My sister has been visiting for the last two weeks so she got to witness first hand the city that has now been my home for the last four months. Thinking about it now I probably should have asked her to do a guest blog (the Scot keeps threatening to do one)
When someone comes to stay it makes you search around for things to do rather than just spend all your spare time finding the best Happy Hours (ok we did that too) It really opened up my eyes to how LA is many cities in one and how it's also a city of extremes (this I probably knew!) I can safely say she won't be getting on a bus for a while and by the end of the two weeks Uber and Lyft's profits have certainly risen.
I do a lot of chatting about the craziness of this city (please see Facebook for how much I love LA, I don't want to boast about my life there and here in case you think I'm having too much of a good time) so it's only fair to point out the good here as well.
When someone comes to stay it makes you search around for things to do rather than just spend all your spare time finding the best Happy Hours (ok we did that too) It really opened up my eyes to how LA is many cities in one and how it's also a city of extremes (this I probably knew!) I can safely say she won't be getting on a bus for a while and by the end of the two weeks Uber and Lyft's profits have certainly risen.
I do a lot of chatting about the craziness of this city (please see Facebook for how much I love LA, I don't want to boast about my life there and here in case you think I'm having too much of a good time) so it's only fair to point out the good here as well.
A guide to things to do in LA if you will, based on the last two weeks.
1 - Experience Shopping LA Stylie
1 - Experience Shopping LA Stylie
Choose Beverly Hills over Baldwin Hills (I'll let you google that) although in Baldwin Hills no one turns their head if you eat at the food court and you might actually find something you can afford (although it will be in Walmart) Statistics tell you that you are more likely to get shot here than in Beverly Hills though. You can't have everything!
2 - Exercise like an LA local (actually that wouldn't be much, there aren't many locals here)
2 - Exercise like an LA local (actually that wouldn't be much, there aren't many locals here)
Well this is LA after all so we hiked from Griffith Park up into the Hollywood Hills. We stopped before (for coffee) during (to eat the Subway sandwiches we took with us) and after (for Happy Hour wine and food) and I'm wondering if that's how we missed Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel who were also hiking up there, probably while we were eating and drinking!
We hired bikes in Venice and tried to ride to Malibu via Santa Monica. Except we got chased off the beach by the security man at the Bel Air Bay Club so couldn't get that far (clearly we weren't posh enough to be on their beach!) and none of us were brave enough to take the bikes on the Pacific Coast Highway especially as the only way you could brake was to peddle backwards. Not ideal!
3 - Be a Culture Vulture
We hired bikes in Venice and tried to ride to Malibu via Santa Monica. Except we got chased off the beach by the security man at the Bel Air Bay Club so couldn't get that far (clearly we weren't posh enough to be on their beach!) and none of us were brave enough to take the bikes on the Pacific Coast Highway especially as the only way you could brake was to peddle backwards. Not ideal!
3 - Be a Culture Vulture
We visited the Getty Villa and joy of joys if you haven't got a car you don't pay to get in. Finally we weren't penalised for not driving. Of course that wasn't the highlight. Honestly!! The highlight was the coffee and cake in the cafe, sorry I mean looking at approximately twenty thousand vases from Ancient Greece and Rome. I have no idea if there are twenty thousand, it seemed that many but I have to admit this place is a haven compared to the craziness of LA and it is really beautiful. Oh and there are things other than vases. There's cups and plates too.
We visited Greystone Manor and Park. Which again is a wonderful escape from the city. Oh except the Manor isn't open to the public and the park isn't really a park. Still gorgeous though and luckily hardly anyone was there (I wonder why) so we had the place to ourselves.
4 - Experience local holidays
Halloween!
'That's not a local holiday!' I hear you say. Oh until you come here and witness it, I disagree! Not only did we get to see the amazing decorations lining the LA streets we also got to be part of the Queen Latifah Show Halloween special. I had booked us tickets to be in the audience only to get an email telling us we had to dress up. An hour and half in Halloween City (yes that's a place, well supposedly a shop but more like a place) and the realisation that I couldn't really justify spending more on a Halloween costume than I do on a month's travel we found K-Mart and luckily a 50% off sale. We were worried about travelling to the show in fancy dress (not on the bus you'll be pleased to know) but instead of being greeted with weird looks and comments people just said 'Happy Halloween' You've got to love this city!
So my sister left this morning and I think she's probably ready for a long lie down. Me? I'm ready for my next visitor? Who's up for it?
Happy Halloween Folks!
