San Francisco:
The start of our American trip was in San Francisco. Too late to get a place on the tour to Alcatraz, we instead took a tour around the bay and under the golden gate bridge. The tour starts by passing the colony of seals at the end of Pier 39, before following the coast line along to the bridge. After passing under the bridge the boat turns round and circles Alcatraz before returning to the start. We then took one of the cable cars up the hill from the quay over to Chinatown. One day was too short to explore the whole city, so will need to visit again.
Pacific Highway : Route 1
We took the scenic Route 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles, staying overnight in the town of Pismo Beach. Here we watched the sun set into the sea in a fantastic sunset.
Santa Monica and Los Angeles
We met some friends for dinner in the Bubba Gump restaurant on Santa Monica Pier, which is also the end of Route 66. The restaurant chain being inspired by the film Forest Gump.
We also visited the Tar Pits of Los Angeles where many fossils have been found of animals which got stuck in the tar pits found in this area. Apparently a human can get stuck fast in just 1 inch of the stuff.
Hollywood:
No trip to Los Angeles would be complete without a trip to Hollywood and one of the film studios. Paramount is one of the few film studios which have remained within Hollywood itself and we booked one of the two hour tours which takes you around the studios and into some of the sound stages. Sadly we did not see anyone famous on the set that day… apparently Tom Hanks when he found out the Forrest Gump bench had been relocated to the film studio spent one of his days off filming dressed up as Forrest Gump and inviting passersby to enjoy a chocolate and a chat with him. But nonetheless an enjoyable and informative tour.
Hollywood Boulevard and the walk of fame,
Round the World 2012 / 2013 