Without the palm trees this could be Weston-Super-Mare!

One day our names will be on here...
Heaven knows why obesity's a problem in America
The one and only William Bradley Pitt!
How's that for a West Coast image?
They actually have canals in Venice! Ain't they pretty?

Well we've done L.A. now! We got the greyhound, which was a 9 hour trip. I was impressed with the route we took as there were only 2 stops( a 15 min for lunch and a 5 min loo break 3 hours after that). It was good because I knew we were getting there as soon as possible, but I was also worried as the driver looked pretty worn out when he dropped us off.

Our hostel was really nice in Hollywood. It was one of a chain known as " USA HOSTELS", a lot of thought went into the name I know. It was really nicely decorated, very new, and the rooms had their own shower/bath in. Unfortunately, they did not serve the free meals that we were used to 'The Green Tortoise Hostel' so I had to cook my own meal. Phil had wisely opted for a microwaveable thing but I decided to go for the more hardcore macaroni cheese from a box.

There were no measuring facilities in the kitchen and i had not cooked anything in over 3 weeks so everything took twice as long to do. I also had forgotten to get butter and the milk was fat free, so i knew this wasn't going to be the best dish from the start. As i was setting my meal on fire I got chatting to some Danish lads. I don't know why the mocked my food, they were trying to cook roast potatoes and chicken nuggets in a broken oven. when I asked how long they had waited for it to cook they said' so far 1 hour' and i said ' at this rate when do you expect it to be done ' In 3 hours' came the reply (it was already 8.30pm).

There was a free comedy night that night and we got served at the bar, so had a few beers (well i had one to Phil's three). It was very good.

In the morning we decided to go exploring Hollywood Blvd. The museums we wanted to see were shut 'because it's a monday' it was explained. Of course silly us expecting something to be open on a Monday, foolish Hollywood ways.

Instead we went to the Kodak theatre, where the Oscars are held,and walked along the walk of fame. It was all, to me, dissapiontingly ordinary. After eating the biggest slice of pizza I have ever eaten, we decided to take the metro to El Pueblo de Los Angeles (the oldest distrcit in L.A.). We went to an art musuem that celebrated the 'feminist movement'. There was some inspiring stuff but also some, I thought, unecessary exhibits. Unecessary in that they showed pictures, paintings and videos of female genitalia, as if that represented what being femimine and the feminist movement was all about. It angered me as the 'artists' were obviously just wanting to shock people rather than educate or move them.

The following morning we went up the road to see some of the 'Ocean's 13' cast doing the 'cement ceremony'. We got there around 9.30am and there weren't as many people there as i had thought, it being Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon. We lined up behind a metal gate slightly up from the entrance to the Kodak Theatre so we couldn't actually see action. Instead we watched from a live t.v. screen. It was an absolute shambles. The Mayor of Hollywood was presenting the ceremony and he didn't even know what film the gents were from. He made this big announcement and then he pionted to the door and it was like in a movie...everyone got ready and no one came out of the doors. It was so funny. He then had to ad lib for 10 mins until the stars were actually ready to come out. When Brad, George and Matt did come out everyone cheered and the mayor told everyone to quieten down. What? Hello! This is Brad pitt we're talking about.

Anyway, after the ceremony all three of them came down the red carpet and signed things for the fans and it was all very exciting. We then moved hostel, because a guy in San Fran had mentioned a hostel right on Venice Beach.

When we got there, the weather was cloudy and chilly and the hostel was pretty grim. As we walked along Venice Boardwalk we were pretty miserable and hence came up with the title of this update.

Phil: Venice Beach is a strange mix of tacky, dirty (like Weston-Super-Mare, you see?), bohemian and serene. The boardwalk is lined with tattoo parlours, souvenir clothing shops and fast food cafes, while further inland there are trendy clothes shops, arty homeware stores and cool little cafe's. We also discovered the Venice Canals, or rather the American version. But these are just as picturesque as their Italian counterparts, with gardens full of flowers and other carefully chosen foliage, ducks swimming along, and dozens of little rowing boats moored outside the little summer houses. I'll let the photo above say the rest. Also, in case you though rollerblading was a thing of the past, come to Venice Beach, where you'll find it's very much alive and kicking (or rather rolling)! It's like stepping 20 years into the past...

So all in all, a few days chilling by a California beach didn't do us too much harm!,