Hollywood & Santa Monica

1st October

With the iPad set to direct us to Hollywood, we set off in a hire car to find the stars! It was a very warm day and Hollywood Boulevard was thick with people - half were tourists and the other half were tour operators trying to sell seats on their celebrity homes tours. We had great fun reading the names on the stars but Peter was keen to find the TCL Chinese Theatre, set up by Sid Grauman and famous for its concrete pave stones containing the hand and footprints of many legends.

Not that you can read the name, but this is Russell Crowe's star. It was the first Australian name we saw.

Peter is standing next to Cary Grant's signature.

A legend...Robin Williams.

Apparently Marilyn Monroe used to visit the theatre and stand in the footprints of the movie stars and dream.

Inside the theatre, which seats 975 people, is this amazing ceiling which is made of carved wood. The artists created it 'Michaelangelo style' ...on their backs on scaffolding.

The 'curtain dress' from Gone With The Wind.

This carpet is exactly the same as the original carpet in the theatre, but it had to be replaced after the Star Wars film which was a sell out for 18 months. The volume of people walking through the doors wore out the carpet.

Look in the distance and you can see the Hollywood sign. We thought this was good enough and didn't feel the need to get closer to it!

The outside of the Chinese Theatre. Sid built 4 theatres in L.A. And each one had a different theme. AnoTher one in Hollywood had an Egyptian theme. His theory was that people needed to escape and experience different things, and of course world travel was not common back then.

This Cadillac is called Elvis II. It was custom made and was the first car to cost $1,000,000. 

Santa Monica, down near the beach. Is that a gum tree I see?!

Looking to the pier. The carnival operated during the day but not at night because Summer was over. The water was fantastic!

The pier looks great lit up at night.

Parks and Gardens

29th September

Having spied a lot of green areas at the northern end of Manhattan Island when we were on the boat trip, we decided to take the subway to the end of the line and investigate. The lush parklands of New York are in stark contrast to the rest of the island and were a welcome relief to us after a week in the city.

You wouldn't know that you were in New York! This is part of Inwood Hill Park, at the norther end of the island.

A beach on the Hudson River.

This convenient walking track and bike path 

headed south so we happily followed it.

After 2 km, the path ended with this sign, stating 'No 

Public Access'. We were slightly peeved that there was no indication of this when we started out in the path. Also, 2 bike riders and 3 joggers passed us and hadn't turned back. Where had they gone? Needing to investigate, we pressed on. Needless to say, we soon found out why the sign said what it did as it led us onto the railway track! Without going into detail, we found a way out and returned to the safety of the streets. We definitely saw something that most tourists don't see!

A taxi shot near Times Square. We thought this would be a normal scene but, surprisingly it wasn't. There were so many private cars that the taxis were usually spread out.

This is the downtown end of Central Park, away from where we stayed and walked last week. I'm not sure what this castle is...must google it!

A rare shot of the Alice In Wonderland sculpture without kids and tourists climbing and posing all over it!

This shallow lake is used for sailing model yachts and Peter recognised it as a movie location.

The day ended with a visit to the Rockefeller centre and a trip to the Top of the Roc to see the view. New York certainly improves in looks at night!

The blue spire on the left is the Empire State Building.

Botanical Gardens and Coney Island

27th September

We had a big day riding the subway today, making the most of our 7 day pass. The Botanic Gardens, situated in the Bronx, are open free of charge on a Saturday between 9 and 10:00 am so we rose to the challenge of getting there in time! There is a 'tram' ride around the gardens with an audio guide which explains some of the history as well as the specifics of each area of the gardens. It was excellent and we assumed that it was free as no one asked us for a ticket. When we stopped at one of the official stops, the driver asked a man who was waiting if he had a ticket or not. We decided at that point that, when the ride was over, we would walk briskly away!

We changed trains at 161st St, Yankee Stadium, and were surprised when the train left the subway and came 'into the light'! The stadium dominated the skyline.

The NYC Botanical Gardens are the most beautiful gardens that we've ever seen.

This trail left the sealed paths and headed into

 the bush. We saw many squirrels and the cutest chipmunks you've ever seen!

Autumn is just beginning to be noticeable in the gardens.

The waterfall didn't show up well on my little camera.

Can you believe it? A concierge!

Fancy photography!

The conservatory.

After a very peaceful morning at the gardens we rode the rails again, back through the Bronx, right through Manhattan Island, over the bridge and into Brooklyn. It was a stunning day today, blue skies and warm temperatures with little wind so Coney Island was in our sights.

This view, at Brighton Beach, reminded us of so many American movies that I had to take a photo. We didn't see any spectacular car chases under the rail bridge though so it was a little disappointing!

Brighton Beach

Coney Island fun fair.

Looking back at Coney Island and Brighton Beach from the pier.

Coney Island is home to the original Nathan's Famous Frankfurts hotdog stand. This is where those horrible international hotdog eating competitions are held. There is a very large electronic sign on the side of the building counting down the seconds until the next competition...good grief! Peter bought the obligatory hotdog which was surprisingly small and much tastier than Aussie hotdogs. It was more like a bratwurst sausage.

Look above the cars in the middle of the photo and you can see the train waiting at Coney Island station. This is a subway station, by the way!

New York 2

26th September

A tour of Radio City Music Hall, built in 1932, was the first stop of the day. Rockefeller was the force behind the construction and the music hall is the 1st of the 19 (?) buildings which make up the Rockefeller complex. According to our guide, we were lucky to be taken, not only on the stage, but back stage during the tour. This only happens a few times per year...believe it or not! The supposed highlight of he tour was meeting a current member of the famous Rockettes and having the opportunity to have our photo taken with her.

The theatre was originally built to show movies in.

The acoustics are so good that we could hear a cleaner, who spoke in a normal voice whilst in front of the stage, from the very top tier of the theatre.

When standing on the stage, we weren't allowed to move outside of the circle marked in the floor! It was actually a turntable and the stage floor is so strong that they have had elephants and a full size bus on it without a problem.

Some of the Rockette's costumes.

Another must do on the list was to visit Times Square.

This amazing place can't really be photographed effectively. There is a seating grand stand set up so that the public can sit, in the middle of a road junction, and watch the electronic advertising that surrounds you. It's an amazing place, spoilt slightly at the moment by construction work.

View from the stands.

We stupidly thought that the characters hanging around the Disney store were for advertising purposes. Suckers! This photo cost $5 and they pressed us for more. We even saw some girls dressed only in body paint and briefs who were also trying to get money through photos. They were everywhere.

Hard Rock Cafe

After looking up the sunset times, we headed off on the subway downtown to Brooklyn Bridge. It was packed with walkers and cyclists, who had their own lane. The cyclists cared not at all that the pedestrians were plentiful and had a narrower part of the bridge than the small number of cyclists and arrogantly rang their bells and flew along at break neck speeds. It reminded me of Amsterdam.

The bridge took just over 12 years to make, back in the 19th century. It is the oldest bridge in NYC.

Me! If you zoomed in closely, you'd see the Statue of Liberty on the horizon, left of centre.

Downtown Manhatten.

Sunset.