- By Times’ Junior Journalist Charlie Peterson
If you missed the first part of my United States travel series, this is the trip we spent five years saving for!
Part one took us to Las Vegas, and now in part two, we’re exploring Los Angeles.
The Hollywood Hills, SpaceX headquarters, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Downtown LA’s skyline were just some of the sights we passed in the first hour of being in the city.
From the moment we stepped out of the airport, it was clear: this trip would be even more amazing than the movies.
We had two full days to explore the fascinating city of Los Angeles, and I was thrilled; we might even see some celebs!
To our dismay, this wish didn’t come true. But as we visited some of the tourist hotspots, we did meet some awesome people, from fun New Yorkers to locals of Santa Monica who pointed us in the right direction when we were lost!
My favourite LA hotspot was definitely Beverly Hills. We enjoyed luxury meals and even saw women carrying puppies in their purses, it felt straight out of a movie!
With designer stores and palm trees everywhere, I felt like Cher Horowitz in Clueless!
While exploring, we spotted something my parents never expected to see in their lifetime: self-driving cars!
Robots as Ubers, driving around town – it was bizarre, and we wondered if New Zealand would ever get them.
When we visited the Hollywood Walk of Fame, we saw some of our idols’ stars like Celine Dion, Elton John, Simon Cowell and even Mickey Mouse!
Nearby was Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. We were awestruck at the incredibly sculpted Snoop Dogg, Dwayne Johnson, and Marilyn Monroe before heading to an American retail icon, Target!
It was like Kmart, but bigger! From mountains of lollies to expensive make-up, this store was more than I could’ve dreamt of! I reckon we spent a good few hours marvelling at all the different foods the US had to offer.
We visited the Griffiths Observatory, where we got a great view of the Hollywood sign and downtown LA. The Observatory had some great, informative displays, including real rocks from the moon!
When we were at the Observatory, we also saw helicopters flying overhead, and some locals said they were likely filming a new movie! I still wonder what the movie was.
On our second night in California, we thought there’d be nothing better to do than go to a ball game!
We watched the Dodgers beat the White Sox by a whopping score of 6-1, and I was lucky to grab some cool badges before we headed back to the hotel.
Los Angeles was an awesome experience, and I’d love to go back soon, even just for the shopping!
Stay tuned for more stories on my US trip. Next stop, Disneyland!
- Charlie Peterson is in year 9 at Macleans College
