CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE 2011: March 21, 2011 Hollywood Blvd, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach and Santa Monica

Hello!

We all woke up to look out the window and check the weather... And it was SUNNY and beautiful! What a miracle! Some of us were so surprised that we screamed and woke up our roommates! We got ready and went to have a big breakfast.

The bus ride was pretty exciting... We rode through downtown L.A. and saw the Hollywood sign from afar. Our first stop was Hollywood! We visited Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and had the opportunity to take lots of pictures with celebrities. It wasn't very crowded so we were free to strike many poses with all our favorite celebs-- Don Carleone (the Godfather), Jack Nicholson and Lady Gaga. And we got creeped out by the super real looking Hannibal Lector! When we finally got out of the wax museum, it was raining! Oh no! So we got out the umbrellas and hit the shops! By the time we came out of the mall and were ready for lunch, the sun was shining again.

We were able to get some good pictures with some of the stars on the Walk of Fame- Michael Jackson, Drew Barrymore and Mickey Mouse to name a few. We also passed by Hard Rock Hollywood and the Kodak and Chinese Theaters. We left Hollywood after lunch and went straight to Beverly Hills!!! We had an awesome photo at the famous sign on Rodeo Drive! Some people even met a celebrity- David from Wizards of Waverley Place! Most of us just enjoyed the park because the sun felt so nice after such a rainy day yesterday!

Next stop: the famous Venice Beach! That was really fun because it was the first time that most of us touched the Pacific Ocean. We just got our feet wet because the water was freezing! But it was so exciting!

Then we were off to nearby Santa Monica... You know that famous pier in California with the big ferris wheel and roller coaster? Well, we went there! Some people rode the ferris wheel and had a beautiful view of the ocean and the city! Others went shopping on the 3rd Street Promenade. They had all kinds of stores like G-Star and Rip Curl.

We finished our Santa Monica experience at Buca di Beppo- a famous American Italian restaurant. It was sooo good! The place was really interesting because the walls were covered in random photos relating to Italy. We celebrated Mark's 18th birthday all day, but we sang and he blew out his candle at the end of our delicious meal... What a great way to spend a birthday!

Even though it was a long day and we're tired, we really cannot hold in our happiness about tomorrow!

DISNEYLAND here we come!

Buona notte!

Giovanni- Italy

Lorenza- Italy

Alvaro- Spain