I have just returned, feeling very, very jetlagged, from the US after 15 days of great fun.
THE FOLLOWING IS A DETAILED ACCOUNT, PLEASE BEAR WITH ME! :-)
It all began on August 9 with the flight to San Francisco, where I spent 4 nights. The city was great, had a great atmosphere and lots to do. A day was spent around Union Square (the main shopping/things to do place) as well as riding on the cable cars/trams that is the city`s main way of getting up and down the bloody hills! Another day was spent with my tourist hat firmly in place: a day trip around the city complete with tour guide, seeing all the sights, and then that afternoon was spent in...ALCATRAZ!
Yes, Alcatraz, the infamous US prison that operated from the 1930s through the 1960s (may have been until the `70s, memory is a little sketchy right now). Now, people can go and visit the prison, and take a very insightful and very interesting audio tour around the entire thing. Alcatraz is built on Alcatraz Island, which is in San Francisco Bay, in full view of the famous Golden Gate Bridge (something I visited earlier that day...breathtaking!). The prison housed some very notorious criminals (Al Capone, anyone?) and was also home to some infamous escapades - the prison `blastout` of 1946 when some prisoners got hold of some guns and tried to, yep, blast their way out of the place (half of them were killed; of the three that survived, two were executed in San Quentin, the other sentenced to life), killing guards in the process and wounding others. Another famous bit of Alcatraz history is the escape of 1962, when three guys used spoons to tunnel their way out of their cells, onto the roof, then swim across `Frisco Bay...the Clint Eastwood film `Escape from Alcatraz` is based on that.
The third day consisted of hiring a scooter come car thingie, and blasting our way around the city in it, seeing all the sights first-hand as well as going down `The Most Crooked Street in the World` in it.
The fourth day was when we picked up our rental car and began the long, long trip to Los Angeles along Highway Route 1: the route that takes you alongside the very picturesque Pacific Ocean. On the way, we stopped in Monterey for lunch (OK place, not too great) and then onto Carmel - where Clint Eastwood used to be Mayor! Due to the length of the drive, we spent a night in Carmel, dinining at Clint`s restaurant, the Hog`s Head Inn, which was very nice. The town itself was very quaint and enjoyable.
Next day we were faced with 320 more miles, which we made in about 7 hours, with a stop along the way. Arriving in LA, at Redondo Beach (south-west), we were told that due to the blackouts on the East Coast - you may have heard about them - we couldn`t have our room that night, and were sent off to a nearby one instead. However, the next day we did wind up in our very nice hotel, which doubled as a yacht club...cue panaramic ocean views and the marina on our doorstep.
We had 9 nights in total in LA, which were divided between relaxing by the pool, hiring a boat on one of the days (cruising up and down the harbor/marina!), as well as some other very interesting escapades...
...such as visiting Hollywood. Ah, Hollywood, home of the film industry, `the place with the sign`, and the place where all the stars frequent. In total we spent four days in Hollywood (broken up by other things - see above), well, two full days and two half-days. The two full days: one was spent visiting the Warner Bros studios, and doing the very informative and excellent studio tour (our tour cart when right past Stage 24...the stage at which a little-known TV series called `Friends` is filmed, and they were filming at that very moment). On it we also saw all the exterior WB sets (which you see in their films and TV shows all the time), as well as a group of actors from the TV series `The West Wing`. It was interesting hearing just what had been filmed at WB, and where...films such as `Terminator 2` had sequences done there, along with oldies like `Casablanca` and `The Maltese Falcon` to name but a few.
The second full-day was spent at rival studio Universal, which was more of a tourist attraction than a pure studio tour. However, it was still good, and on its studio tour (we did this as well as the other attractions) we past the production of the Coens` remake of `The Ladykillers` being filmed on Colonial Street (one of their exteriors at Universal) - I got a glimpse of one of the Coen brothers to boot. Also, they were doing something on `The Cat in the Hat` nearby, which is released later this year. Overall, very interesting.
Now one of the half-days in Hollywood has to be a highlight for me. For on that afternoon in Santa Monica (about 19 miles from Redondo Beach), I was able to visit a company known as Forward Pass. The company is owned and operated by Michael Mann - a very successful, and talented, film director, whose CV includes `Miami Vice`, `Manhunter`, `The Last of the Mohicans`. `Heat`, `The Insider` and `Ali`. Due to one of my Dad`s friends being in the film industry (he works as a stunt coordinator), this was how this all happened. I spoke with Mann for about 30 minutes in his very plush office, during which time he showed me some of his personal work from the films (storyboards etc) as well as talking about his latest 2 projects...a film named `Collateral` starring Tom Cruise and also a film adaptation of his hit TV series `Miami Vice`. The former starts shooting October 3, the latter is still in the writing stages. After this very interesting, and productive, meeting, I also met a guy called Joel Kramer, who has worked on numerous films as the head stunt director.
And now onto the final half-day spent doing Hollywood-related things...another meeting, this one following me witnessing someone prepare for a forthcoming acting role. The role was the lead character, the preparation was close-combat and gun-firing on a range in LA, and the film was `Collateral`. The actor, none other than a certain Mr Tom Cruise. This meeting was a lot shorter (he had to bugger off for a meeting with Michael Mann re the film...talking of short, yes, Cruise is quite short - just thought you`d like to know...!), but still, of course, worth doing. He, like Mann, was a nice guy, and it was interesting to see his dedication in preparing for the role. The only pain was not being able to see Robert De Niro, someone else who there is a connection with, but I can`t really complain after meeting the othet two.
So as well as all this Hollywood outings, we did more sedate things such as find nice restaurants, enjoy the hotel, hiring bikes to cycle round the nearby beaches, and so on.
All in all, bringing this very long account to an end, it was a very worthwhile holiday, and I heartily recommend San Francisco, Carmel, and Los Angeles as destinations worth checking out.
Finally, I have a lot of photos that I have taken - from all the places visited/things done, so if you want to see some/all, let me know and I`ll send them to you. (The photos include a shot of Brad Pitt and Nicolas Cage`s houses, when we went past them in Beverly Hills!...oh, and some of Cruise on the range preparing for his role.)
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Rik Booth
My DVD Profiler Collection
My YMDb Top 20 Films
