We spent a couple hours wandering around Hollywood, and first up on the agenda was a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard, where we unexpectedly behaved like tourists and took pictures of way too many celebrity stars (I mean, what came over us and what will we ever do with those pictures, anyway?). Don't worry, I've spared all of you - you won't have to look at a gazillion star pictures in this post!
Anyway, after the requisite tourist shenanigans, we took off down a side road and discovered the local's part of Hollywood. We had just missed a farmers market, but there was a clothes market happening near the Urban Outfitters, and I could have spent all day there, looking through the vintage finds. The restaurants we walked past were packed with patrons drinking beer and watching the Olympics; we followed suit and ducked into a bar so Taras could see some of the swim races. Then, we made it a point to visit Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard, known to be one of the coolest music stores around. It's packed to the brim with used and new music, of the vinyl, cassette, and cd varieties.
And I have to mention the vibe around Hollywood, as it was just perfect: streets that were mostly clean but still seemed kinda grungy (in a good way, if that makes any sense), and locals that were cooler than hipster cool, you know? Everything and everyone kinda seemed to beat to its own drum, and I dug it.
All in all, Hollywood was much like I expected it'd be, but even cleaner and with more local presence than I imagined. If we were to visit again, I might choose to do more of the tourist activities, like go to a taping of a show, hike Runyon Canyon, take a look inside the Hollywood Roosevelt, and maybe dare to visit a club, just to see what Hollywood is like during the nighttime.
-Amanda
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