After a rocky start, the next three days were smooth sailing. The weather was perfect - clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70s. After we had breakfast, we booked two tours, the Movie Star Tour of Homes and the Dearly Departed tour. We hiked down to Hollywood Blvd. and gazed about the Hollywood Walk of Fame before catching the tour van at Grauman's Chinese Theater.
The tour was great and we all enjoyed it very much. We were in an open-air van which made it even more fun. Our driver and guide, Danny, was very entertaining and he knew a lot about celebrities and Hollywood. Our first stop was the Hollywood Sign which looked smaller than I expected. I suppose it all depends on where you are standing. Here are the three happy travelers, Cindy, myself and Vickie, with the sign in the background.
We headed up into the Hollywood Hills to see the homes. (Please note that I cannot verify the accuracy of these homes, I'm only going by what the tour guide told us.)
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| Danny stopped along the way so we could get out and take photos. We were
standing on a bluff (with no guard railing!) when I took this photo.
The houses in the canyon belong to Heidi Klum and Seal (the dark one on
the right) and the terra-cotta tiled roof below is Jennifer Aniston's. |
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| Keifer Sutherland |
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| Doris Day |
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| Oprah's house is at the bottom and Jack Nicholson's right behind hers.
The houses on the hill are within a gated community and some of the
priciest. |
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| Drew Barrymore (couldn't help but wonder if she tends those roses. I doubt it!) |
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| The former home of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall |
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| Sylvester Stallone |
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| Miley Cyrus bought this house for her parents |
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| The Beverly Hills Hotel |
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| Eddie Murphy |
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| Cameron Diaz |
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| The former home of Lucille Ball |
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| This is the former home of Ozzy Osbourne, now owned by Christina Aguilera. |
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| Simon Cowell (most expensive house in Beverly Hills, we were told) |
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| This interesting house is knows as the "Witches House". It was built in
1921 for a movie studio and used in silent films. Since 1926, it has
been a private home. A woman who used to live there would sweep the
sidewalk dressed as a witch. |
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| Reese Witherspoon |
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| Betty White |
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| Halle Berry (right next door to Betty White) |
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| On our way out of Beverly Hills, we rode by Rodeo Drive |
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After the tour, we had dinner at Miceli's, the oldest restaurant in Hollywood.
A scene from "The Godfather" was filmed here |
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| Then, we did some shopping in downtown Hollywood. |
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| Hollywood Highlands was a great outdoor mall with beautiful lighting and lots to see. |
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| Walking back to our hotel, we passed this beautiful church |
It was a great day. In my next post, I'll show some photos from the Dearly Departed Tour, an off-beat tour that visits sites from the seamy side of Hollywood.
Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
Comments
Oh I stopped at your home on the garden tour a few years back. Wonderful I hope to be on a future one.
This is a wonderful armchair tour!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose