mybigadventures.com

Happy birthday Danica!

So today is Danica's birthday and she decided she wanted to go to the zoo. Having visited London zoo a few years ago we were left a little unimpressed so we decided to go to ZSL Whipsnade instead. Dani's parents met us there and we had a fantastic day with a real highlight being the elephants on parade (with the elephants taken for a walk holding on to each other using their trunks and tails around the zoo - amazing!)

We had planned to get up early but ended up sleeping in a bit, getting out just after 10. We had decided to explore some of the history of Philadelphia today starting with the Liberty Bell. Philadelhia was the first capital of the United States before it was moved to Washington in 1800, so there are some of the original buildings from the time that it served as capital city. After visiting the bell, we went to the vistor center to get tickets for Independance Hall. You have timed tickets to get in and fortunately we able to get tickets for entry just 20 minutes later. 

We had a short tour though Independence Hall which is where both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were signed. From here we joined a queue to enter Congress Hall, which is where the US Congress met when Philadelphia was the capital. When we came out, it did start to rain a bit so we made use of the Niagra Ponchos to keep us dry. Having explored the main site, we decided to look around the local area where there are few other historic buidings including the first and second bank. We started in the Washington Park, where there is the tomb of the unknown soldier before heading out onto Chesnut street to get some lunch from Knead Bagels, a bagel shop. We shared a BLT and a Egg and Ham bagel before continuing to explore. There was a film crew and lots of equipment and cast around on Chesnut street so we stuck around for a bit to have a look, apparently it was for a new TV show.

Walking on, we ended up in an 18th century garden, stopping to take a few pictures we heard a bird cry nearby and saw a brilliant red Cardinal. Whilst taking pictures, we both managed to get bitten a lot - joy! Out the corner of my eye I saw a bird with a much larger wing span fly overhead and seemingly land in the trees across the road in the gardens of a church. We headed out to take a look, but couldn't see anything and then moments later as we were about to leave, a Cooper Hawk landed on a low branch right infront of us, with a mouse that it had just caught. Spent quite a while taking photos before moving on again. Walking off the historical mile, we decided to head for some ships Dani had spotted on the map, the USS Olympia and SS Becuna (submarine).

Arriving at the dockyard, we found that we could go on both the USS Olympia steam ship and the USS Becuna submarine for $10 each, it was really quiet so we headed on exploring the submarine first. It was amazing inside, and we spent quite a long time working through the submarine as we were the only people on board. It's only the second time we've been on a submarine with the last time being at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, this time we saw much more of the submarine looking at living quarters, the engine room and the tornado tubes amongst other things. The USS Olympia was also impressive set over 5 floors including the top deck, we were able to explore 3 of the floors again seeing the more generous living quarters afforded by a bigger ship. 

Leaving the dockyard, we headed back towards the Independence hall visitor center to have a look in the shop and stop for a drink. The weather had also picked up a bit from the morning so I took the oppportunity to get some additional photos of the Independence Mall and surrounding area. As we were getting ready to head off, a gentleman saw me taking photos and suggested we look inside the Bourse Building which is to the side of the Independence Mall. As we were close by, we decided to take a look. The building dates back to the end of the 19th century and inside it is an artisian food and shopping market providing a range of dining options. The architecture is amazing with the centre portion of the building open all the way to the skylights at the top, it really was quite an impressive sight. Whilst there we stopped for a snack, Dani had a sticky bun parfait and I had an enourmous chocolate icecream - amazing!

Back at the hotel, I decided to take the camera out to get a night shot of the council building which is down the road from the hotel. We stopped just outside the hotel on the way to get some tea, managing to get the photo I was after first time!

Woke up quite late today - the hotel room has Japanese-style shutters and curtains so is quite dark. Comfy and cosy though! Threw some clothes on and went down to the Starbucks beneath the hotel. Bought hot teas (I still find it weird to have to ask for ‘hot’ tea) and had a breakfast sandwich each - sausage, egg and cheese in an English style muffin. Just under $10. Sat at our leisure for a while, before going back up and showering.

Dithered about what to do today - we had planned to have a look around the local area today, but as we had a bit of a look last night, we thought we’d investigate Hollywood instead. Went down to use the Internet to look at the availability of tickets for the Warner Brothers tour. Managed to get two tickets for 4:30 PM today ($110, including admin costs, for two tickets). We sorted ourselves out with passports as ID, and then went to the car. It was costing $30 per day to use the hotel car park, so we thought we might also check out the parking competition later.

