Los Angeles 2012: Blog #3 – City Tour
During the trip, my mom and I took a day-long tour of Los Angeles and the surrounding area. It was an interesting tour, and we got to see a wide variety of sites throughout the city.
Grauman’s Chinese theatre
One of our first stops was at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Here, our tour guide gave us time to look at all of the hand and foot prints before we set off for our next stop. It was interesting to see all of the tiles – but there was one I was interested in seeing: Johnny Depp’s. It took ages to find his, but with the help of an employee at the theatre, I was able to find it right next to the theatre itself. I was so excited!
My mom took a photo of me with my hands in his handprints and I think it might be my favourite photo from the trip:
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Depp’s and have been for years. While I was there, I was pretty sure he was in the city, but I honestly didn’t think I’d ever run into it (and, alas, I didn’t). But, since I’ve returned home, I found out that he was about four blocks away from my hotel on the Monday night! He attended an after party following the Aerosmith concert, and the party was at a restaurant just down the street. I know it’s silly, but the fact that he was four blocks away from my hotel filled me with irrational joy.
I really don’t know what I would have done if I’d actually run into Mr. Depp. I’m so shy that I figured I probably wouldn’t approach anyone famous unless they were someone I really respected. Obviously he fits in that category, but I would have been so afraid of making a fool out of myself. I’m very happy to admire Mr. Depp and his extraordinary talent from afar.
I also found Robert Downey Jr.’s tile nearby and got a photo with my hand in his hand print, as well:
The Beaches
On the tour we made stops at the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach. At Venice Beach I walked down to the water and stepped into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in 15 years! I love the ocean and, perhaps I romanticize it a bit because I live so far away from the ocean. It would have been nice to spend a whole day at the beach, but, we were too busy doing other things!
The Hollywood Sign
I was able to get a few decent pictures of the Hollywood sign while I was in LA. This first one was from a viewing point our tour guide drove us to:
This second one was taken from the tour bus another day while we were on our way to Disneyland:
Seeing a Celebrity
On our way back to the hotel, our tour guide pointed out someone he recognized, but he couldn’t name him. I recognized him, but had trouble placing him – but thought that he was either Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje or Idris Elba. Our tour guide figured out that he was in The Big C. I looked it up when I got home and realized that it was Elba that we had seen.
For all I know, I could have walked past any number of other entertainment personalities, but I didn’t recognize anyone. I wasn’t really on the look out for anyone famous, except during the movie star home portion of the tour. I was too focused on the sights!



That is SO nifty that he was just four blocks away!! Simply fantastic!! I honestly don’t know what I’d do either if I ran into Mr. Depp! I may just faint!
It sounds like you really got to do and see a lot in a short period of time!
@Janey
I figured I’d either faint or start crying. I’m a crier and when I’m super happy, the tears start flowing!
I did SO much in the 8 days I was there. It was an intense vacation – but it was a ton of fun! I do still feel like I’m recovering, though!