This is one of the trips that I thought would be a fully urban feel and turned out not to be! La has its own fair share of everything;beaches,canyons,markets,gardens and the posh city life.
We reached LA on the night of 26th April. We were staying near to the beaches, so it was a short drive from airport. Once we landed we grabbed dinner and shopped for water and snacks for the rest of the week. By around 10'o clock we were all set to hit the bed.
Day 1
====
Our first day at LA started by a drive to Beverly Hills. Visiting LA from MI, the roads seemed crowded and aggressive. 30 mins to travel 5 miles felt like a joke :D But anyways we drove through huge buildings and parked at Beverly hills. The first street we walked into was the Rodeo drive. This is where Julia Roberts does the shopping in the movie 'Pretty woman'. The street is filled with high class-expensive stores.
We took a stroll and continue to Beverly gardens park. The garden itself was not huge but is a nice place to sit and relax and take pictures.
By this time my pebble had told me that i walked 15K steps. We had our dinner from Umami Burgers. It was decent food. After dinner we drove back to our hotel.
Day 2
=====
Our day 2 started with taking some pictures outside our cottage.
Our first destination was Mulholland drive. It is a very pretty drive with multi million mansions lining up beside you. You get clear views of the canyons and the awesome houses. The road itself is windy with lots of curves and turns. But the views worth it all. There are two major view points on this drive. One overlooking the San Fernando Valley and another one over looking hollywood bowl and the hollywood sign.
We stopped at Johnson overlook first and got out to enjoy the view. Within few steps we spotted a rattle snake crossing the busy trail!, and rushed back to our car :D From there we drove to Nany Hoover Pohl overlook. It has great views of canyons and san fernando valley. There had been people who were doing the hike to the canyons, but it was not in our list and we continued driving. The last view point was of Hollywood bowl. You get a very good view of Hollywood sign from there too. This was my favorite view point of the whole drive.
One hard thing about the drive was, there was no food in this route. We started without breakfast thinking we will grab something along the way and we were in trouble. So once we were near to the city again we were happy! We drove directly to the Griffith Observatory. We had lunch before entering the observatory.
Griffith obsevatory is a great place to be at. It has planetarium,museum,exhibitions and breathtaking views of canyons, downtown LA and hollywood sign! All at this one place.
We completed Griffith Obesrvatory by around 3'o clock and headed towards Venice Canal. This is one other favorite place of mine in LA. It was extremely cute and will make you feel like you are in a different place. Away from the city and traffic, surrounded by water, it was so calm and relaxing. The houses at both sides of the canals were cute!, and decorated so well. There is a reason why this place is called Venice of America.
we spent almost an hour here before my pebble said I walked more than 16K steps :) From the canals we walked to the Venice beach Broadway to enjoy the sunset. We passed through the skate park where many people were skating and sat on the beach side, enjoying the view.
We had great seafood from the beach side and drove home and ended our day 2.
Day 3
=====
Day 3 was reserved for the beaches. Our day started by a quick visit to Marina Del Ray and we took the Pacific Coast Highway to Malbu. The drive was really nice with mansions on both sides of the highway, and beach just beside you. WE drove upto Malibu before we turned back towards Sanata Monica. This is where we got into the water. We walked on the beach side and explored the Santa Monica pier. It was an awesome place to spend a day. We had lots of sea food, funnel cake and had a great time. The water was really cold, but still we manged to have a good time!
In the evening we decided we ll have a quick visit to long beach before returning to the airport. We explored Naples Island and Lagoon park and wished we had more time!
From long beach we hurried back to the airport only to find out our flight was cancelled! It was not so bad coz they gave us food and accommodation and it was Saturday. We had one more day to spare!
The next day morning we bid good bye to LA and flew back to MI.
End of a fun vacation!
We reached LA on the night of 26th April. We were staying near to the beaches, so it was a short drive from airport. Once we landed we grabbed dinner and shopped for water and snacks for the rest of the week. By around 10'o clock we were all set to hit the bed.
Day 1
====
Our first day at LA started by a drive to Beverly Hills. Visiting LA from MI, the roads seemed crowded and aggressive. 30 mins to travel 5 miles felt like a joke :D But anyways we drove through huge buildings and parked at Beverly hills. The first street we walked into was the Rodeo drive. This is where Julia Roberts does the shopping in the movie 'Pretty woman'. The street is filled with high class-expensive stores.
We took a stroll and continue to Beverly gardens park. The garden itself was not huge but is a nice place to sit and relax and take pictures.
From the Gardens park we drove to The original farmers market. This was one place i knew i would love even before visiting it. This is one of my favorite places in LA, after the beaches. Parking was real easy here, they give you 2 hour free parking if you can get it validated from one of the shops inside.
The market is filled with fresh produce and tons of places to eat. It reminded me of Boston's Quincy market, which also is one of my favorite places. You have so much to chose from and the atmosphere is festive and cheerful.Who doesn't like food?
