Los Angeles Adventures – Griffith Park & Warner Brothers!

After a wonderful drive from Orange County it was time for myself and Keil’s first full day in Los Angeles.  The last time we went to LA we visited Universal Studios and from part of it you could see Warner Brothers.  Since then it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit as it’s a working studio lot rather than a theme park.

We got up early and set off to Warner Brothers which was about 10 minutes from our bungalow.  I was really excited but when we got there we were told all the morning tours had sold out. Instead we bought tickets for the afternoon and had to quickly think of a way to fill our time!

We decided to go to Griffith Park which holds the Griffith Observatory.  When we arrived it was really busy as it was a Sunday morning.  Luckily we found a parking spot and walked up the hill towards the observatory.  The views were absolutely breathtaking.  You could see the whole of LA, including the skyscrapers of downtown and the famous Hollywood sign.

When we arrived at the observatory we went straight to the roof for even more incredible scenes.  There is also a huge telescope up there which is open at night. I can imagine on a clear evening it is a stunning spot to star gaze.  We had a wander around the inside of the observatory which is free to go in and has lots of little exhibitions about space.

Fortunately we were able to use our phones in America (we are on the 3 network) so we could google places to eat at lunchtime.  I found there was a Lemonade near to Warner Brothers so that’s where we went.  I’d seen some good things about Lemonade online, it’s a small chain, only in LA I think.  It offers really tasty, healthy food.  We shared, choosing a few items from the buffet and a sandwich.  Plus, of course, the lemonade was delicious!

It was soon time for our Warner Brothers tour.  To begin with we watched a video about the history of the studios before taken by our guide to ride a tram.  Our guide was fantastic and full of so much knowledge.  We weren’t allowed to film the tour but I took so many photos!

We saw many of the outdoor studio locations where TV shows and films were made.  Our guide explained how they moved things to get certain looks.  One of the street lots we went to was getting prepared for Pretty Little Liars.

We were able to walk through some of the different houses and streets which are used for filming. I stood on the stairs where Ross comes down for Rachel’s prom in Friends!  We also saw the Friends stage (from the outside) and had our photo taken at Central Perk.

There were 2 collections we went to see which were for Harry Potter and Batman, both had lots of memorabilia from the movies.

We were also able to visit 3 real studios.  We went on the set of 2 Broke Girls which is a comedy filmed as Friends or The Big Bang Theory are.  Then The Fosters which is a drama and was filmed in the old ER studio – One of my favourites!

Finally we went on the set of Ellen, it was fun to see where her daily show is filmed.  We were able to stand on the stage where the intros take place but not on her sofas!

I loved this tour as there were so many stories.  Countless TV shows and films have been made in these studios.  As it was a Sunday there wasn’t much filming taking place so I believe we saw more of the studios than through the week.  Although through the week there would be more people around working.  Every tour is different as there’s always something new to go to and different areas to visit.   I had a great time!

After a quick look in the gift shop it was time to head to our LA home to get ready for the evening as we were going out with a friend who was also in Los Angeles. We went to Cafe Gratitude, a vegan restaurant, the food was delicious!  We followed this by a few drinks in Hollywood.