Drove towards Hollywood. For a short journey, it took a long time, and included a fraught journey on the I-101 towards Hollywood! Used the SatNav to find some parking - a little expensive at $10 flat rate (particularly because there was no ‘in and out’), but we didn’t know an alternative. But, it was super-handy for the Walk of Fame, so it’s all relative…

Wandered along the boulevard, checking out the stars on the Hall of Fame. Walk past Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, and had a picture taken with Johnny Depp and Russell Crowe! Had a look at the Chinese Theatre, which is very attractive, with lots of decorations and celebrity handprints in the cement at the front - including a Harry Potter ensemble! Walked as far as the stars went and then headed back, in search of the elusive Hollywood sign. We had already had a bit of a wander up Highland Avenue, as allegedy you can see the sign where Highland meets Hollywood Boulevard - but we couldn’t see it. However, on this corner there is a shopping centre-type place, so we thought you might be able to see it from there. I asked the security guard and, yes, it could be seen from here - three floors up - so we did find it! Looks just as you might expect - it was quite hazy in the heat - but I guess it feels like proper LA now we’ve seen the Hollywood sign! We took quite a few photos and admired it for a while.

Time was marching on a bit so we decided we ought to head off to catch our Warner Brothers tour. It was just as well we left in plenty of time - traffic was a little slow, but that was nothing compared to the complete lack of signs or anything helpful when we were approaching the place! We could see the logo and the film posters - but no entrance. Our SatNav seemed unable to locate either road required by the directions on the ticket confirmation! Very frustrating! Ended up asking a local, who set us on the right track. We made it with minutes to spare!

We passed through security, where we chatted with very friendly security staff and then we joined a short queue to actually pick up our tickets. With minutes before our tour began, the only two people serving seem to be dealing with issues and consequently we were standing there for a while. Luckily, this didn’t seem to be a big problem (the timing) and we got onto the tour and into the auditorium for the pre-tour film, in the nick of time.

The film was an introduction to the history of the company; neither of us realised there were four brothers originally, starting the company so that was a fun fact. They also shared loads of clips from films and shows that have been made, to tickle the taste buds, as it were! We then went off in smaller groups to do the golf-buggy-tour bit. Our tour guide was called Noah, and you had to love his enthusiasm! He was very good at his job. He drove us (a group of nine) around various sets and streets that are permanent fixtures - and also many ‘everyday’ parts of the site that are always left neutral to be dressed as required. There were several highlights: we went into a museum of artefacts from different shows/films and they had an array of Harry Potter stuff, including the Marauders Map, one of Arogog’s descendants, Hermione’s frozen body from ‘The Chamber of Secrets’, and a little Dobby. Also, they had costumes and props from ‘Hart of Dixie’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’, the new ‘Batman’, ‘Chuck’ and ‘The Hangover’ films to name but a few. We also went to see some cars being stored; the Ford Anglia from Harry Potter, several Batmobiles, and Clint Eastwood’s car from Gran Torino. At another point, we went to see the Central Perk set from ‘Friends’ - the original - and we sat on the sofa for a photo. The two final highlights of the day were seeing Leonard from ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and the filming of ‘Hart of Dixie’! So exciting! At least, we’re fairly certain it was Leonard, and, as for the filming, Noah told is it was filming for ‘The Mentalist’, but all the props were from the set of ‘Hart of Dixie’, and we are fans, so we know!

I’ve  just thought - we also went into a soundstage, set up for filming ‘Marley and Mike’ - a new sitcom and Noah explained how it all worked. A five-day schedule for sitcoms - reading, rehearsing, and then filming, with the networks being involved to veto the scripts. So, all in all, a fun afternoon session! We bought our souvenir photo, taken in front of a green screen; it seemed quite a bargain at only $5.40. We also bought a ‘Big Bang Theory’ T-shirt each, as a souvenir. He he! So cool!

It was getting on when we came out so we located a restaurant through the SatNav - ‘Bob’s Big Boys’. In true American style, we had vast portions - Ben had a Big Boy Special - a little like a big Mac - and I had what turned out to be a burger covered in chilli. Tasty, but there was a lot of it! I took some of mine home in a doggy bag!

We headed off, back to the hotel. Traffic was heavy on I-101, so it took longer than expected. Got back to Little Tokyo and started to look for alternative parking, but found nothing. One car park closed in 30 minutes and didn’t do overnight parking - given that it was already 11:30 PM, it was odd that they thought we wanted to park for only 30 minutes! At 11:30 PM?! Gave up and parked in the hotel car park instead.