Los Angeles, USA: Grand American Road Trip (part 1): Hollywood Walk of Fame, Dolby Theatre, Chinese Theatre, Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills, Universal Studios Hollywood theme park – symbols of cinema industry

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

In these publications we will introduce you to Los Angeles (also known as LA or the City of Angels). It is a world center of cinematography, a city with splendid beaches on the Pacific Coast.
We will show you the most famous and beautiful places of LA and its surroundings, and we will share with you our experience and impressions from this city.
We prepared carefully for this trip, learned tonnes of materials about Los Angeles, formed our list of top sights – we will also tell you about it in these publics.
Los Angeles – one of the most amazing cities, which we have ever visited. Why everyone dreams to see LA? If you are interested to get know about this and about our adventures in this city, continue reading our publics till the end.

Los Angeles occupies a huge territory and almost all the famous sights of the city are located rather far from each other. It is possible to go by subway, or by tourist bus Hop-on, Hop-off around the city but we decided to rent a car to feel that special vibe of Los Angeles.

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

We were impressed by the huge road junctions of the city: how the roads twist over each other into all possible different directions. It is simply impossible to manage without the navigator there. We had to be careful and not to be in a rush, otherwise, we could miss our turning and spend much time to return on our initial position. There were 7 lanes on the highway. It must have been the widest road, we have ever driven. 

USA, Los Angeles

USA, Los Angeles, California

It is very picturesque in the city itself: high palms, exciting views, cozy houses with well-groomed gardens. Like in beautiful American movies. 

Los Angeles is about cinema, beaches, a healthy lifestyle and enjoying the moment of living. City of Angeles is a Californian dream! Many people long to visit this city at least as a tourist. Some people are brave enough to move here in hope to taste the joys of a beautiful life.

So many movies were shot here. Hollywood is like the highest peak of success in cinematography for most of the actors. A huge part of famous actors live exactly here.

As Los Angeles is a world center of cinematography, we decided to visit Hollywood Walk of Fame first of all.  It is a long alley, where a lot of copper stars are installed on the sidewalk on both sides. These stars are dedicated to the actors, musicians and producers for their contribution into the entertainment and art industry. There are more than 2500 copper stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame


USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame


USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

Every year voting and selection of the artists take place in order to choose who will get this star. 

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame


USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

One more significant symbol of the cinema world is Dolby Theatre (earlier named Kodak theatre). Famous American awarding Oscar ceremony takes place exactly here every year. Since 1929 the most outstanding actors and movies, where they acted, traditionally receive Oscar statuette for their contribution to the cinema industry. Every actor dreams to get this award, while the cinema-goers hold their breath in front of their TVs during the broadcasting of the Oscar ceremony in hope that exactly their favorite actor will be the winner. 

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre
USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre
USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre

If you look more carefully from the bridge of the arc in the inner court of Dolby theatre, it is possible to see that legendary Hollywood sign, but we will come back to it a little bit later.

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood sign

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood sign

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood sign

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood sign

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood sign

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood sign

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Dolby Theatre, Hollywood sign

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

 

Here is the Chinese theatre – actually it is a cinema. The premiers of the most Hollywood movies are traditionally held exactly here.

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

Among the theatre’s most distinctive features are the concrete blocks set in front of the main entrance, which exhibit the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular personalities in the film industry from the 1920s to the present day.

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame, Chinese theatre

We saw a lot of animators near the Chinese theatre and Dolby theatre. They are dressed like superheroes from the famous Hollywood movies and are always glad to take some photos with the visitors of the city.

USA, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Walk of Fame

 

One more great place in the cinematography capital is the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park with lots of rides and various performances. There is a long pedestrian street CityWalk with its numerous cafes, restaurants, cinema and stores with thematic souvenirs in front of the entrance to the theme park. By the way, every store is dedicated to the separate movie or cartoon from the Universal Studios production. We saw the big spinning Earth sphere – the famous Universal Studios logo in front of the main entrance to the park. There is a red carpet between the Universal Studios sphere logo and the entrance. Universal Studios Hollywood theme park is definitely worth at least 1 whole day to experience the world of the heroes from famous movies of this legendary film studio.

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk


USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk
USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk


USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

USA, California, Los Angeles, Universal Studios Hollywood, CityWalk

 

And here is a luxury district Beverly Hills. It is very nice to drive along the streets here. Every house is a real masterpiece. Beautiful gardens, palms. This district became popular thanks to the famous youth TV-series Beverly Hills 90120, which probably watched everyone.

USA, California, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills

USA, California, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills

 

Later we headed from Beverly Hills district to the Hollywood Hills, where actually legendary Hollywood sign – the most outstanding sight of Los Angeles is.

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

“Hollywood” is spelled out in 45 ft (13.7 m)-tall white capital letters and is 350 feet (106.7 m) long. The sign was originally created in 1923 as a temporary advertisement for a local real estate development, but due to increasing recognition, the sign was left up. The sign appears frequently in some shots for films and television programs set in or around Hollywood. 

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign

We admired wonderful views to Los Angeles city and the ocean from the top of the Hollywood Hills.

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

USA, California, Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

 

To be continued…

Author (c): Iryna Melnyk
Photos (c): Nick Melnyk

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