Arrived in port on time - got up and had breakfast, left our cabin just before 8am (everyone had to be out of their cabin by then). Because of our "platinum" status we got to wait in a "dedicated" lounge rather than having to wait with the crowds in the other lounges. Good thing too because departure was delayed - the first people were due to leave the ship at 7:00am but it was almost 8:30 before they could leave. We were due to leave at 9:40; by that time they had caught up a bit, but it was still after 10am before our group was called. Often those people looking for a 7:00am departure have taken the risk of trying for a 9:00 or 10:00 am plane out of LAX - I suspect that more than one of them might have missed their flight. No such risk for us - our flight out of LAX wasn't until 11:00pm.
After a good deal of thought about this, I decided that the best way to fill in some time was to go on a tour. The cruise line used to offer these, but they don't have them in Los Angeles any more. So, I booked a private tour with Tours By Locals. Basically, they have a bunch of local people who have pre-determined tours of varying lengths - usually between 4 and 12 hours although I've seen at least one 11 day one! - covering all sorts of different sights in the city in question (they're all over the world).
Our particular tour was actually called "Explore LA your way", which is one that isn't actually pre-organised - as it says, you see what you want to see.
It was really good - the guide (Emily) picked us up in her car at the cruise port with no problems. She had already asked us to name some places we wanted to see, and she took us to them and also to a bunch of other places that fitted in with where we were going, with a lot of explanations about all of the places we went to. Basically for places we went into, she'd park the car outside, explain anything we needed to know about where to go etc, then she'd either wait for us or come back and get us when we called. While we drove from place to place she would talk about Los Angeles - the history of the places we were going to, or information about places we drove past - she was just a mine of information (as you'd have to be in her job!)
These aren't in the order we saw them - the first six are the ones we asked to see, and the rest are the extras she showed us anyway.
USS Iowa - this was really easy as it's docked right beside the spot where the Coral Princess docked.
We did a quick tour and took some photos - later they'll have some different organised tours but for now
it's all pretty much 'show yourself around'.
Here's a photo of the Coral Princess as seen from the USS Iowa, and vice versa:
And a photo of Paul:
Walt Disney Concert Hall - I didn't take any photos because they don't do it justice, I just wanted to see it for real.
The Griffith Observatory - this was an incredible drive - apparently half of Los Angeles wanted to go to Griffith Park or to the observatory for the afternoon and there were cars parked all along the (narrow and winding) approach road. Emily drove the entire way without a blink about the traffic while at the same time explaining the history of the park and the observatory to us. There's a really interesting back story to Griffith Park including a curse and a long history of financial failures. However the park itself now is apparently a really popular place for hiking, and the observatory of course provides excellent views of land and sky.
California Science Centre - a bit closer to Questacon than I expected, but currently has a really good exhibition on Cleopatra. Here's one of the recently unearthed statues:
Santa Monica Pier - another place I just wanted to see for myself. You see lots of bits and pieces of it in TV shows etc, but now I have seen it I know what it really looks like!
Le Brea Tar Pits - what more can I say?
Architecture of Los Angeles - Emily showed us some of the buildings around downtown, including the Millenium Biltmore which has some really unexpected and beautiful features. Have a look at the link - it really is a beautiful hotel (with room prices to match - $500 to $5000 per night for a random night next week!)
Spanish settlement - we stopped and had a break at Olvera Street which is a very old part of downtown Los Angeles. There's a Mexican marketplace (where we bought a very non-Mexican icecream), a very old Fire Station and church, and the Avila Adobe house which is the oldest standing residence in Los Angeles. We also saw some of the celebrations leading up to the Day of the Dead. Emily assures us that this area is more Mexican than anything we saw in Mexico!
Houses - we got to see a small area of beautifully maintained Victorian era houses - I had no idea there'd be such houses in Los Angeles. Also on the way to see the Hollywood sign, we got to see some quite beautiful houses in the "Castle" and "Fairy Tale" styles.
Hollywood Sign - we got to what is apparently the closest spot from where you can see the front of the sign. Emily also explained the history of the sign and showed us the Real Estate Agency - Hollywood Land Real Estate - that started it all off. No zoom here - we really were that close!
Emily finally dropped us off at LAX for our flight. Even if we were brave enough to drive in the USA, we would never have known to to even look for some of these places. This was a really good way to spend the day - much better than waiting at LAX for more than 12 hours! - and was really worth the cost.
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