DAY 12 Goodbye San Diego and HELLO Los Angeles

With a laughing and a crying eye, we left San Diego this morning and drove squealing tires towards L.A, the city of angels.

But before we arrived in the city of the rich and beautiful, we took a detour of almost 30 minutes towards Escondido. I've been following an American interior designer from San Diego, Rebecca Robeson, for a long time, and she is known for her extravagant and eye-catching Christmas decorations.

In one of her Youtube videos, I happened to see that one of her favorite stores is CANTEBURY GARDENS, and that's where we went this morning. Because what would a trip to America be without bringing home the perfect Christmas decorations. And our expectations were definitely exceeded.

As soon as we walked through the doors of the building, which seemed rather inconspicuous from the outside, we had to put on our sunglasses:

At least 500,000,000 volts of concentrated Christmas lights and about 10,000 glittering Christmas tree balls greeted us, while the kitschy sounds of a church choir filled our ears. For us as absolute Christmas fans, it was like heaven on earth, and it didn't take long for our basket to fill up.

The friendly ladies of the house constantly presented us with new and super fancy decorations, and I finally found my long-awaited "spinners" (small motors on which you can hang Christmas tree balls so that they spin happily in the tree).

I've been looking for these things forever and to be honest, I almost came here just because of them.

At the cash register, we had a little chat with the cashiers, one of whom was at least as old as Christmas itself, and told them that we discovered the store because of Rebecca Robeson through Youtube. As soon as we said that, the girls became more and more euphoric and they were really proud, you could see that immediately.

After such a sweet and great experience, we happily continued towards Los Angeles, which we reached after 1.5 hours.

Although we didn't book accommodation directly in L.A, but in Santa Monica, a smaller town 20 minutes (with little traffic) away from the metropolis.

Here, we are staying again via airbnb with Kathleen and John and their two cats.

The building where the two live houses a total of 600 apartments, which is absolutely normal for conditions in and around L.A. But we feel very comfortable here and can reach the world-famous VENICE Beach, the beach of surfers and bodybuilders from L.A, by car in 10 minutes. Of course, we immediately visited this beach and barely 5 minutes later we were already in the water. The beach is really super cool and there is something to see everywhere: from skaters and joggers on the beach to the Hulks at MUSCLE Beach.

We immediately made it our own and hung like the artists of Cirque du Soleil in the trapeze rings.

In the evening, we went to the city of Santa Monica with the famous pier right on and above the water. This time, however, we didn't drive ourselves but ordered a taxi via UBER, and no later than 5 minutes later, we sat in a private car with complete strangers and were driven through the area.

The pier is not really big, but still worth a trip and a ride on the roller coaster. There are restaurants and bars everywhere, and there is plenty to see. For example, we saw the biggest Snickers ever in one of the countless candy shops (we won't even talk about the nutritional table), how many rounds do you have to run back and forth on the beach for that J

Then we went to the Thai restaurant and later took a little stroll through the small but very well-equipped city.

Our day is slowly but surely coming to an end, and your day is just beginning.

Tomorrow we're off to Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and who knows, maybe we'll meet one or the other famous face.

Have a great one guys and see you in the morrrrrrrning ;)