Day 10, 11, and 12: LA, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and Venice Beach

Arrival in LA and hike in the Hollywood Hills

After our car broke down the day before, we were both visibly nervous as we started the car the next morning, but our Nissan purred like it had never done anything else.
So we continued into the big city of Los Angeles with our first destination, the Santa Monica Pier. The pier, famous from movies, startled us with a parking fee of 15 dollars, but as fate would have it, a nice young man left us his ticket after he and his companion finished exploring the colorful amusement park.

The popular pier was lit up from all sides, musicians played on every corner, and souvenirs were everywhere you looked. After a short walk to the end and a little break at the nearest fast food restaurant, we made our way to our accommodation.

After about 1.5 hours of difficult driving through LA's rush hour, we were able to find our accommodation. We shared the small, typical American cottage with 3 other couples (each had their own room), but that didn't bother us. We were happy to finally have a warm shower and a cozy bed again.

The next morning, we had to get up early to reach Griffith Park before rush hour, otherwise it would take us at least twice as long to get there. Once we arrived, we set off towards the Hollywood Sign. After just 10 minutes, the first highlight: four coyotes suddenly appeared less than 50 meters away from us. The somewhat shy animals walked past us calmly and were hardly disturbed by some onlookers. After another 1.5 hours of hiking, we finally reached our first destination: the Hollywood Sign. Since it is on private property and everything around it is fenced off and well-guarded, you can only view LA's landmark from a distance, but that doesn't change its impressive appearance. After what felt like 400 photos, we continued to the Griffith Observatory, which is located at the other end of the park.

After another 2 hours of leisurely hiking, we have now reached our next destination. The impressive building, which was built on a hill at the edge of the park, offered us a truly excellent view of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the visibility wasn't excellent, so we could only take some hazy panoramic photos. Nevertheless, it was impressive how huge this city looks from up here. We also enjoyed the view during our snack in the associated café, treating ourselves to a cool, sparkling cold drink.

Refreshed and newly motivated, we started our descent to our car. After another 1-hour hike, we arrived at the car and headed to the Hollywood Boulevard, where the famous Walk of Fame is located. Once we arrived, we didn't know which way to look first, to the right, to the left, or down to the stars of the stars. So we strolled through the famous neighborhood, heavily impressed and thrilled, taking one photo after another.

Pressed by the Happy Hour, we treated ourselves to a mango margarita and watched the hustle and bustle on this famous street. Afterwards, we drove to Beverly Hills to meet our expectations, meet some stars, and admire their sometimes grandiose mansions. Unfortunately, this endeavor turned out to be more difficult than expected, and we ended up on Rodeo Drive. The shopping street was filled with high-end stores and jewelry shops, and Bentleys, Ferraris, and Rolls-Royces were driving around everywhere. Anna was so excited that I almost had to drag her off the street as our parking ticket had already expired half an hour ago.

Clearly exhausted from the long day, we treated ourselves to a pizza from Aldi (yes, the Aldi from Germany) around the corner and enjoyed the evening in a leisurely manner.