Day 18 - back in LA-LA Land

What an adventure the train turned out to be. Who’d have thought it would be easier to sleep on the train than a plane? Put the phone down at 10pm and woke up at 4.30am with only 3 and a half hours till Union Station.  The wait for the train was entertaining in itself,  as there was one guy who was a know it all trying to tell me about living in Australia and another guy who just wanted to keep fiat bumping me every time he said something.  He introduced me as the smart Aussie to everyone who came through the door and I heard him tell the same jokes and stories to all and sundry.  Add to that the Amish woman who kept giving me the side eye (apparently my hair colour is a problem) and the dude who stinks of hash and it’s an interesting bunch.

The train ride went smoothly until I went to the loo only to return to find hash guy had taken up residence in my seat, next to my sleeping train buddy.  After a bit of head shaking he got up and moved to goodness knows where and I resettled back into my comfy but now hash smelling seat.

Wrestled my bags up and down escalators to get to the Metro, then more escalators to get to the bus, only to find Hollywood Blvd closed out front of the Chinese Theatre due to a red carpet premiere later this week of The Irishman, starring Al Pacino and Robert de Niro.  After some quiet cursing under my breath, caught the bus to my hotel in the hopes of leaving my bags so I could explore before checking in later.

Best words in the world heard - we have your room ready now - and I could shower and dress before hitting The Grove for some shopping for Hayden, and the Farmer’s Market for lunch - a peach milkshake and a shrimp po’boy - something that has to be experienced to understand how good it was. 

A quick stop at the hotel to drop off shopping, charge my phone and have a quick nap and onto a bus to Studio Coty to be part of the live studio audience for a taping of the new CBS sit-com - Broke, starring Pauley Perrette (NCIS), Jaime Camil (Jane the Virgin),  Natasha Leggero and Izzy Diaz.  Having been on a sound stage for a sit-com during our WB tour earlier this month, it was exciting to see it all come into play and be part of the live taping.  The MC, Roger, found out I was an Aussie, so I was interviewed during the breaks a couple of times and there were lots of prizes given to the audience to get their enthusiasm up and maintain energy throughout the taping.  The only downside - they take your phone and lock it away for the duration, so my phone was in jail for 6 hours while we watched the show.  I hope it comes to Australia as I really enjoyed it and the stars were super-nice coming over to interact with us.

My Uber home has given me some great tips for places to eat over the next few days, so can’t wait to try some out.

Not many pics today - will try harder tomorrow!