Something I've been wanting to do since I arrived in LA was to head down to Venice beach to check out the scene, and also just to see the sea (I live in a seaside city again; this is cause for festivities), so after class today (yes, class on a Sunday) R and I scooted off on another mission, blaring Diana Ross on the stereo (okay, it's not a stereo, but let's just pretend), windows down, rolling on down the road, too cool for school (but not really, see, that's the joke). We lucked out with a parking spot a block away from Abbot Kinney Blvd (the main stretch, really) and went mosying around looking at the shops, which are many and varied, and quirky as hell. And then we came cross this ice-cream truck:
Of course, we had to get ice-cream (soon I'll be able to say that I've eaten ice-cream in every neighbourhood in LA). B, R's ice-cream addiction rivals yours. You two would get on like a house on fire. I got a sundae with ginger ice-cream (it had actual pieces of ginger in it - heavenly) and we continued our stroll, on and on and on and on and on, looking for Venice Beach. Okay, so to be fair, R wasn't looking for it, she knew where it was, it was just a very long walk. I can't complain, because when it comes to acclimatisation, nothing beats walking. In fact, LA has been a lovely place to walk around; it's just unfortunate that each interesting place is so far away from every other interesting place that you need to drive between them. Also, walking is good exercise and helped us burn off that ice-cream. The walk was charming too.
Before we reached the beach, we passed the Venice Canals.
I LOVE the Venice canals. There is house after quirky house backing onto the canal, each with a number of boats moored outside their gates. We saw two girls swimming, and another two messing about in boats. If I could live anywhere in LA, this would be it, or maybe a penthouse in Downtown LA. The light was softer, the air smells like salty sea spray, it's quiet and away from the traffic. Goodness, it's sublime.
After tearing me away from the VC, R got us to the beach. My photos aren't so great because I was blinded by the light. It's really crazy and busy. I'm sure it's quieter during the week, but on this Sunday afternoon, the hoards were out. We walked along the beach for a while, and then took a look at muscle beach, paused to watch the final shot of a basket ball game (good grief those people are like giants) and then continued on our way. Plenty of vitamin D. It's good for your heart, you know.
On Venice: I like it. It's quirky and not as mainstream-touristy as Santa Monica, although I still really like SM, which has its own gentle charm. Venice is a harder, grungier place to be, but it's more rewarding, more quirky, more cool. Not hipster cool. Real cool.