Day one. When stars descend from the heavens.

I went to LA under somewhat extreme conditions. Why? Well, I decided to use Couchsurfing for the first time in my life. For those who don't know, it's a service for finding temporary accommodation for a few days all over the world with local residents. And so, I found a nice African-American guy who offered to let me stay with him, and he was actually very happy about my arrival. Of course, I looked at all this with suspicion because I'm generally quite paranoid. Plus, nobody even knew about it. I did everything myself. On the down-low. I was actually searching for quite a long time, sent out a lot of requests to locals, and got a bunch of rejections. How does it work? You create an account, preferably verify it (by paying $20, though it's not mandatory), fill out a profile, and start sending requests to locals in the cities you are traveling to. You'll have to sweat a bit, as foreigners look at newcomers to the program with suspicion, but you should also be careful yourself. I advise looking for those who have many good reviews. My host had 126 positive reviews and only 1 negative one.

He explained to me how to get to his house from the airport while he was still at work. I figured it out and arrived. I waited for him for a long time. My first impressions of the city turned out to be very good. Maybe it's because I'm in Hollywood. Let's start with the fact that there are excellent buses from the airport to any part of the city, but the only downside is that you can only pay for them with a card. It's good that I have one. Later, while I was sitting near his house, ordinary people approached me several times and asked: "Do you need help with cash?", "Do you need any help?". A city of kind people. Well, at least I haven't seen Downtown yet. My host arrived and we checked in. That's all irrelevant now. I can say one thing - he is a good guy.

He was tired after work, so I headed to the Walk of Fame on my own, which is 2 minutes from the house. Not bad, right? I saw the famous sign on the hill... It's really good... I want to go there. Definitely in the next few days.

Also, the Rolling Stones are performing today. The crowd is terrible, they made me walk a kilometer around the street.

And the Walk of Fame is, of course, something else.

Of course, you need to go there for a long time and with energy. There are many stars, about 2551. And it is terribly long. And it sometimes goes in different directions - you just want to tear yourself apart right there. You probably won't even recognize 70% of the stars, but you will frantically film the rest. That's the custom here. That's what all Europeans and Asians do.

The main action takes place at the Chinese Theatre, where movie premieres usually happen, like, for example, "Mad Max" shortly before this, with all the resulting stars.

There is a corresponding gathering of tourists here, thanks to the hand and footprints of the stars. Tourists run around looking for their favorites, and then they definitely compare their body parts with them. Well, of course, I did the same with Jackson.

I was looking for him almost all day. And I even shed a tear, to be honest. Well, yes, everyone knows how close to my heart I take the love for my idol. And getting to his star was on my life's to-do list. So that day is very important to me.

Well, in general, I was terribly tired after the flight, so I didn't do anything else. And I wouldn't have had time anyway.

Of course, Hollywood is significantly brighter than New York. There's no need to argue about that, but the weather at the moment is about the same. Just as I left NY, I arrived in LA. Both places have sun and wind, although my host says this is unusual for them. And I, actually, expected more. Although it's really stupid here in this regard right now. You walk in a windbreaker, for example, because the wind is blowing, but at the same time, the sun is baking you unrealistically. Something like that.

The city itself screams: "stars", "cinema", "Hollywood", etc., as everything and everywhere is connected only with this. Well, in principle, marketing is everywhere.

Day two. Book and music paradise.

The second day didn't promise anything supernatural, as I simply didn't have any plans. My host was working that day, and I didn't know the city well enough to go far. I just left the house, sat down somewhere, and started poking around Google in search of something worthwhile. I found two unique stores, known all over the world. One of them is The Last Bookstore, where, as they say, you can find just any book you are looking for. When I got there, my jaw dropped.

It was like a small library, which our book worlds can't even compare to. I just wandered around and looked at the shelves, not knowing what to grab. There were titles there that I really didn't expect to see. Including a unique department for selling/donating books. In other words: "give a book a second life." Someone might be squeamish about reading a used book, but I think this is a very correct idea. Books can be expensive even for America; we read them and leave them to gather dust, but here someone will buy and read them again. And so it can go on indefinitely. That's great.

Besides used books, of course, there are new, wrapped ones that no one has touched yet, and some can even be read inside the store, where there are special armchairs. Although the store warns that this opportunity also has a limit, as books do get damaged from reading, so please be kind and browse very briefly. On the second floor, there is even a "labyrinth" where there are more than 100,000 books sold for $1.

Yes, of course, 99% of them are trash to us, but many find what is interesting to them there. I think anyone will find something interesting there if they dig around. In the music department, besides books, there are also vinyls. Not many, but it's also nice to dig around there.

Besides the wonderful smell of books, the store also has designer beauty, created by some genius. It seems to me that it's all really complicated, as some things you can't even approach.

From there, I headed back to Hollywood by subway. Oh yes, I didn't say that it was in Downtown, and I had to figure out the subway system.

About the subway. It's cooler here than in SF or NY. Solid cards, clean, everything is clear, beautiful, and the seats are made of a material similar to velvet.

It costs, by the way, a dollar less than in New York (1.75), and there is an opportunity to take a day pass for 7 dollars. And if in NY the card is usually "slid" like a credit card, here you just touch it and do what you call a "tap" here. The stations are significantly more beautiful than in the "concrete jungle", and also significantly cleaner. Everything is done with taste and style. In essence, New York also has its own style, but there it is more urbanistic, which was given by street artists and time. This subway is simply newer, it seems to me. I'm not sure about that. Need to check.

