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a lot. We accidentally broke into Trinity College laboratories and ended up interviewing a guy who was in charge of manufacturing the most important robot in Ireland. About a month ago Volodya sent me pictures of him and his friends cooking oatmeal porridge inside of the Miranda Castle in Switzerland.

Alin is a friend of mine with whom I have a lot in common. We walked a lot, especially around the Georgian Dublin. He took me on a road trip with his friends and we spent a weekend on the Atlantic Ocean shore. Again, no words can describe what I experienced during those days.

I also was lucky enough to spend 5 days in the Google Headquarters. Jenia, another Couchsurfing friend I have, welcomed me at his apartment, which is basically a Google apartment because he, like Alin, works for Google. We spent the nights playing board games, watching videos and hugging with our laptops.

Maybe the friend I miss the most is Maria, a girl from Finland I met in the middle of my stay. We went to the mountains, to Howth again, Bray, and many other places. We used to buy child train tickets hoping we won’t be fined, did intense pub crawling and watched Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ in the park.

It is impossible to mention all the people I’ve met, but what I was trying to say in the article is not the number of people I know. Traveling is much more than different cities and sightseeing. Traveling is when you are never alone even if you go by yourself.

/Alina Zhiltsova/

One week in LA

It was a long week in September. 3 months of work were over, and the city of angels was ahead. Or, probably, the city of fallen angels and broken dreams. World’s capital of showbiz and home to Hollywood celebs.

Los Angeles was not waiting for me but I didn’t want to miss any of it.

Day 1

Hollywood Boulevard met me and my huge luggage with crowds of the homeless, tourists, and street actors, the famous Walk of Fame being literally just a sidewalk with stars under your feet. Ending up stepping on Nicolas Cage and almost running into people watching their step very carefully, cameras ready, I headed to the hostel.

When we (I mean, my luggage and I) mounted the red carpet of the staircase, it seemed like I’ve been travelling for ages already.

Waiting to check in and eavesdropping on two Slavic-looking and sounding girls on a tiny balcony, I looked around to see the huge Roosevelt hotel next door. I put my belongings on the upper bunk of the bunk bed and went out.

The tour on Beverly Hills was a bit snory, though informative. Most star homes turned out to look like dachas in Crimea. At least, from the outside.

The moment I laid my head on the pillow, I fell asleep. The last thing I saw out of the window were pink, glossy stars beneath.

Day 2

When I woke up, I found out that my hat disappeared. I bet it was stolen because it was a very nice hat. And now I was alone in that city and ever without a hat. What a great morning! It was 7:55, and the kitchen was empty. A big note on the fridge read «Thou shalt not steal - God». But my yogurt was still there, and movie experiences were waiting outside.

The Hollywood museum was an eye opener as I (to my shame of not knowing before) found out that Max Factor was a man who created the face of Hollywood. I walked through his famous Makeup Rooms for women with different hair colour. In a

huge old-fashioned lift I went down to the Dungeon of Doom with Victor Frankenstein and Hannibal Lecter, and then up to LGBTs-in-Hollywood exhibition.

LGBT theme followed me as I chanced upon 2 guys in the street who told me about their raisingawareness programme. Donated $15. Hope this was for a good cause.

My biggest plan for the day was meeting Chris Evans. You know, the guy playing Captain America. For hours on end I was sitting on some kind of sculpture, high above the gathering crowd. Everyone around was selling and buying posters of ‘The First Avenger’, chatting lazily on the upcoming events, and autographs they managed to get. When Chris arrived at last, elegant and smart, the crowd went mad. It was a real Hollywood movie premiere.

Day 3

The first person I saw in the morning was Tilda Swinton. Not the real one, no. It was just a Swiss girl who looked as like her as like can be. Together with her and her beautiful red-haired friend we went to Universal Studios theme park. Taking the studio tour we were almost eaten by a shark, saw a fake crime scene and survived a flood. Nothing special.

A board on one of the rides warned: ‘You WILL get wet’. Not that we were not ready to. The show was fantastic: breathtaking stunts, jumping jet-skiers, shooting, fire and water effects, and finally, an airplane crashing. We did get wet. Movie experience continues.

Day 4

That day turned out to be probably the most breathtaking one. As my new roommates dressed up in fancy swimming suits and rushed to Malibu, I caught a bus to Warner Bros. Studios, the place I dreamt of seeing the most.

I was so excited I forgot about time, and our tour guide almost lost me in the department of costumes and props for the Harry Potter series and Batman movies.

The ride grew more and more engaging with each turn of the studio road and each fake bus stop we passed. Finally, we made our way to the

interactive Stage 48 where we saw the whole process of movie-making: from choosing a screenplay to postproduction. I even flew on a broomstick and rode a Batpod!

We watched the same episode from ‘Gravity’ 3 times, listening to 3 divisions of sound separately: dialogue, sound effects, and original soundtrack.

Only after that we watched it for the 4th time hearing the final result of sound mixing as it appears in the film.

In the end, I wanted to buy everything in that gift shop but ended up only spending a fortune.

