also got a photo holding a real Oscar, and I got to see some interesting props and costumes.

    In the evening I had dinner at the famous Smoke House restaurant - very close to Warner Bros. Studios and apparently popular with celebrities! I had a sirloin steak which was amazing 😍    En savoir plus

  • Rasmus HolmenTrip to the US - October 2019Voyageur
    I won another Oscar!

    Los Angeles Day #4

    24 octobre 2019, États Unis ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    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.    En savoir plus