The American voyage – Part II

The American voyage – Part II, Los Angeles

So how does one possibly exceed the greatness of NYC? Well, going to Los Angeles could be considered a step in the right direction. LA is situated on the west coast, which means one has to spend about five hours in the air to get there. When are they going to invent those darn teleports? Anyway, we eventually got there and as the plane was making its descent to LAX, my eyes were fixed upon the mountains and the desert-like landscape surrounding the city. This view was a huge contrast to NYC. I'll admit to being a bit startled by the thought of spending the next couple of days there. I mean, it's LA. Who knows what kind of madness takes place there? According to TV shows and movies: a whole lot of it. There was, however, one pleasant surprise to LA; the climate wasn't humid, just very hot. I call that an improvement. As soon as we got out of the plane, our mission was simple: get the luggage, find a cab driver that looks semi-sober and non-suicidal and give him the hotel address.

That bed was as heavenly as it looks.

One thing caught us by surprise shortly after arriving: the distances between different sights are often huge. In my naivety, I thought living in downtown LA would be sweet as a nut (on the map it seems to be close to Hollywood and other known areas), but little did I know it was quite the distance from sights like Santa Monica and Hollywood. Furthermore, being in Hollywood meant you were still far away from Venice Beach, Santa Monica and other sights. There just didn't seem to be one spot that gave you easy access to all of those famous spots. What a conundrum! This was a valuable lesson as we were to return to LA to spend the last days of our trip. Despite the nice hotel, the soft beds and soft pillows, we decided not to get a hotel downtown next to Skid Row on our return. (Yes, Skid Row is one of the more dodgy areas of the city). 

Santa Monica Pier.

Weather-wise, LA was close to perfection. The temperature was around 25-30c, which felt just right. It was neither unbearable nor too cold. The exception being the day we desperately tried to find the studio where they were shooting "Conan". Long story short: we got off-track, the deadline for checking in was getting close and we were stranded in some suburban hell hole and had no access to water. The worst part was probably having to walk past all those nice looking gardens with water fountains taunting us. At one point, the thought of us passing out because of dehydration didn't actually seem that unlikely. Luckily, we survived, as this blog post proves. I think a lot of it was due to the fact that an extremely friendly bartender/waiter at a restaurant near the studios (we eventually made it to the show!), supplied us with cold water AND ice cubes. Entirely free of charge. Rarely if ever has water been so refreshing. This selfless waiter's kind gesture makes me believe mankind isn't all evil.

Due to the distances and our limited time in LA, it feels like we didn't do much more than watch "Conan" and explore certain parts of the city. Typical sightseeing, I suppose. Speaking of, we did go on a guided bus tour that took us to the main sights in Hollywood, Beverly Hills etc. It was a clever way of getting to see things we otherwise wouldn't have had time to see. Not to mention the fact that we'd probably never be able to navigate ourselves through all of these sites without some serious help. However, I'm glad to report we found the time to check out Santa Monica, which is worth visiting because of the sights and people alone. Great fun and one of my favorite memories of our trip to LA. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go to Venice Beach. Why? Because it was just too darn far away. And we prioritized other things like eating.  

That pretty much sums up our first visit to LA. We did get to have more fun there on our return, though, but more about that later. Next up: Las Vegas. Stay tuned!

Couldn't find my own name on any of the stars :(