Not being a moron is Paramount to being a good guest

My final day in Los Angeles. Boo. I really did need another day or two, as I missed out on Disneyland and I didn’t get to all the restaurants and cafes recommended to me. But with a midday check-out and a tour of Paramount Studios not scheduled until 1pm, I had a sleep in! Apparently I needed it, when I woke up at 10am I felt like I had been woken up way too early. But the lure of old Hollywood was just TOO DAMN STRONG!

Universal appreciation of not being the embarrassing Australian on the tour

My Saturday in Los Angeles was devoted to a package deal I had booked through StarLine Tours which was billed as Universal Studios and Movie Stars’ Homes tour. Which it was, however it was not until I was picked up from the hotel and we got ready to leave their offices that it was mentioned we would do the Hollywood tour BEFORE Universal, not after as I had thought. I was hoping to get in to Universal early, beat the crowds, and then spend the afternoon exhausted and sitting in the back of a van looking at houses.

My first taste of Hollywood and feeling like a film set VIP

Friday morning I shot out of bed quick as a flash at about 7.30am because a bus was picking me up at 8.50am and I had to get ready and scoff some breakfast downstairs at the cafe. I inhaled some toast and a cappuccino, which had the consistency of a weak Nespresso pod run under a hot tap, and jumped on a shuttle bus to LA City Tours.

Checking in while mentally checked out: my first day in LA

I need to say, straight from the start, I didn’t think I would like LA much at all and so I only booked in four days in total. But due to a few people and a lot of amazing and fun experiences, I now wish I had booked a longer stay and am already working out how I can get over here again.