Summer holiday in Los Angeles

[delpiero27 0]

Okay, off the burger topic!

You'd take the 805 out of San Diego to Irvine. Generally, at that point, you'd then either take the 405 or the 5. The 5 goes through LA on an inland path, ultimately heading into the middle of the state, while the 405 heads more toward the ocean, although you can't see the ocean from 405.

Having said that, around Irvine you can take the 33 (I believe. It's been years) to Laguna Beach. I'm pretty sure you can pick up Pacific Coast Highway there. It's slower that way, but who cares when you're on vacation.

For an attraction besides burgers..... The Huntington Gallery/Museum (I can't remember which city) is an interesting place. It's sort of an American equivalent to the European castles, but I imagine on a smaller scale.

It has been awhile since you were here Jason!

From Sea World, it is a straight shot on the 5 North. If you are at the "Aminal Park", then you'll need to mix in the 15 and 78.

When you get on the 405, you can see the ocean from many parts of it. When you are sitting in traffic on it, all ya gotta do is look. The catch here is that it needs to be a clear day with not much smog or off-shore haze.

Anyways, if you have the time, and I mean a lot of it, as you come out of San Diego and up into South Orange County on the 5 North, jump onto Highway 1 which is PCH. Then take that north into Laguna, Newport and Huntington Biotch's. It is a very peaceful drive and many places to stop and grab a bite, including another burger joint called Ruby's, which is a 50's style diner.

Great suggestion on The Huntington. It is in San Marino (aka Pasadena). The LA Arboretum is also in that same neck of the woods. You could probably pull both of these places off in one day, if you really wanted to.

Unfortunately, I think Santa Anita Park is not running horse races during August or you might have yourself a nice hat trick for the day.

That's this morning's installment of Marcelo's Southern California Tour Guide. I'll be back later in the thread :D

what to say, thanks isn't enough!! :lol:

i've a few road maps fo LA and southern california, but i have to study them a little bit more than i did since now! Those inidications are fantastic. i will not lost myself. or at least i'll try not to do it.

in any case, saw the links, expeccially Ruby's one! have to be there at least once!

have a question: i remeber when i was there so long ago, that in san diego there's a bridge that crosses with a big L the harbour. is still to pay to use it? full of traffic or it's ok at any time? (maybe i remember wrong, but ... :P ).

one more: places to avoid? i mean, really hazardous to be there. i imagine that if we have similar places here...

uuuu, seems that the 15 days i've planned aren't enough...

[Jason Harris 31]

It has been awhile since you were here Jason!

When you get on the 405, you can see the ocean from many parts of it.  When you are sitting in traffic on it, all ya gotta do is look.  The catch here is that it needs to be a clear day with not much smog or off-shore haze.

You're right, Marcelo -- too much free time and too addictive a personality!

But, although I realize it's irrelevant, I can't think of any spots on the 405 where you can see the ocean. I know spots on the 5 or the 101 where you can see the ocean, but I can't remember ever seeing the ocean from the 405. Of course, I have occasionally been known to push the speed limits, so it's highly possible I was spending more time looking in my mirrors than enjoying the views....

[Jason Harris 31]

have a question: i remeber when i was there so long ago, that in san diego there's a bridge that crosses with a big L the harbour. is still to pay to use it? full of traffic or it's ok at any time? (maybe i remember wrong, but ... :P ).

That sounds like the Coronado bridge, which you'd pick up just south of the city. It used to cost $1.00, but we moved from SD 7.5 years ago, so they could have raised the price. I didn't drive it often so I don't remember whether it had bad traffic.

While over there, you could drive by the Hotel Del Coronado. I used to DJ and had a few events there, but inside it's just a hotel, so I don't think you'd have to go inside.

[kasparaitis 0]

If you like seafood, more specifically crab, you might want to take a trip to the Redondo beach pier. A few restraunts at the end of the pier are pretty cheap, w/great crab.

You can also cruise Crenshaw on Sunday's. J/K.

Since you're going to be in the Hollywood area, check out Pinks, it's a small hotdog place right on the corner of Melrose blvd. and La Brea ave.

