I just had 1,5 days in LA and they went by quickly. I managed to see Hollywood Boulevard with the stars and everything (cause I was LIVING there, might have chosen Banana Bungalow for that particular reason) and I did check out “No Vacancy” on my first night.

American-girl-I-can’t-remember-the-name-of-in-Honolulu recommended I go, saying it would “be a surprise”. I told her that if this involved human trafficking I would be coming back for her. But it wasn’t, the bar itself is cool enough, the live entertainment is great and the drinks are good. The entrance though… That’s their schtick. I’m not spoiling it either, I’ll just say this: You have to choose between three doors when you enter. I met three American guys from Texas and started talking to them, mostly because one of them spoke to me in fluent Danish(!) He’d been an exchange student there years ago and his grip on the language was still good.

The next day was spent walking up to the Griffith Observatory, wandering about the Hollywood area and almost getting a tattoo. I was going to hike up to the Hollywood sign, but I was recommended the Griffith Observatory instead. You can see the Hollywood sign clearly from there, get some pictures taken and there’s a lot more to do there. The sign has only the sign and while it was tempting to go up there and get a picture of me hugging one of the letters the “there’s a 1000$ fine for that if they catch you doing it” kinda put a dampner on that…

The hike up to the observatory is great, it’s sort of steep, but not that hard. Takes about an hour and you get to take breaks on the way because photographing LA from above is pretty much mandatory. Once you get to the observatory the views are even better, almost 360, and it’s pictures galore for everyone there. No problem getting someone to snap you if you’re alone. The observatory itself is like a library of everything you ever wanted to know about the sky, the stars, the sun and the elements. Great place for kids with lots of buttons to push and pendulums that swing and we can pretend that it’s mostly for the kids, but who are we trying to fool. I thought it was superb 😉 (They also have a cafeteria (and the mandatory gift shop), but be adviced: Expensive as hell. I was going to buy a coke zero, saw it was 3$ and changed it to water. The water cost 3$25(!). I know Cali is in drought, but damn…)

When I got back down I realised I’d chosen the best day to stay in LA… Apparantly the Armenian population were holding a “walk for justice” comemmoration for the Armenian genocide and I was staying close to “Little Armenia”… Very cheerful…

I shoudln’t joke about it really, serious business, and they were all holding a very peaceful walk, I was just taken a bit aback by all the flags draped everywhere and the shheer number of people dressed in all black pitching signs…

After a short break at my hostel I ventured out trying to find a tattoo shop that was recommended to me. Walked for an hour and a half (those damn maps, dude… THey show ONE block, they MEAN seven, NO JOKE!) Apparantly roads aren’t on there cause they’re not big enough, only the boulevards and bigger streets, unless you get one of the really detailed maps that are, like, bigger than my apartment and have so many details you get lost just looking at them… But anyway, I got there in the end, waited a while, talked to a couple of people, asked it they did walk-ins. They said yes, said they could start right away, but my gut said “no”. I thought it was because I was unsure about the tattoo, but while walking back to the hostel I just wandered in to this other shop to admire the artwork and got to talking with the people woking there. If they had had the time that night I would have a tattoo now. They were really nice, that’s all I can say, it felt better to me… I guess I need to feel a certain connection to the people if I’m going to get something like that done… Maybe I’m just weird, but I don’t care. If it doesn’t feel right… well… no go.

So… that’s pretty much my LA story. The night ended with a party at the hostel (no suprise) and one of my three room-mates (we live in an all-female, sex-bed room, let mee just clearify that) decided she was going to bring a boy back with her at the end of the night. Best. Idea. Ever. I literally can’t even…

Fortunately Maika, the Japanese girl, solved the whole crisis by turning the lights on, oppening the door, pointing to the guy and saying: “I’m sleeping, get out!” They both left… What can I say? Wow…

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