Our morning was spent going around Hollywood Boulevard to
get that movie star feeling. To shop like a movie star, on the other hand, we headed
to Rodeo Drive in the afternoon (picture below). Rodeo Drive is a two-mile
street found in Beverly Hills, California. Touted as the most luxurious shopping
area in the world, a visit is essential for an accidental brush with the rich
and famous and live to tell about it.
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| adventurous-Pinay in Rodeo Drive. |
Standing on the very wide diagonal intersection of Rodeo
Drive and Dayton Way (picture below), I was surrounded by super-expensive
stores with international labels, like, Ermenegildo Zegna (R), an Italian fashion
house specializing in men’s clothing; opposite is Van Cleef Arpels (L), a
French jewelry, watch, and perfume store; not in picture, opposite EZ is Louis
Vitton (LV), another French fashion house specializing in bags, shoes and
ready-to-wear. Two Rodeo Drive is seen on my back.
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| Intersection of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way. |
Two Rodeo Drive is found along Rodeo Drive. It is an
elegantly curved street adorned with cobbled stones. Some describe this as “resembling
a ‘faux-European shopping alley’. Some architects have claimed that Two
Rodeo Drive is similar to Disneyland (Photo below and text courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodeo_Drive).”
 |
| Two Rodeo Drive. |
Two Rodeo Drive is home to opulent stores like Versace,
Jimmy Choo, and Lanvin. You can also find high-end restaurants and other lifestyle
destinations here (http://www.lovebeverlyhills.com/shopping/two-rodeo.aspx#sthash.WY0uZqBe.dpuf).
At the other end of Two Rodeo are these marble steps (Picture below L-R: me,
Lori, and Satur).
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| Going down Two Rodeo Drive. |
At the bottom of the stairs is Tiffany & Co., an
American multinational luxury jewelry and specialty retailer (Picture below: L-Lori;
R- me; background- Tiffany & Co.)
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| Tiffany & Co. |
Further along Rodeo Drive, is the Coach Store, a fashion
accessories and leather goods store for women (Below L- R: Satur, me,
and Lori, background-Coach Store).
 |
| Coach Store. |
Since, this is where the rich and famous hang-out, you can
see their ‘toys’ parked on Rodeo Drive. The condition in buying this Rolls
Royce (below) is for you to have $10 M in the bank. This yellow Rolls Royce is
parked in front of a boutique owned by Bijan, an Iranian designer of men’s wear
and fragrances. The Bijan store has been described as "the most expensive
store in the world". Bijan was known to park his cars outside of his Rodeo Drive boutique
to let people know that he was around (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijan_(designer).
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| Rolls Royce in front of Bijan Store. |
During our Rodeo Drive tour, we also encountered this tour
bus, Star Line’s City Sightseeing Hop-On, Hop-Off-Narrated-Tour (picture below).
“This tour enables you to see all that Los Angeles has to offer, from Hollywood
to Beverly Hills, the beautiful landscape and beaches of Santa Monica, to
Downtown LA. You can purchase a 24-hr, 48-hr or 72-hr pass and enjoy the
freedom to experience Los Angeles on your terms. For example, hop on in
Hollywood, hop off in Beverly Hills to shop, hop back on and head to Santa
Monica to walk the pier and beaches and hop back on to come back and experience
Hollywood and Downtown LA. Tickets are priced from $22-69 (http://www.starlinetours.com/los-angeles-tour-HOHO.asp.).”
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| Tour bus behind adventurous-Pinay. |
There were so many
luxurious and expensive shops to choose from in Rodeo Drive, but we didn’t
buy
anything. We just window-shopped. For one, our budget was limited and we
reserved our
shopping money for
less expensive things. We did not see celebrities, either. However, the fun part
in this
US adventure is that in
the US, celebrities and tourists go to the same places and enjoy the
same things. At least, I lived to
tell about this.
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