As far as Baseball products, Marcelo hit the nail on the head w/ Chicks sporting goods. Big 5 doesn't have as large of a selection, but they have more store locations.

Don't forget to check out the "Traffic" while you're here. It's amusing when you sit in it prior to and after work.

[Guest Marcelo Cordoba]

You're right, Marcelo -- too much free time and too addictive a personality!

But, although I realize it's irrelevant, I can't think of any spots on the 405 where you can see the ocean. I know spots on the 5 or the 101 where you can see the ocean, but I can't remember ever seeing the ocean from the 405. Of course, I have occasionally been known to push the speed limits, so it's highly possible I was spending more time looking in my mirrors than enjoying the views....

If you are on the 405 in the area of Long Beach Blvd., you can look down onto downtown Long Biotch and see the ocean. Maybe back in your day the ocean couldn't be seen ;)

On the 101 aren't seeing ocean until you hit Ventura/Oxnard, which is way outside of LA County (by at least 30 miles). On the 5, no ocean until you go into south Orange County in the area of San Juan Capistrano/San Clemente.

[Drewhunz 3]

The Petersen Automotive Museum is absolutely amazing if you're intocars. With you being Italian, I'm guessing you are. Some Ferraris, Lambos, and Maserati's ,but mostly just amazing vintage cars IE Bugatti, Duesenberg, Mercedes 500K. Some advice- ask to speak with the director. If you see him, ask him if someone can take you to their storage vault. They almost always will, and it will take your breath away.

[delpiero27 0]

Just finished to re-plan most of the holiday including as much as possible what you guys suggested. :P

in the meantime, thanks a lot to everybody. :lol: :lol:

i will report after coming bach in late august...

[dix0r 0]

they have an in-n-out in baker or barstow so you can go on the way to vegas. i went to calico a long time ago and remember it being cool. i want to go again and go on the "ghost tour." sounds kinda lame but should be fun. you can camp there too i think. vegas strip is worth walking around and checking out the casinos, but i didn't really like downtown/fremont street. i got asked for change every 14 seconds. but i was there from 1:00-4:00 AM. supposedly the light show is cool. and if you're under 21 you can probably get away with gambling there - and you probably can't at the strip.

wild animal park is pretty cool but it'll probably be hotter than hell. san diego zoo is very cool also - i'd definitely recommend it. scripps aquarium is neat if you have time. to be honest i don't like sea world much, but if you have time it's probably worth going to. walk around old town, get some mexican food, and maybe check out the whaley house. its a historic site, some say its the most haunted place in the US. there's a cool old graveyard near by too. you can go to mexico for a day - i've never been - but lots of my friends have had to pay off the cops to avoid getting arrested, usually for ridiculously minor things. so go there if you're feeling daring, and bring some money for cops - but not too much either, heh. i've heard some horror stories :x

orange county - you might have to go to disneyland, just to say you did. knotts berry farm is pretty neat and its not as ridiculously expensive. don't bother with the wax museum or ripley's museum near knott's. there's a fatburger right there too, heh. lots of beaches...newport, laguna, huntington, sunset beach, seal beach...you can go kayaking in the harbors, rent surfboards, try pierfishing, whatever. if you wanna shop or hang out, the block in orange is pretty popular. and its right by hockeygiant anaheim.

LA - the queen mary (big old boat) is in long beach (real close to orange county). not very exciting to me but a lot of people disagree i guess. supposedly its haunted...i gotta check out the ghost tour there too, lol. universal studios is pretty neat - to some extent, all the theme parks are kid oriented - but you can definitely still have fun at this one in my opinion. lots of neat stuff to see. afterwards, walk around universal city walk and find something to eat. drive thru bel air if you want to see ridiculously huge houses. go to melrose ave and walk around. rodeo drive is kind of lame but if you have time, its worth walking around. i'm not sure if 6 flags (another amusement park) is actually in LA county or what, but its cool if you like rollercoasters. and its buy one, get one free, with a coke can. la brea tar pits/museum is cool. and its right by LACMA - los angeles county museum of art. somebody already mentioned the wax museum. definitely go to the getty! venice beach/santa monica pier is a must see in my opinion. autry museum of western heritage is cool if that interests you - otherwise it would be boring as hell. i liked the aerospace museum as a kid, but i haven't heard anything about it recently. i don't know if its even around still. you should go to hollywood, but i don't really know what cross streets. some areas are kinda ghetto so i don't wanna be responsible for you getting mugged or something, hah. there's lots more areas worth checking out (sunset strip, mulholland drive, marina del ray), but i don't go to LA often so i don't know them all - i hate driving there. lots of cool venues though, depending on what music you like.

