The first
time I went to Los Angeles I hated it. I had been travelling for
days from San Francisco by route 1, the scenic road, seeing
breathtaking landscapes, visiting parks and beaches. Suddenly LA seemed to be a
concrete jungle compared to the natural beauties I had seen along the
way. Since I don't give up easily and I was not convinced my
impression was the truth and I decided to give LA a second chance, this
time returning to spend a week by myself just enjoying the city. Well,
needless to say I fell in love with it and went back a couple of
times later. Now, I just wanna go back soon.
LA county is huge and offers lots
of things to do, so I decided to write only about the places I have been and
to divide it in three parts. Being part I, about Santa Monica
and Venice Beach.
Santa
Monica
A true Oasis to stay, this is the way I see Santa
Monica. It is a perfect city to spend your first
vacation days. Santa Monica is peaceful, beautiful and at the same time so
fancy, I love it. My suggestion is, if you have time, spend at least 4
days enjoying the place, visiting its bars, restaurants, walking to Venice beach, renting a bike or a rollerblade to have fun and enjoy the
amazing view. It is relaxing and you will get the taste of life in
California. The good thing is that you don't need a car while staying in Santa
Monica, but you will need one for sure when going to Hollywood, Downtown LA
and anywhere else around.
Palisades Park and the Third Street Promenade are perfect places
for a stroll in the early evening or in the morning.
The pier: The most
famous sightseeing in Santa Monica. There you will find the Visitor
Center, where you can buy tours to visit the streets of Malibu and
Beverly Hills, where the stars have their Mansions, plus a city
tour downtown LA and Hollywood, or if you are in the mood for Movies
and Rides, there are tours to the Universal Studios and
Disneyland. That's also where you can have some Bubba Gump Shrimp, and go to the Pacific Amusement Park. The Pier is where you have the sensation you are in one of the many movies you've seen before.
Venice
Walking
along Santa Monica Palisades Park, you get to Venice Beach. It is not a long
walk and it is worth feeling the atmosphere and enjoying it, once there, train
on Muscle beach platform and walk by the Venice Canals.
Venice Beach: That's
where the unique guys are, that is the place nobody is ashamed to be who
they are. You see all types of artists, mystic people and it has such a free
atmosphere, that you feel you can wear whatever you want, be exactly who you
are and everyone will accept it. As a matter of fact nobody cares who you are
or what you do. I confess, the first time I went there I got
disappointed, in Venice people look really different from people in Santa
Monica, but it is a great place worth seeing with your own eyes.
Muscle Beach: Santa
Monica Muscle Beach or Muscle Beach Venice? Well, there is a lot of
history if you like, just click on Muscle Beach and there will be an
entire website about the old and the new Muscle Beach Platform. What I can
tell from experience, is that if you are addicted to working out, don't miss
the chance of training where bodybuilding became popular in The USA,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, mentions the beach several times in his book Total Recall My Unbelievably True Story ( Published October 1st 2012 by
Simon & Schuster)
That's all for now, next time I will be writing
about Downtown LA, Hollywood Boulevard, The Getty Center and WB Studio
If you have visited these places and have more
suggestions please feel free to drop me a line
Chris Rigos
