Final day in Los Angeles.

Today was my last day in Los Angeles. In fact I only had a couple of hours in the morning before I had to leave for the airport so I decided to walk down Hollywood Boulevard. Passed this very decorative Chase bank.

                     A walk along the Hall of Fame

Hollywood First National Bank.  Empty since the recession in 2008, I wonder what will happen to it now or is it just going to be left unoccupied.

The entrance to El Capitan movie theatre. This theatre opened in May 1926 as 'Hollywood's first home of spoken drama'. It has now been fully restored to its original elegamce.

You can always find a superhero around here.

It was very busy outside the Chinese theatre as they were getting ready for the premiere of Chips.

Rolling out the blue carpet. I wonder why it was blue?

I decided to walk back to the hotel along Sunset Boulevard and came across Crossroads of the World.

The central building resembles an ocean liner and is surrounded by a small village of cottage style bungalows. It was designed by Robert Derrah and built in 1936. Once a shopping centre it is now home to a variety of music publishers, television and film script writers, film and recording companies and many others associated with the entertainment business.

As I was taking a few photos a guy called Chris  came over for a chat. He was a musician, originally from England but needed to be in Hollywood for work. He was interested in my opinion of Los Angeles so I didn't hold back. Looking back on last year's trip to New York, Washington, Boston and other parts of Eastern USA and this year's trip, I would have to say that Los Angeles is my least favourite city. Its different districts don't seem to gel as communities or have  the warmth and friendliness I have experience elsewhere in the US. Nor does the city seem to have pride in its heritage allowing a number of its buildings to become derelict.  As a visitor it is very difficult to get around without a car, not impossible just difficult. Of course, I have only been here a few days and just have a snap shot of the city. Chris lives in the complex and  he did say it took a long time to settle in LA but he is enjoying life a lot more now he lives here where there is more of a community. It was lovely to chat to him but I did have a plane to catch so it was back to the hotel and a taxi to the airport and home. Farewell LA and what has been a great trip to Western USA.