when my cousins from milan visited - their impressions were:

we're anti-smoking nazi's in california.

the drinking age (21) sucks.

the beach isn't really filled with hot girls, like in baywatch. although my male cousin was still impressed.

we have way more fat people than italy.

i don't know what my obsession with supposedly haunted places is. i'm intrigued i guess.

and if there's anything specific you want to do - like fishing, vintage shopping, concerts, looking for record stores or musical equipment, surfing, whatever - let me know - i'll send ya some more info.

[delpiero27 0]

when my cousins from milan visited - their impressions were:

we're anti-smoking nazi's in california.

the drinking age (21) sucks.

the beach isn't really filled with hot girls, like in baywatch. although my male cousin was still impressed.

we have way more fat people than italy.

thank you so much dix0r!!!!

really apreciated all your tips!

Hte only thing i intentionally left out was the Qeen Mary and the Airplane Goosesomething that i was back in 1989 when i was in Longbeach. Didn't liked it so much, i'm honest. For the rest all i can say is thanks again!

i quoted only that part of your post because i laugh. really. Well, except for the no.1 (i'm scared because i'm a smoker....), the others are not a problem. old enough to drink but i don't like to, and i'll be in LA with my wife, so i'm not supposed to watch too much california girls!!! ha ha.

for the last one i'll let you know.... :lol:

[Stampeder 2]

we have way more fat people than italy.

I don't think anywhere in Europe has very many fat people. I went to Ukraine for a school trip and my buddy who is our fat goalie was by far the fattest person there. They don't eat any processed foods and walk miles and miles each day. Legal driving age there is 18 but since I have my license here my host family let me drive their car, there is nothing like passing people in town while going about 90kph. Horrible roads though.

[Sven 1]

we have way more fat people than italy.

I don't think anywhere in Europe has very many fat people. I went to Ukraine for a school trip and my buddy who is our fat goalie was by far the fattest person there. They don't eat any processed foods and walk miles and miles each day. Legal driving age there is 18 but since I have my license here my host family let me drive their car, there is nothing like passing people in town while going about 90kph. Horrible roads though.

Well Ukraine isnt the most 'evolved' country in Europe (cause of the sucky roads), come to Germany and go fullspeed on the motorway ^_^ Thats fun. Its very radical to rock a Porsche with 290 km/h (= 180 mp/h) on Sunday morning when the motorways are very empty

Well i guess when you live here, you are like 'Oh i want to go to the US, its so cool' but when you over there, a lot of people want the same just sides switched.

Every side has its pros and cons...

I dont wanna start an endless discussion so i'll stop here.

Anyways, ive got a question which fits in here kinda well.

I'll spend my winter-vacation in the states and of course i want to bring some hockeystuff back home.

How much can i take with me without getting ripped off by the toll ?

[delpiero27 0]

I'll spend my winter-vacation in the states and of course i want to bring some hockeystuff back home.

How much can i take with me without getting ripped off by the toll ?

probably as muck as you can store in your luggage covered with all your clothes... it worked. but most of all depend on what are you going to buy. anyway i'll do the same next month. i'll tell you what will happen...

[Jason Harris 31]

I'll spend my winter-vacation in the states and of course i want to bring some hockeystuff back home.

How much can i take with me without getting ripped off by the toll ?

From what I understand of our Customs, I don't think you'd be taxed taking product out of the US, since any duties will have already been imposed at the wholesale level. (And, as I've posted, the US doesn't have many tariffs on hockey products.)

The German government might have tariffs.