LA City and Movie
Stars Houses Tour
A Fast and Furious Tour of Celebrities Mansions
(Fun and Exciting LA Blog Series 6)
We have juggled with the thought of visiting a museum
A Fast and Furious Tour of Celebrities Mansions
(Fun and Exciting LA Blog Series 6)
We have juggled with the thought of visiting a museum
or having this Movie Stars’ Houses Tour, but since we
really wanted to see and satisfy our curiosity on what we
thought were the Hollywood stars’ fabulous mansions,
thought were the Hollywood stars’ fabulous mansions,
…we booked a half day LA City and Movie Stars’
Houses Tour on
the very popular Starline Tours.
It was a mistake. The tour was a waste of time and money.
We had an Asian tour guide who was more interested on
finishing his job, rather than doing his job of getting our
We had an Asian tour guide who was more interested on
finishing his job, rather than doing his job of getting our
interests to the sights an sounds of the glamour that is LA.
We started on a (very fast) walking tour on the nearby Dolby Theater
located just beside the StarLine Tours main depo and station.
We started on a (very fast) walking tour on the nearby Dolby Theater
located just beside the StarLine Tours main depo and station.
He just breezed out of the Dolby Theater, and we would have loved if he
slowed down a little bit as this historic and iconic theater, used to be known
as Kodak Theater, is home the the Annual Academy Awards or the Oscars.
He babbled something here and there,
…walked terribly fast, that made it hard for my family to catch up.
When we reached the Hollywood Walk of Fame area,
He never paused or stopped whenever we took photos,
When we reached the Hollywood Walk of Fame area,
He never paused or stopped whenever we took photos,
…and since we were taking photos all the time,
… we always had to hurry and run to catch up with him.
From Hollywood Walk of Fame,
he took us to the Chinese Theater,
...where we took more photos of popular
he took us to the Chinese Theater,
...where we took more photos of popular
Hollywood celebrities hand imprints.
He then took us to LALA Land and gave us 15 minutes
to shop and have a
toilet break, which we were not
able to do both as the queue to the toilet was long,
and the time he gave was
never enough for shopping.
We then returned to the Starline
Depo,
... where we took a van for the Movie Stars’ Houses Tour,
...and this was the worst part of the tour. Our tour guide who also served
as the driver, drove so fast and sometimes we were lucky enough to
catch up and took pictures of the places we were supposed to be touring.
... where we took a van for the Movie Stars’ Houses Tour,
...and this was the worst part of the tour. Our tour guide who also served
as the driver, drove so fast and sometimes we were lucky enough to
catch up and took pictures of the places we were supposed to be touring.
I was lucky to snap a photo of the
church used to the movie Sister Act.
He then drove us to the Hollywood Hills to see the Hollywood Sign,
but was driving so fast that we neither saw the humongous
sign, nor we
were able to take photos. I asked the driver where the iconic
sign was,
he said we already passed by it, I looked back and still did
not see it.
After unsuccessfully seeing the Hollywood sign,
we cruised at the popular Sunset
Strip,
... we saw several celebrity houses
whose owners I could not recall.
... we saw several celebrity houses
whose owners I could not recall.
We also passed by the two houses
used in the Halloween
movies,
…and the hill top mansion used as Ironman’s Tony Stark
residence in the movie dubbed as IronMansion.
residence in the movie dubbed as IronMansion.
We also saw the very popular Sunset Carwash,
…and two iconic comedy bars like the Laugh Factory, owned
by the comedian Jamie
Mazada, who worked with the likes of
Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Redd Foxx-
…and the popular Comedy
Store where the great
Johnny Carson’s
career as a comedian started.
The tour van later went to Beverly Hills,
… where we passed by the gates of several celebrity
houses whose owners’ names I could not recall,
…but I remember Ellen Degeneres’ house gate clearly.
Just nearby is Tom
Cruise’s magnificent mansion,
…and what followed were numerous celebrity
houses that I could not identify and recall,
...as it was rather difficult to catch
up on the guide’s narrative,
houses that I could not identify and recall,
...as it was rather difficult to catch
up on the guide’s narrative,
…and also hard to take photos as he was blabbering
fast and was driving furiously
wild on a hilly terrain.
But I got to recall some residences, like that of
Simon Cowell's that
was undergoing renovation,
...which was followed by series of mansions
whose celebrity owners I could not recall,
…until we turned at a hilly curb and saw former
President Ronald Reagan’s residence,
...and again followed by numerous beautiful celebrity owned
mansions whose owners, unfortunately, I could not remember.
This stretch of Beverly Hills road had the most
concentration of celebrity owned mansions,
.... and we would have appreciated this tour had our driver / tour guide
slowed down with his driving and had he only talked clearly , not blabber.
We also passed by Elvis Presley’s house, which I did
not see as it was hidden by a thick foliage by the fence.
whose celebrity owners I could not recall,
…until we turned at a hilly curb and saw former
President Ronald Reagan’s residence,
...and again followed by numerous beautiful celebrity owned
mansions whose owners, unfortunately, I could not remember.
This stretch of Beverly Hills road had the most
concentration of celebrity owned mansions,
.... and we would have appreciated this tour had our driver / tour guide
slowed down with his driving and had he only talked clearly , not blabber.
We also passed by Elvis Presley’s house, which I did
not see as it was hidden by a thick foliage by the fence.
…located near Michael Jackson’s
residence, his former son in law.
It is the house where
the popular pop star died.
What followed nest were grand celebrity owned mansions,
....and their sheer number made it rather difficult and
impossible for me to remember who owns them.
I also caught a glimpse of Johnny Weissmuller, the original
Tarzan star and former Olympian’s gigantic swimming pool
located a the wooded portion at the back of his house but
the
tour van just breezed
out that I failed to get a clear photograph.
Nearby, was the house of the Jonas Brothers,
…and their former next door neighbor Jennifer Lopez
or JLo’s mansion,
which has lately caught the interest
of the Filipino boxing icon, Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao..
It was a wild a rambling tour that gave us an impression
that our tour guide cum driver just wanted to have his
job done without wanting us to have a leisurely tour,
…and by the time we got to the posh Rodeo Drive, my son
was already nauseous and dizzy from the very turbulent ride,
^^^Fairmont Hotel, where Pretty Woman was shot.
… and luckily, we had motion sickness bags
in handy as he started vomiting a little later.
We caught the sight of Fox Studios,
…and the building used in Die Hard
movies, shortly before the tour ended.
My son was still queasy, weary and dehydrated and
we let him recover and rest at the Farmer’s Market.,
...with a scoop of yummy Bennett's Homemade Ice Cream.
...with a scoop of yummy Bennett's Homemade Ice Cream.
It was a rough and tiring day as we had an uncaring
and thoughtless tour guide, and choosing this tour
for a day in a museum was a BIG, BIG MISTAKE.
Read my other blogs
on Los Angeles Series
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