The subway system itself is totally different from the New York one. (Aziz, stop comparing California with New York) Sorry, but I have to.

NY can have 3-4 trains arriving at a station, while LA has at most 2, so it's much harder to get confused. In general, the system is similar to the Tashkent one: just as simple. Multi-colored lines, just like ours. Only here there are more of them, and the lines, accordingly, are longer.

And now I want to introduce you to a place that any music fan must visit. This is an incredible creation of some magician, wizard, illusionist, creator. I don't know. This place is called Amoeba Music, and it combines music from all over the world. They say it's almost impossible not to find something you are looking for there. Just any discs and vinyls, even the rarest ones, like limited editions of the Beatles' Abbey Road or similar legendary albums of other groups. For collectors, it seems to me, the prices are quite democratic. But here I am attaching photos of two giant halls of all this goodness. Figure it out, in short, yourself:

Besides discs and vinyls, of course, there are mugs, t-shirts, bags, lunch boxes, original posters, even stickers. Moreover, the store also sells soundtrack discs/vinyls. And generally any genre you want, but the largest part of the store is still given, of course, to rock. At that moment, I was again ignited by the idea of creating a vinyl collection. Especially when I saw fantastic players that looked more beautiful than the cars in Fast & Furious. True, these players cost 200-300 bucks, and every good vinyl is at least $15-25. So calculate how much you need for a collection.

But the store itself, of course, left fantastic impressions. I was ready to walk back and forth endlessly and just look at those legendary album covers that I won't buy, yes, but they are so gorgeous, and they are all in one place. Whoever opened this place is a genius. By the way, here you can also taste the discs, just like the books in that store. There are special devices with headphones where you scan the barcode of the disc/vinyl and enjoy.

So, if you find yourself in Los Angeles, you are obliged to visit both of these stores. They are very similar. Just different in theme. That's how the day turned out. Not famous places, but unique ones.

Day three. I'll take you to the movies.

I'll say right away that the post essentially reveals everything that is in the Universal Studios park, so if you ever want to go there, but hope to be surprised by surprises, then don't read.

For today, I already knew exactly what I would be doing: Universal Studios park. I bought a ticket in advance and planned to go there early in the morning. The fact is that if you buy a ticket online, it's cheaper, and if you buy it online and go on another day, it's even cheaper. That's the system. In this way, I saved $10 and paid $85. Yes, the entrance is quite expensive. Perhaps. But believe me, it's worth it.

The park was quite close to the house - two stations away. At the Universal subway station, there is a stop for a free shuttle that brings you straight to CityWalk, where that very famous globe with the inscription stands, as well as a bunch of different expensive stores for tourists that glow brightly and beautifully at night.

From there, you can immediately head to the entrance, where there was an incredible crowd an hour after opening. Entering the park, I, of course, was speechless. What is happening here? Everything at once. At the entrance, you will be given a map of the entire park, which you can't figure out without a drink. My eyes were just darting around at that moment, so I spent about 10 minutes trying to understand it. +they will give you a piece of paper where on one side there will be tips for the day, how to act smartly, and on the other, the schedule of all the big shows.

About the shows:

There are 5 big shows there:

Studio tour, which is held all day;

Interpretation of the movie "Waterworld" 5 times a day;

Show-presentation of how special effects are made 5 times a day;

Animal actors 5 times a day;

20-minute Shrek 4D all day.

And your task is to catch these shows according to the schedule and run quickly to see what they have prepared for you.

The fact is that this is far from all. The park itself is very thematic and is divided into many thematic parts. At the moment, it seems to me, the biggest of all is Springfield, where Krustyland is located, and you have the opportunity to ride there as if on a "roller coaster".

A similar opportunity exists for almost every local theme. What is the essence, actually? You sit in a car, put on 3D glasses, you are lifted up a couple of meters, and a screen 1.5 times larger than a typical cinema turns on. And you start being thrown in different directions while something is happening on the screen. Of course, before this, while you were standing in line, you were already prepared and shown something on the screen related to the trip so that you feel like a cartoon character.

The trip through Jurassic Park is completely different. It is real and without effects.

It reminds me of a safari, but more natural, and even with a voice-over that tells something about dinosaurs, and they spit at you, get angry, eat something, and then a giant tyrannosaurus jumps out from 2 meters away, and you are thrown off a cliff. All this is quite unexpected. Is it worth saying that a photo is taken at this moment?

There is the same thing for the movie "The Mummy", but there they immediately warn that it is not for the faint of heart, that things must be left in special lockers, etc., because during the trip you will be thrown in different directions like on a small roller coaster, and even plot-driven ones. Well, and, accordingly, you can't forget about the photo. True, all these photos are paid.

Each of these themes is executed in a unique style, where you immerse yourself in the movie to the depths of your soul - you feel yourself inside it. Everything around you lives by this movie. I'm serious.

Besides the fact that all the walls and the like are made in the decorations of each individual theme, there is also a screen in each queue hall (and there will be several for any of the entertainment), which I already talked about in The Simpsons, where you are introduced to the situation, prepared, told something, and thus by the end of the queue you really feel like you are not sitting in an attraction cart or a cinema seat, but in a car or something like that.

To be Continued.