Last Arrival, Locating Amigos, Los Angeles

Venice Beach - Our first glimpse of the Pacific for years.

Long Ago, before the pilgrims set foot on the east coast, a Spanish friar directed the building of a mission near a river that flowed through the hunting grounds of the Tongva and Chumash people. He named the river Porciúncula after the little church in Umbria, Italy, home of his order, the Franciscans. Francis of Assissi's followers believed that God would supply their needs as they preached repentance and salvation so lived life in a simple robe without property. Friar Serra dedicated the settlement to the Queen of Angels, the abbreviation of this dedication became - The Angels. Over the last two centuries gold rushes, oil rushes and a railway link to the east brought settlers and wealth but it was the creative boom in the early 1900's that drove the town to become a super city and the antithesis of the Friar's vow of poverty.

From a simple mission to a sprawling metropolis. Challenged by quakes and smog rather than space.

The Highway from Chicago - Route 66 - ends here at Santa Monica.

Los Angeles is the 2nd largest city in the U.S. and according to Smartplanet.com, using 2009 data, it is the creative capital of the world with 1 in every 6 residents working in a creative field (they included digital media). From my observations it is also the freeway capital of the world with bitumen and concrete looping and ribboning to form landscapes more impressive than, but just as shaky as the mountains around it. The river was even imprisoned in concrete in 1938 to stop flash floods destroying the built environment. Many of the most beautiful cities in the world have property developers fighting for river views but the Angels drive over theirs.

Santa Monica Pier (Some maps seem to show that this suburb is not part of LA - Malibu certainly isn't.)

Three reasons put L.A. on our itinerary: it is the U.S. hub for flights across the Pacific to Australasia, there are countless pop culture icons to explore and a dear friend lives there. Luckily D's daughter, Cbear, used to live at Venice beach where I'd booked the Oakwood apartments so knew a good place for dinner. We had wandered down Venice beach to Santa Monica pier and had lunch at a bistro looking back over the beaches all the way to the headland that protected Long Beach and it's busy port on the other side. M's buffalo wings were over cooked and sour, the mashed potatoes were lumpy and I had a Dirty salad(there was nothing wrong with this dish - that was what it was called on the menu) served in a tortilla basket (chicken, black beans, charred corn kernels, avocado, red capsicum, salad leaves and ranch dressing) the girls had huge nachos so M paid but only left the minimum tip. Venice beach is full of characters and shops for tourists, although I think anything purchased from the Green Doctor is best left out of your suitcases for a trip to Aus.

Medicinal marijuana is legal so an enterprising medic will evaluate your condition and prescribe something to ease your troubles!?  Summer tourist season is over so we had breathing space on the pavement.

An autumn afternoon, a lonely lifesaver on Venice Beach. Promise I haven't meddled with the colours - it was just like this.

Plants and paths of L.A. reminding me of Sydney.

The next day N hired an SUV so we could all fit in the one vehicle and they took us on a tour of the sights. We so appreciate the early morning and late night they had, to be able to drive the 2hr journey up to Marina Del Rey where we were staying and all the toll roads they had to avoid or pay for. This isn't the only thing that reminded me of Sydney. The broad roads,baking heat reflected by acres of concrete and a car based society where pedestrians and cyclists are tolerated; with birds of paradise, fig trees and palms jagging their silhouettes into a big blue sky shuddered through my soul making me acknowledge that, people aside, I was heading the wrong way around the globe to 'home'.

What a wonderful catch up tea with friends not seen for so long. Thanks for finding the great eats Cbear!

Our first stop was brunch at Mel's drive through diner. The corn beef hash was great, M and the girls enjoyed the milkshakes. Biscuits and gravy were on the menu, a dish only read about  - a settler staple, the 'biscuit' is what we would have called a scone and the gravy was a bechamel made with animal fat - a bit too thick on the tongue. D kindly ordered it as a side for herself to share when I seemed set on ordering it for myself instead of the hash. Petal loved the pancakes. Chilies, avocado and jalapenos were sprinkled liberally across the menu reminding us again just how close we were to the Mexican border.

We had to sit in booths because a large party (that never arrived whilst we were there) had the big tables reserved.

Yummy cornbeef hash and buttermilk pancakes but I'm not convinced that biscuits and gravy is a great dish.

