It is Thursday today and I’ve been almost a week in America. It’s been only seven days, but it feels way longer ago that I’ve left the Netherlands. Probably because I’ve been doing a lot and already had so many great experiences.
Instead of driving further north as I had planned, I’ve decided to spend another day in LA & Hollywood. In the morning I first fill up my car and go back to the coffee place we saw last night, Urth Coffee, to work for a few hours. After that I drive north to Los Angeles. Because it’s later in the morning, the traffic isn’t too bad and it takes only about an hour to get there. When I see the skyline of downtown, I suddenly get a cool idea seemingly out of nowhere. I could search for some of the location of the Fast & Furious movies. I first search for a viewing point over the city which is featured in the movies and it turns out to be in a park called Elysian Park, which is just a few blocks away. I walk around there and enjoy the views. After that I stop the car by the road and a quick Google search gives me the address of the Toretto house. It’s only about ten minutes driving from where I now am. I drive there and as I walk in the street, I recognize the house immediately. I’ve seen the movies several times and it’s so cool to see this house in real. I take a couple of photos and then drive to the other side of the park where I’ve found a place on the map called Angels Point. I think this is one of the best viewing points of LA. Right in front of me are the skyscrapers of downtown and as I look to the right I see the Hollywood sign in the distance. I stay there for a while to enjoy the views, before I drive further through the park and stop at several more viewing points. Then I’m getting hungry, because it’s already around 1pm. I drive to Beachwood Cafe in Hollywood, one of my regular restaurants here. It’s a very popular place and there is usually a waiting line outside, but I’m lucky and get a table in just a few minutes. I sit down with my laptop to write and I order a classic item from the menu: pancakes. And coffee of course. The food is delicious as always and now I’m sitting here writing this story. I’ve got a table right by the window and look outside from time to time. The cafe is packed with people and I’m thankful I got this great seat. The coffee tastes good and I’m enjoying this moment. I’m glad I decided to stay here another day. Just a relaxed day in this great city, enjoying the vacation.