LA really has a horrible public transportation system. So the only way to reach Griffith Park in a reasonable amount of time was to go back to the hostel and take another bus. And so I did.

I was just wandering in the park when I suddenly realized I’d been climbing a mountain. With seas of sand and dust in my brand new Vans, I climbed

higher and higher until I reached the top of the hill. I was just in time to see the Tesla Ball lightning in the Observatory. Following the vortex of the universe made of costume jewelry in forms of stars, half moons, comets, and suns, I entered the Leonard Nimoy presentation theatre. A monthly lecture by famous cosmologists was held that day. I left the Observatory at night and, under the sky full of stars, went down the road into the darkness.

As I came back to Hollywood Blvd, I noticed a silhouette that looked somehow familiar. I came closer. I just couldn’t believe it. The resemblance was striking. It was a real Joker. Violet coat, green waistcoat, blue shirt, knife. I passed by and looked over my shoulder. A second – and he was on the other side of the street. With Hans Zimmer’s music in my head, I followed him trying to look like a tourist exploring the Walk of Fame. He stopped by a small shop to buy a lighter. When he was in the street again, I pretended to check something on my phone. A moment later I looked up, looked around, looked back. He vanished! I didn’t know where he’d gone! I followed my instincts. 2 more streets – and I saw him again. Like a dog chasing cars, I pursued him for 10 minutes more until he finally disappeared.

Day 5

I woke up late, packed my bag and jumped on a bus towards the most romantic beach in LA region - El Matador.

As I was riding along the coastline, I listened to the songs by Owl City. I finally found the place where they belonged. That was the first time I saw ocean.

Soon I was sitting on a big stone playing little mermaid, as white-capped waves lapped the sand beneath peacefully. A picnic on the top of the cape

followed, and I was resting on a dark wooden bench and observing the waves breaking on the shore. Ravenous seagulls battled each other for a piece of my sandwich. For a few more hours I was standing there watching the sunset and listening to the sound of the ocean and the music from ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’.

On my way home I was slumbering in the bus, and the ocean sang its lonely lullaby for me alone.

Day 6

That was a long and very, very hot day when I first came to Disneyland. Magic World was magic indeed. And even 2.5 hours to reach it were worth it. The rides didn’t impress me much though.

Whatever you may say. But that pineapple float was exceptionally good.

Day 7

Another two-and-a-half-hour ride, and I was at Disneyland again. This time – California Adventure Park. And this time I was much wiser as I saved time in ‘single rider’ lines.

Walking from Radiator Springs to the Tower of Terror, I stopped by the Animation Academy and watched a young girl in a Mickey Mouse shirt draw Disney characters right in front of my eyes. Actually, a week later a bought my own notebook and started to sketch myself.

Broadway found its way to Disneyland in form of a musical “Aladdin”. The show was hilarious! The blue Genie and an exceptionally talented acrobatCarpet were the ones the audience fell in love with immediately after their first appearance on the stage.

I ended up dancing at the Mad T Party and singing along with Alice and the Mad Hatter, while people were crawling around with lighted glasses with cocktails.

Marvellous fireworks exploded as I wandered the numerous shops trying to find something special for my family. The only thing they didn’t think of was making more stuff with villains. Bet my life those would sell tons.

It was around midnight when I came back to the hostel and traipsed to the kitchen to have a yogurt. There was no one around except a guy in a dark green hat sitting at the table. We sat in silence together for several minutes. “Hey! Where are you from?” he asked. And two nights of endless talking began.

He was that kind of a guy from ‘Into the Wild’: leaving in a tent, working in cornfields in Australia, travelling the world on his own. He had a Russian friend who told him a lot. We discussed the power of Putin and made a Russian Superhero called Slavik from a paper cup. I started to blow the stereotype about the cold-and-forbidding Russian girls I didn’t even know existed.

What we didn’t expect was a creepy-looking guy with a Rolex, lots of tattoos, and a beer, joining us. He stayed silent for a while, listening to our conversation. Then said he was from Italy. When I remarked where I was from, he added Russian girls

liked him. For some reason. Well, of course, they did! He looked extremely rich and dangerous. While he was drinking, he spoke further. Pretty soon we came into understanding that he was a mafia guy. I mean, really. The kind of a mafia guy you see in movies and don’t believe exists in reality. As it turned out, they

actually do exist. And they actually have hundreds of women, though loving only one – their mom – and ready to kill for her.

Day 8

On my last day in Los Angeles I explored the empty Bradbury Building, old-fashioned house where some classical films were shot. Now it is an office building though. I walked into a little park sipping

a raspberry Starbucks smoothie. The modern art museum appeared closed so I went to the public library. A huge, 7-storey treasury house was trying to trap me inside. Wandering around, I looked through traveller’s guides of Washington, D.C. and Moscow, read Stephen King’s introduction to ‘Lord of The Flies’. I explored the Russian section and the shelves devoted to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I laughed at the pictures from Stephen Fry’s books I’ve been listening to the whole summer.

Day… 9?

I left the city early next morning as I set off on the next stage of my trip. Los Angeles didn’t say good bye. Probably, it knew I would come back pretty soon.

/Anastasia Moreva/