After that, we set about trying to 'switch out' our 'lovely' but perfunctory Chrysler Sebring...success: one black convertible Mustang now with only 900 odd miles on the clock.
While stuck in Hell-A downtown traffic, gas consumption is not so desirable...see the photo.
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What has been desirable today is visiting the observatory in Griffith Park, where we took some cliche photos of the Hollywood sign, observed some amusing Einstein t shirts in the gift shop, and watched their working Tesla Coil (awesome). I also noticed they had a really large pendulum in the middle. This was in fact placed in the observatory to demonstrate how much the earth rotates hour by hour. What I realised was that this was a perfect time to calculate what local gravity is here. I can confirm from my calculations (using our equation from good old Toby Bishop's lectures - Chris, do you remember?) that it is approximately 9.4m/s2. This number relies on their given length of the pendulum being accurate (they stated 40 foot which around 12m) and the time period I measured averaged out from 10 periods. I can also confirm that Emily was not excited by the calculation or this news.
So, we're jumping a bit higher and falling a bit slower here today.
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After this, we crawled through more Hell-A traffic heading to the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood. This rather posh hotel and bar is from Californication where Hank goes to meet Sasha Bingham and ends up coincidentally 'bumping' into her mother later.
The drinks were London prices plus some - $37 for two! But, worth it really. It felt like we'd totally left the hustle and bustle of LA and the courtyard garden was amazing. We felt a tad under dressed for hob nobbing though.
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We then took another drive in the traffic to Westside area and are now eating some cheap but very very nice sushi at the farmers market. This market could cater for anybody's taste (except if the surroundings are everything to you): it seems to have every nations' cuisines, and the scents are utterly beguiling.
We've now used a quarter of a tank of petrol already...
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Tomorrow - we spend some time in Venice exploring. Highlights should include the Ray Kappe 'Benton House' and the 'McKinley House', both featured in Californication. They're a smorgasbord of wood, glass and stone from what I've seen - can't wait. Pity we won't be able to go in! We'll also check out the Little Venice canals and the beach.
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