Next door was the Hollywood museum where D was planning to show us Max Factor's individual make up boxes he prepared for the stars of the silver screen. Apparently he was the first to create different shades of foundation and eye shadows for different skin tones. Imagine how odd everyone must have looked before this - all wearing the same shade of foundation and powder. The Museum was closed which annoyed D no end.

Hollywood High School

We were at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, the Chinese theater, the star studded pavement and the Star's palms stamped into concrete were a crossing away. It was so different to what I had expected. Without any special red carpet do, it was just a road littered with souvenir stores and hawkers on the pavements calling for tourists to come and get a trashy T. In daylight, with coercive noise pollution it was a disappointing place but even with this unholy ambiance it was still very cool to spot your favourite stars and stand in their footprints. (If you fancy your name in pink marble have a look at this: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/07/16/how-to-get-a-star-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame/)

The Chinese Theater

Crazy paving outside the Chinese Theater.

For Granny and Gramps - Petal still traumatized from the 'Dragon singing' she was made to listen to in the car years ago.

Land left to develop?

Snaps from the SUV window

Our next stop on the list was The Getty center, D studied Art History and knows the place inside out so I was very excited about having her guide me around this enormous temple to the arts. Billionaire J.P Getty III had the place built and filled, an incredible legacy. On the way there N drove us through so many of the streets the world knows from sitcoms and movies: Sunset strip, Melrose Ave, Rodeo drive, Sunset boulevard, past beautiful homes in Beverly Hills and Bel-Air.

The Getty centre was closed the day I had D with me to guide me through the wonders inside.

Iconic streets in LA

Unfortunately the Getty was closed! That made it a count of 4 galleries I have purposely set out to visit, closed(outside of their normal schedule) on the only day I could go - not so bad over a 2.5 yr period I guess. We had to make do with a visit to the Getty Villa in Malibu, which was no trial. This began as the Getty family ranch - JP had a gallery designed according to the Roman villas of Herculaneum and Pompeii and I would suggest - to be set into the hill so every level had a view of the Pacific as the Romans would have had views of sunsets over the Mediterranean. He left the building and its precious contents in trust to the State as part of the Getty museum, demanding that the public never be charged admission.  Well they charge $15 per car park instead.

A pomegranate tree of about the same size we saw in Pompeii.  Gorgeous outdoor screens.

Public risk assessment gone crazy - don't think that the velvet ropes are part of the intended landscaping.

N took us over the hills behind Malibu, Topanga canyon rd, into a valley of Hills suburbs seeking out a Walmart. He thought I was joking but there had been a spat of 'funny people in Walmart' clips on YouTube and the girls wanted to see for themselves - I think we may have been the funniest in store that day! I needed drops and sprays to try and clear up Willow's recurring earache before we flew out and was hoping to find something there. N found a Walmart - thank goodness for smart phones and next to it was a Ross outlet store. N and M were very patient as the rest of us found a great priced designer bag each and D scored a fab pair of black heels.

The best visit in this suburb was to a local Mexican restaurant. N had spotted Mexicans going into it so reckoned it would be authentic. M held his tongue and graciously pursued the menu. I was excited to see chocolate listed as a savoury ingredient and enjoyed chicken with a black bean Mole (chipotle and chocolate) sauce, the shredded chicken looked like chocolate, stained by the sauce and certainly didn't taste like chicken. I have found a recipe to try and replicate it but haven't been game enough to try it yet, the sauce can take up to a day to make. The hand made corn chips(served hot and salty) and tortillas were delicious. What a fabulous day we spent laughing and catching up on tall tales from the years between us all living in Sydney. We hope to see them on our side of the Pacific again sometime.

LA with a rainbow as we crossed through the Topanga Canyon Rd

The next morning, M and I took the SUV back to one hire car place and dropped into another one to put in an order for a convertible for 24hrs. We had decided this was a very LA sort of thing to do and the girls wanted to go to one of the giant outlet malls - they were all a long way from where we were staying and quite impossible to get to on public transport.

Cheesecake Factory selections

We went for a walk around the Marina and found a Cheesecake factory. As fans of The Big Bang sitcom we went in for an early lunch since none of us could stomach the sickly sweet bread that sticks to your teeth even after toasting and the lolly version of peanut butter we'd bought to have for breakfast. Penny wasn't to be seen (we never made it over to Pasadena) but Sheldon's BBQ bacon cheeseburger was on the menu. We were too full to have a cheescake each and were happy to share. They were so good that we went back and had desert for tea on our last day, well worth the calories.

