It's been nearly three weeks since we've been on a bus tour - I think we've got a habit. Today we headed off on a LA tour. We started off at the Bowl, currently under a refurb. This is a new one since I was here as a kid. The upgrade hasn't made it anymore interesting :)

Next it's onto Hollywood Blvd - The walk of Stars - Mickey, Walt Disney and Bugs were the highlights. The Chinese Theatre with all the tiny foot prints and onto the Kodak Theatre where they do the Oscars. All along the entrance to the theatre they have the Best Movie winners from history all lit up lining the pillars. They also have provisions for future years too, right up to 2071. The awards seem to move around every decade or two, seems a little optimistic to provision right out to my centenary…

Through Hollywood to all the sights of folk lore - John Belushi's last meal at the Rainbow Bar & Grill and the Chateau Marmont where he bombed himself. The Viper Room where I explained to Max that River Pheonix died. Good way to continue my anti-fame sermon with the kids though Max corrected me that the Pheonix doesn't die, I told him he got his name wrong.

Past the grocery store they call the Rock'n Roll Ralph's where the tour guide explained that rockstars shop at 3am after their show. I'm guessing it's the kind of "rockstars" no one knows about that need to do their own grocery shopping.

Back down to Rodeo drive then on to the Tar Pits. This is the first I'd heard of the Tar Pits, I don't know how this didn't register when I was a kid. They've uncovered fossils from up to 40,000 years ago here. Animals have come to drink and got stuck in this Tar Pit for all this time, even today it looks like a lake with a 4ft layer of water on it. On the footpath out the front oil stains from the oil that naturally leaches up all over the ground down here on the Miracle Mile.

Next we're on to Farmers Market and The Grove for lunch. I remember having a Hot Dog here as a kid and thinking it was the best thing ever, I tracked down a similar one and impressed my new Hot Dog connoisseur of a son. Ice creams from the Market and a stroll to the Grove got us out the front of the only outdoor Apple store in LA to add to the collection.

More downtow, Chinatown, and we're at Olvera St. My parents also brought me here as a teenager. I clearly didn't listen to a thing, I thought we came down here to experience some Mexican culture without having to sit in a bus with us down to Tijuana :) This time I listened - this is the street where LA was founded. Though you can't see the street, it's a crowded market selling everything you buy at US tourist spots in Mexico.

Making our way back through Hollywood we pass El Pollo Loco, the chicken joint where Brad Pitt had his first Hollywood job out the front as a sandwich board chicken. Past a bit more residential - the more I look around the more I keep thinking of the grander homes in Strathfield, but with far greener grass, literally.

Once back at the hotel for a refresh then we headed off to Robertson for some final shopping and a hope of some star spotting. Look for the photos, I got one of some pansies growing in the drain, there's something in the soil here. Some cool shops that mostly bored the pants of the guys. Max discussed his evolving idea that Women have shopping in their DNA and how come men can't tell what goes with what. Luckily a few particularly fashionable guys came passed so I could prove that it's possible for men to put together good looking outfits, he just needs to listen to his mum more than his dad.

Still no stars as all the shops start to close around 7pm. We decide to try dinner at the Ivy, easy at 7pm on a Tuesday night :) They give a street side table, kids face inwards while Gab and I face street side to spot all we can. These mesquite grills I smell all over LA have me wanting BBQ, so we go the Grilled seafood platter for two. The Lobster, prawns, scallops all awesome! Barely any room for desert. Gab thinks she saw Ed O'Neill inside but they only interesting street side action was the cars at the valet. These guys have demonstrators from Lexus, Mercedes, Range Rover all lining the street, when someone arrives with a more impressive car they move the demonstrator off the street and replace the spot with the customer's car. Tricky show.

All along the kids haven't known about the Disney elements until the day before. To keep the secret I've invented elaborate planned activites that they would hate that at the last minute fall through. In Hong Kong I had to disappoint the kids with news that the Soy Bean factory has had to turn away guests under 6 because of health violations. In Paris the Croissant Bakery had had a fire and so couldn't give us a tour. In Orlando the Pineapple and Agave farms were both closed down because of flooding. Each time the alternative was a Disney-EuroLandWorldCruise thing. Tonight over desert Gab and I had to break the news that as much as we tried to get around it, the Raisin farm and factory I've been talking about since we left Orlando doesn't have our booking, idiots! Big smiles on their faces as we told them tomorrow we're off to Disneyland!!!!