I am living in Hollywood for a while now. And you may wonder how it is, to live in this extraordinary place (just like I used to wonder :)). So I’m gonna tell you how I experience it.

The famous Hollywood area

I live about five minutes away from the famous ‘Walk of Fame’. That is the part of Hollywood boulevard covered by stars on the sidewalk. Then there is the Chinese theatre and the Dolby (Kodak) theatre. Both are very important movie theaters in LA because many premieres are shown here and they are the Oscar’s venues. In between these theatres there are the handprints of big movie stars. At the time there are not any premieres or other fancy events, Hollywood boulevard is a tourist attraction. You will find tour buses and street artists. There are also some big brand shops like Zara, H&M and Victoria’s Secret, but actually it is not my favorite place to hang out during daytime…

At night-time, you will find club life on the walk of fame. Some big clubs like Supperclub, Create, Lure, Playhouse and AV are located in this area.

Hollywood and it’s Hills

I am living at the beginning of the Hollywood Hills. It is right next to Griffith park. This is a nature park were the Griffith observatory and the Hollywood sign are located. Lots of people go there to jog or just to relax. At the Griffith observatory you get a beautiful view over LA, with at the end of the horizon the sea, all by surrounded by mountains. Sometimes I go there to do my homework and study my scenes/lines :)

My Hollywood crib

I share an apartment with a great couple. I have my own room and bathroom with a view over palm trees. I can park my car under the house, that is great! And I have a big closet that gets fuller by the week… There are so many shops around Hollywood that makes it hard to resist the shopping urge :s Hopefully it will all fit in my luggage when I get back to NL…
I’m not much around in the apartment because from Tuesday till Saturday I am practically the whole day at school. Till late… So when I come home I get or sometimes cook dinner, do some homework (or blogging ;)), go see a movie or I go out for a drink with friends. From Saturday till Monday I am not much around either. Then I go shopping, meeting up with friends, go for coffee, restaurants, beach, etc. Just looking for some excitement and discovering new places. Unless I have a film shooting that day :)

Getting around

All the necessities are close. There are a bunch of stores, shops and Starbucks in a range of 5 minutes by car. I think it is impossible to live in LA without a car. I heard the public transport is not comfortable nor organized. Plus the distances are tremendously big. In Holland I used to walk to places, but that is impossible here. I grab my car for everything. Thankfully I live pretty close to school. It is an 8 minute drive without traffic, otherwise it takes 15 minutes max. That is like nothing in LA :) I will tell you more about driving in LA in a next post.

The views in Hollywood and the rest of LA are beautiful. Every single day I get stunned by what I see. Sometimes I look in my rear or side mirror while driving and I get the best views: vanilla skies, peachy sunsets with palms and mountains in the background. Or you simply take a turn and get an amazing view over a part of the city. I can’t get used to that and those are the little things that make me happy here in Hollywood :)

XOXO Mariella KvO