We tried coffee in a waffle cup and was not bad! This was the first time i was seeing something like this.
We had our lunch from here and explored The Grove. It is a very pretty mall and people say a great place to spot celebrities. The landscaping is really good with a fountain and bridge and is a nice place to walk around.
Our next destination was Pink's famous hot dogs. From trip adviser i had read good reviews about this place and definitely wanted to check it out. we ordered Ozzy spicy dog, which indeed was real spicy :D We saw photos of Matt LeBlanc trying this at their store, with many other famous faces.
From Pink's we drove to Hollywood and HighLand mall. This place has so much to offer. It homes the famous Dolby theater where the Oscar happens, the TCL chinese theater, and a view of the famous Hollywood sign. We walked around and caught a glimpse of everything and got our souvenirs from here. They have a very good view of Hollywood sign from their balcony.
Just in front of the mall is the Hollywood walk of fame. It would be so much fun if you have a favorite star whom you should find. The street is filled with performers and people who are dressed up. We even saw a bunch of people with snakes, offering photo opportunity with the snakes. well, No Thanks!
After walking for a while we stepped into Ghiradelli and indulged in their 'World Famous Sundae'
While our way back to the parking we saw one more view point of Hollywood from the lower level of highland mall and jumped in for a picture.
From Hollywood we drove to universal city walk. This is where we spent the most money for parking. $20 per entry, seemed a lil too much for us when we were planning to spend less than an hour there since we had already been to the parks in Orlando. But anyways it was a fun place.
Our last destination for the day was downtown. We parked at the downtown and walked to Disney concert hall. You can climb the stairs and enjoy the view from the top. That is when we noticed how frequent the public transport system was. So we decided we ll visit chinatown before ending the day.
We took the bus to china town and back. This is one place i felt like didnt worth it. It was a small area with paper lanterns hanging over you with some colorful buildings. But that is it. I think we spent below 30 mins there and took the bus back to LA downtown.
Day 2
=====
Our day 2 started with taking some pictures outside our cottage.
Our first destination was Mulholland drive. It is a very pretty drive with multi million mansions lining up beside you. You get clear views of the canyons and the awesome houses. The road itself is windy with lots of curves and turns. But the views worth it all. There are two major view points on this drive. One overlooking the San Fernando Valley and another one over looking hollywood bowl and the hollywood sign.
We stopped at Johnson overlook first and got out to enjoy the view. Within few steps we spotted a rattle snake crossing the busy trail!, and rushed back to our car :D From there we drove to Nany Hoover Pohl overlook. It has great views of canyons and san fernando valley. There had been people who were doing the hike to the canyons, but it was not in our list and we continued driving. The last view point was of Hollywood bowl. You get a very good view of Hollywood sign from there too. This was my favorite view point of the whole drive.
One hard thing about the drive was, there was no food in this route. We started without breakfast thinking we will grab something along the way and we were in trouble. So once we were near to the city again we were happy! We drove directly to the Griffith Observatory. We had lunch before entering the observatory.
Griffith obsevatory is a great place to be at. It has planetarium,museum,exhibitions and breathtaking views of canyons, downtown LA and hollywood sign! All at this one place.
We completed Griffith Obesrvatory by around 3'o clock and headed towards Venice Canal. This is one other favorite place of mine in LA. It was extremely cute and will make you feel like you are in a different place. Away from the city and traffic, surrounded by water, it was so calm and relaxing. The houses at both sides of the canals were cute!, and decorated so well. There is a reason why this place is called Venice of America.
we spent almost an hour here before my pebble said I walked more than 16K steps :) From the canals we walked to the Venice beach Broadway to enjoy the sunset. We passed through the skate park where many people were skating and sat on the beach side, enjoying the view.
We had great seafood from the beach side and drove home and ended our day 2.
Day 3
=====
Day 3 was reserved for the beaches. Our day started by a quick visit to Marina Del Ray and we took the Pacific Coast Highway to Malbu. The drive was really nice with mansions on both sides of the highway, and beach just beside you. WE drove upto Malibu before we turned back towards Sanata Monica. This is where we got into the water. We walked on the beach side and explored the Santa Monica pier. It was an awesome place to spend a day. We had lots of sea food, funnel cake and had a great time. The water was really cold, but still we manged to have a good time!
In the evening we decided we ll have a quick visit to long beach before returning to the airport. We explored Naples Island and Lagoon park and wished we had more time!
From long beach we hurried back to the airport only to find out our flight was cancelled! It was not so bad coz they gave us food and accommodation and it was Saturday. We had one more day to spare!
The next day morning we bid good bye to LA and flew back to MI.
End of a fun vacation!
As usual another awesome blog! Though I have been to LA before, your words are pushing me to revisit those amazing moments spent there. Lovely pictures too :)
ReplyDeleteThank you dear :)
DeleteInteresting Blogs..All the very best go Ahead :)
ReplyDelete