Los Angeles: Santa Monica, Venice Beach & Hollywood

Anne and I have arrived in the City of Angels, where we fit in perfectly as two angels ;) ! Greetings from the huge Los Angeles. Just to put things in perspective: Los Angeles is the second largest city in the USA, with 15.2 million inhabitants in the entire metropolitan area, and the 18th largest city in the world. 

Now, what's it like, one of the most famous metropolises in the USA? I have to say, I'm really positively surprised! First of all, the weather here is great too. Over 20 degrees and pure sunshine, that's the life :)! In addition, there is sea and beach as far as the eye can see, which of course also has a very positive effect on the quality of life. Anne is right, the ocean has a very special flair too! But L.A. doesn't just have the beach and the ocean, but also many mountains surrounding it (which I honestly wasn't aware of before). That makes this city even more interesting and beautiful for me, I find it much more scenic than flat Miami with its many beaches. Here in L.A., for example, you can relax on the beach in the morning, take a hike in the mountains in the afternoon, and have a beer with the stars and celebrities in the evening. Could be worse ;)

Los Angeles is huge, it probably takes weeks to discover all the corners, see all the beaches, and climb all the hills. Anne and I therefore considered our priorities in the City of Angels.

Yesterday, on our first day, we decided to visit Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Santa Monica is a separate small city right next to L.A. and located on the Pacific coast, which you may know from some Hollywood movies. In Santa Monica, we rented bikes and started our tour along the coast. It looked really beautiful! And riding a bike for the first time since Miami felt really good, because I often miss my bike. Anne and I rode around leisurely, enjoying the sea, beach & sun, and taking beach breaks whenever we felt like it. Of course, we also saw the Santa Monica Pier, the landmark of Santa Monica. On this pier, you feel like you're at a huge fair: you can ride the Ferris wheel and look out over the sea. Of course, you can also indulge in food, listen to live music, or simply enjoy the great view on this pier. However, we found it surprisingly empty for Santa Monica's landmark, and there weren't as many people on the beach as expected. Probably, for the people of Los Angeles, it's already too cold when it's below 30 degrees ;).

After that, we continued our tour from the rather fancy Santa Monica to Venice Beach. Venice Beach is a very famous beach in Los Angeles, it belongs to the district of Venice and is very popular. It is a rather young, alternative beach frequented by many hipsters. Numerous skaters, surfers, and athletes who want to showcase their skills to the public can be found here. On the beach promenade, there are also numerous alternative tourist shops, people from all walks of life and generations, and restaurants for every taste. Venice Beach is simply a place that you have to see.

By the way, Venice Downtown got its name from our European Venice. Because in this city, there are small canals that give this neighborhood its very special flair. Even though the canals in Venice don't compare to the European Venice, they have something very special. The residents have small boats to ride along the canals, and in the evenings, we met some people who were relaxing by the canals. A simple and very relaxing feeling of life in a city of millions like L.A.

After the relaxation and beach life yesterday, today we ventured into the upscale area of L.A.: We visited Hollywood and Griffith Park, from where you can admire the Hollywood Sign. Before our trip to Hollywood, we were repeatedly warned not to expect too much: Hollywood is simply dirty, run-down, and small. So we went there with low expectations and were therefore pleasantly surprised. We quite liked the area, Hollywood's streets were lined with palm trees, beautiful flowering plants, and colorful shops. Everywhere you could see mountains and beautiful, rather small houses, instead of the typical American skyscrapers. The Hollywood Boulevard with the Walk of Fame was not characterized by much glamour, but it was quite interesting to walk along the boulevard, watch all the tourists, and treat ourselves to a coffee on this street. Although Anne and I hardly knew any of the stars featured on the Walk of Fame stars (yes, we are probably cultural and film philistines), it was still quite interesting to look for familiar names.

I even know her ;)