The girls and I went off to get a pedi after trotting around all week in jandals. The nail lady was very obsequious and gave me a great foot massage but our feet were soaked in bags of coconut oil instead of exfoliated and the nails weren't trimmed, undercoated or topcoated after a 30 min wait so no tip. The little lady instantly became a dragon and got mighty mad. I explained that I thought tips were for good service and since we didn't receive what was described on the 'menu' I wasn't paying any more than the listed price. Glad we won't be going back there again. We spent the afternoon reading by the pool, it wasn't warm enough for a swim. A day of rest when on holiday always feels like a waste but the girls were bordering on colds and we had a big day planned ahead.

Making our own piece of Hollywood

The next day we walked back to the car hire place and found a black Chevrolet Camaro waiting for us. After a lesson on how to put the roof up and down and a few nervous questions to M about driving on the right side of the road we were off looping around the freeways, following the GPS to shops.  The girls soon tied up their hair but the sun was shining - the traffic flowing and car parks easily found.

Just a few things for the tiny trunk (boot).

By mid afternoon and a few bargains later we hit the freeway again and decided to head for the Greek theater, visit the Griffith Observatory then take the long way to Malibu for tea and enjoy the mild weather driving back down the coast road. We were a bit disappointed not to find any restaurants open over looking the sea but the Marmalade Cafe we picked served the first decent coffee we'd had since leaving Europe. So much was closed and car parks were empty but we found a supermarket - Ralphs(I had to buy a packet of Nilla vanilla wafers listed in the recipe for the Magnolia Cafe banana pudding to take home) and a chemist which enabled us to buy lots of Eco lip glosses to take home as gifts. The girls loved the ones they'd bought in NY. Santa Monica pier was lit and sparkling as we headed back down to LA. After a Show and Tell and a cup of tea we were off to bed.

A legend from my childhood - trapped in the car having to listen to Neil Diamond live at the Greek. Yeah I love it. Bottom right: the girls look over the hill filled with trees sloping down toward the theater - 'I'm singing for you too tree people'.

The amazing Griffith Observatory. Loved the Leonard Nimoy narrated star show down in the theater. 

The Hollywood sign as seen from the Observatory car park.
The girls are rather over the photo sessions now - not aiming for the silver screen!

Petal crashed with a headache the next day. Luckily the managers of the apartments we had stayed at let the girls stay in the TV lounge even though we had been out of our rooms since 10am. They had stored our luggage in their board room for us. There were lovely big sofas that Petal was able to sleep off her headache on. I booked a mini van to take us to the airport that evening and M and I headed off to take the car back, bused to the shops to get a coffee and explored the shops on the way back. I was charged with getting T-shirts or caps for the girls with their initials on them.

After tea we started getting a bit twitchy - waiting until we had to leave for the airport. The apartment managers let us use the showers in the gym so we could begin the long flight back fairly fresh and then the taxi I had ordered didn't show up on time.  In a series of excited phone calls I cancelled the original co. and ordered another.  It was very interesting when both taxis turned up at the same time!

A walk to distract from the 3 hour wait until the taxi is due. The sun falling here in LA is rising on tomorrow in Sydney.

The Tom Bradley International terminal that Qantas flights depart from was enormous and full of people. The flight was long but it was comforting to hear the Australian accents from the stewards. A profound thank you to Nana and K for picking us up from Kingsford Smith so early on a Saturday morning. What a great surprise to see L&P there too as he had just touched down from a business trip to somewhere in Asia. Although our tenants had vacated a couple of days before, we couldn't go home until we got our stuff out of storage so we unpacked at Nana's. Nana had looked after our cat for the duration of our UK adventure and she seemed to remember who we were. We had a shower and headed off to couzies for lunch - what a surprise to see all our friends and Aus family there to welcome us back. That was a really lovely day - thanks K and Leelee.

Petal in Nana's backyard with her school uniform back on, it still fits.
Willow taking a break from her unpacking duties and cafe shifts while she waits for Uni to start.
All waiting for Charlie to come back.

P.S. Cbear - school has taken over my head again but our Historical musical is still rattling around in the back of my head - one day!