No wonder they all drive massive SUVs

So I lied. After my last post I was going to go for a swim then enjoy the luxuries of the hotel. In hindsight it probably would have been a good idea, but always the glutton for punishment, I decided 15 blocks to see the Walt Disney Concert Hall, City Hall, the LA Public Library and the Staples Centre wasn't too taxing when I'd eaten nothing but a muesli bar all day. I'm glad I did, because those sights were really cool as dusk settled in, and the LA financial district is really something pretty amazing.

But somehow between City Hall and the hotel I wandered a few too many blocks out of my way, and ended up in the Latino quarter. Now i'd previously been told by the hotel staff not to go there at night, and there I was. I definately felt like a minority, as I strolled past McDonalds with nothing but Spanish on the menu, and dodgy guys on street corners gave me the up and down look. Maybe the red beard scared them off, but I made it back to the hotel in one piece, having learnt a nice lesson about LA's ethnic divisions. A nice Italian dinner made me feel better.

Next day was crazy, but somehow I managed to get everything I wanted to do done. Started out with a trip down to Venice Beach, which was empty but was stil nice. The weather in LA is definately a lot more like home than Chicago or the east coast. Next up was Hollywood to check out Capitol Records and its tower, the Walk of Fame, and Mann's Chinese Theatre and its handprints. I was a little chuffed that my feet are bigger than Will Smith, the entire cast of Harry Potter, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Oh, and a little guy named Clint Eastwood. You know what that means ladies. Next up was Universal Studios, which I wizzed around in three hours at the end of my day. Did the tour, Simpsons and Terminator rides, and the haunted house (which surprise, isn't actually very scary). Right near Universal is a place called City Walk, which is full of shops and restaurants and is very cool. I watched a spray painter do these amazing pieces of art from scratch, blew my mind and I would have bought one, but the price was insane.

Main lesson from LA is that everything is very spread out, and the city is massive. I spent more money on cabs and transport in one day than on the rest of the trip combined. It was worth it, but I can't imagine how expensive it would get if you were spending a week or two here - you'd probably want to hire a car.

I'm now typing this from the San Francisco public library... woo free internet. My very early impressions are that I love this city, top three of the entire trip, and it actually feels a lot like home. If you pictured a sprawling mix of South Yarra, Richmond, Brunswick, you'd be about on the money so far. My hotel isn't ready yet, so I've got the rest of the afternoon to kill. Going to check out city hall and the Golden Gate Bridge. Tomorrow there's heaps I want to do, but number one is Alcatraz.

Just a short entry, but my PC time is running out, so cyas!