Blogs from Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California, United States, North America - page 6

Arrived in L.A on wednesday afternoon, feeling tired after a long but ok flight. Staying at the Venice Beach Cotel, first impression was how hot it got as we went higher up the stairs; we were staying on the 3rd floor. Room itself ok, bathrooms shared but clean enough. L.A., particularly Venice Beach, is full of extremes. Filthy rich and destitute, calm spaced out hippies and impatient frantic need it now yanks. We went to a recording of 'Deal or no deal' and it was surreal! It was hard to believe it was a real person playing a real game. The max prize money was 2 Million Dollars (We had to whoop and holla everytime that was mentioned) but he only won $3000 (bumma). I guess his daughter will have to have a little wedding. It ... read more

Sunday 6th July to Wednesday 9th July, 2008 After a lazy Saturday spent recovering from the July 4th celebrations by simply taking a leisurely ride up the beach for a spot of lunch and very little else I deemed Sunday to be another day of exploration and decided there was no better place to check out than the adjoining neighbourhoods of Santa Monica and Venice Beach, forty five minutes drive north of Long Beach. The two areas, in particular the eclectic and vibrant Venice, are recognized as two of Los Angeles main must see attractions as much for the eccentric variety of their inhabitants, an assortment of muscle men (and women), fortune tellers, street entertainers and the general arty farty set as anything else. Time for a spot of one of my favourite past times, people ... read more

Monday 30th June to Saturday July 5th The fourth of July is a big day for Americans, in fact it's by far and away the biggest day of the social calendar. A day more than any other when they celebrate their overbearing sense of national pride combined with their Independence from us Brits by essentially doing two things; i) bedecking anything and everything in stars and stripes and ii) getting pissed out of their tiny little minds. Anything goes and if it wasn’t for the boys in blue no doubt a lot more would too, the only irony of it all being that the main identitifying source of pride of any nation, it’s mother tongue, isn’t even their own. They stole it from us. To mark the occasion in tandem with warming my new home ... read more

Tim: The drive into LA was mad with traffic dodging and weaving accross 6 lanes of traffic. So we arrived in LA after a 6 hour drive from San Fran. Tom guided us to the hostel like a lazer guided warhead. I am now driving a Crysler 300C which is very nice to drive (big engine) and looks a bit like a Bently. At the hostel We met some other English lads, one of whom lives just down the road from me (small world) and went out for a few pints down in the bars on Venice beach to chase some of the local ladies around. After far too many pints we woke up this morning rather jaded and headed to the beach for some R and R. You know the beach here looks like the ... read more

Meeting at the airport with parents in tow we found each other with ease. A good start! Get to the flight lounge and we meet our first celeb...Mike Tyson, oh yeah! After a delay of two hours sitting on the plane we set off on a 13 hour stretch of food, films and no leg room. We arrived in LA hot and disheveled and go have a chat with our new mate Mike. See photos, we no lie. We found our hostel, get checked in and off to the beach for a look around. On the beach there was a massive drum festival with a swarm of people. Lots of friendly faces but so tired we went to our private room for a well needed sleep. Now we are to plan the next 3 weeks road ... read more

Yes, yes i know i have been pretty bad on the blogging front as of late and i do have a lot of catchin up 2 do. Well here it goes startin from where i left off. The last day in LA we thought it would be a good idea 2 hire bikes and have a cycle round the beach front, glorious day that it was. We got the bikes which were beach cruisers and 2 brake u had 2 pedal back which was strange, but once i got on that bike i was lovin it. Along venice beach there is a cycle path so u don't have 2 worry about much u just pedal, pedal, pedal and thats what i did leavin Ben and Debbie as a tiny dot on the horizon. I really had ... read more