In true Howe style, when I arrived in Los Angeles, I was held up in Passport Control as I didn’t Claire’s address. I also didn’t have Claire’s number... or phone signal...
One of the Air Hostesses took pity on me and took my phone up into the departure lounge to connect to Wi-Fi and contact Claire via Facebook. After several runs back and forth, we managed to get in contact and I was allowed in AMERICA.
One of my oldest friends, Scarlett, came to collect me from the airport and took me back to her apartment where I would be staying for the next fortnight. Scarlett and Claire live in Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles in a beautiful beach-side apartment (Claire rents out her ground floor flat on AirBnb https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/3166991).
Santa Monica Peer
It was about 10am when we went to Santa Monica Pier and, unsurprisingly, it was completely dead. That visit drew to a swift close so we headed off for 11sies and cocktails. Santa Monica is fairly small so we had a look around the shops and streets.
Santa Monica
As I couldn’t rent a car (lost my license within a few days- typical), and public transport in LA is pants, the closest place for me to visit when I was on my own was Santa Monica. There are quite a few cool places to visit like Main Street, The Boardwalk and Abbot Kinney. In Marina Del Rey, there are some quaint canals which you can walk around with lots of unique houses as well as the obvious- beaches.
Venice Beach
Living on Venice Beach for a fortnight was a real treat, Claire had spare bicycles which I used to get around (as LA public transport is pants/ non-existent). There’s a well build cycle path right along Venice Beach over to Malibu. The cycle path takes you along the Board Walk which is a very wacky place with weed clinics, street art, stalls and a LOT of homeless people. Further along you get to muscle beach where you can ogle at the men working out on the beach machines. There’s also a gymnastics area open to the public with rings, bars, slack lines and more although everyone using them seem to be semi-pro so it can be a bit embarrassing having a go!
The Getty
The Getty is located in the hills west of Los Angeles, as far as I could tell, there’s no public transport to it so, unless you have a car, it would be a very expensive taxi ride. It costs £15/ car to park at The Getty but it’s free entrance so could be very economic in a large group. A philanthropist, Paul Getty, founded this architecturally astonishing education centre with breathtaking views of Los Angeles and beautiful gardens. The centre is dedicated to the arts, history and culture- there’s far too much to see in one day, we spent hours in one exhibition! Well worth a visit (and look out for the leaf prints in the walls).
Griffith Observatory
We visited the Griffith Observatory (planetarium) around sunset which was possibly the best time to go. It’s pretty near Hollywood and looks over Los Angeles into the ocean- watching the sun set was phenomenal. Inside, there is so much information about the universe and wider physics (as a physicist, it was very interesting). Unfortunately, the telescopes were closed but I watched a show about the Northern Lights in the Planetarium with a live narrator which was an interesting experience. After the show, it was night time and we walked out to see the incredible view of the city lights of Los Angeles Below.
LA Abandoned Zoo- Griffith Park
The old Griffith Park Zoo has been abandoned since 1964 and is quite an eerie place to visit (and not too easy to find). We walked from the large merry-go-round and got completely lost in the sandy hills, saw a wild coyote, then found some people who showed us where to go. When we finally reached the zoo, it was dusk but still had a good explore. There are cages everywhere and false rocks, the enclosures are actually quite small so I hope there weren’t any large animals kept there. The zoo is covered in graffiti but still well maintained. If I return, I’d like to go at night with torches to complete the eerie, abandoned, haunted feel.
Night-life
We did various things in the evenings from nights in to restaurants to night clubs. We went to a fantastic sushi restaurant (will find the name soon!) which was incredible good value for money. Two of the nicest bars we went to were The Abbey, a gay bar, in West Hollywood and 31 Ten on Main street. The Abbey was outrageous with male dancers on the tables whereas 31 Ten was a classy cocktail bar. I think I went to the poshest Cheesecake Factory in America (not like they The Big Bang Theory portray it at all!); we ordered several starters to share as our main meals which was delicious with a lovely setting looking over Marina Del Rey harbour.