Hollywood – I was there already. Once, many years ago. But it was then a very small village with a few houses. And now it seems to be and endless city where you don’t know where Hollywood begins and where it ends.
Well the first was in County Wicklow in Ireland where is a small village with the very same name. The second is the one in Los Angeles in the United States.
Of course I wanted to see Hollywood, walk on the Walk of Fame and see Sunset Boulevard at sunset when I was visiting friends in San Diego. So the occasion arrived when we were heading to Santa Barbara. And on the way we stopped for a night in this super busy city that seems never to sleep.
So we booked in a little hotel. One of these where you drive with your car in front of the room door. Two squeaky beds and a small bathroom, but all clean and not noisy in the night at all. Which surprised me a little as it is right in the middle of a super busy, central area.
Hollywood was founded by real estate developer H. J. Whitley and named Hollywood in 1886. He quickly found a lot of investors as he was known to have developed already more than 100 other cities through the United States.
Los Angeles, a major city already, was only 16 km/10 miles away. Only one years after a real estate boom started. Only 15 years later it was functioning like an own town with even a newspaper. Already in the beginning of last century the place was very known and appreciated by famous rich people.
In the early 1900 filmmakers moved to Los Angeles, nearly always good weather and a lot of different filming locations made Los Angeles a perfect venue. In 1911 the first studio was established, the Nestor Company. The now well known Paramount, Warner Bros., Colombia and RKO had studios here as well since the early 1920s. Hollywood soon was nicknamed Tinseltown..
Today Hollywood is known nearly ONLY for the film studios, VIPs living here, the Sunset Boulevard and the walk of fame. Not to forget the famous Oscar night!
Hollywood – we saw it first from a hill and then emerged in the city. The hill was Griffith Park and the place of course the Griffith Observatory. A very touristic place I must say but not less beautiful and especially a perfect location for a great overview on Lon Angeles, Downtown, Hollywood and until the ocean.
We haven’t been inside the observatory but I guess it is very interesting as well and should be considered when going there.
Yes, I walked the Sunset Boulevard. A super busy street with a lot of shops and restaurants. The walk of fame is nice to see, it didn’t blew me out of my socks. But I thought it very funny that the first star I saw was the one of Angela Lansbury. She was with me on the same flight from Dublin to L.A. before.
We spent nearly half of the next day at the Paramount studios which was really great. The other half of the day we were driving through the wonderful gardens and villas of who-knows-whom. I loved the shady streets lined by tall palm trees and framed with lush front yards. Some had stunning views on Downtown, the ocean or just the mountains.
I liked my stay in Hollywood. Especially we could fit in the film studios and also the Getty Villa. I never took a photo of the famous Hollywood sign as I don’t like to take pictures of something everyone wants. Like I never thought to take a photo with Angela Lansbury. I was just excited to talk to her as I always liked her in “Murder she wrote..”
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California/USA:
For further information:
News from Hollywood
