What a miserable day it is today! It’s chucking it down outside and it is well and truly cold… Our few days in Los Angeles feel like a life time ago. One of our good friends is off on a California road trip this weekend for 2 weeks and we are so jealous because we would love to go back and do it all again. We went out for a lovely brunch and spoke about their trip. The hubby and I carried on reminiscing on our way home and wish we were back there enjoying the lovely weather.
Picking up from our chilled day in Santa Barbara we jumped on the road for 7:30am to get to LA before there was too much traffic. When you think of LA the Hollywood sign has to come to mind. So our first stop in LA was the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. We parked up on Los Feliz Blvd and walked up Hillhurst Ave. Some of the houses up this road were gorgeous and set up a little from the road. We then got a bus up to the Griffith Observatory. It was already quite hot so we just explored the observatory and walked around. There were great views of the Hollywood sign but we were just a little bit underwhelmed by the sign. I guess in movies they always zoom in to it so had thought it would be a bit bigger.
The bus was only a dollar each so was an easier way to get up there without trying to find a place to park in the carpark. The Griffith Observatory was a free excursion but was very busy.
By the time we were walking back to the car we were starving so stopped off at Mess Hall which we had spotted on our way up. It was a very cool looking place and the bar was full to the brim with tasty looking spirits. As we still had a long day ahead of us we stuck to the juice and brunch menu. I’ve always wanted to try waffles and chicken so that’s what I had. It was pleasantly surprising and I polished it off! So good!!!
It was then time to start making our way down to Venice beach but thought we’d stop by the Walk of Fame. Unfortunately it wasn’t a hit for us. It was so busy and overrun with people trying to sell celebrity spotting tours. We didn’t stay long and got back on the road to then explore Beverly Hill by car. The houses we saw were very cool and so as to get the most impressive views many were hanging off the hills. After cruising down Rodeo Drive (had to be done!) we made our way to our Airbnb for the next few days.
Our airbnb was a lovely little studio. (See here for link.) It also had a car parking space off road in its own garage. The bed was comfy, the shower was a massive rainfall shower and the kitchen was compact but had everything we needed.
This day was our 1st wedding anniversary so we’d booked Nobu in Malibu as a special treat. After getting all glammed up we drove along the coast to Malibu. It was set right on beach and had a great view out across the ocean. Even though we’d booked months before the only slot we could get was 9pm so we grabbed drinks and waited for our table. It felt a little rushed to order our food before the kitchen closed but it was very tasty! We had the most delicious Sauvignon Blanc. The hubby’s parents love Nobu so had suggested a few different things for us to try.
A few of our favourite bites from the evening were the black cod with miso, the shrimp tacos and the sushi was to die for. At that price you’d hope it would be good so we were happy bunnies. The shrimp tempura roll was particularly good as well as the California roll.
The decor was on point…
After a few jam packed few days we needed a bit of a chill day where we didn’t have anything in particular planned. We had a little lie in and the hubby cooked up breakie – english breakfast muffins with philly and bacon (we’d stocked up at a Ralph’s supermarket to save a few £’s).
We took it easy and our first stop was Abbot Kinney. What a cute road! We popped into the Tom’s flagship store and there was this cute dog wall 🐶
Venice canals were our next stop and it was very pretty. I mean, if we had a spare $4m we would definitely get a place here. In our dreams… 😛
With a starbucks close by it’s the perfect location 😋 My drink of choice this summer was an ultra strawberry frapaccino.
We carried on walking and made our way across to the marina. We came across a Cheesecake Factory and grabbed a chicken marinara sub – yum!
After a chilled lunch we strolled dow Via Marina to Lighthouse Beach. The houses looking over the beach were lovely. Could you imagine waking up every day looking out over this? One day…
This end of the beach was nice and peaceful. There were only a few people on the beach and we even saw a guy out paddle boarding in the sea. We took off our flip flops and walked along the sea shore – heaven!
As we got closer to Venice Beach it got much busier and we moved back up the beach to the path. Muscle beach wasn’t really what we had expected and the stores were a little seedy.
As we got closer to Santa Monica peer it got a little less manic. The pier was quite cool and had lovely views. There was a guy singing at the end of the pier – very romantic…
We then slowly strolled back to our Airbnb and had a chilled evening.
Mojitos and nachos were the dinner of choice!
We’d definitely go back to LA and explore Venice Beach/ Santa Monica and Malibu more if we got the chance.
The third day in LA we spent at Universal which I’ll post next as there’s a lot to get through…
Well done if you got this far! Hope the pics were worth it 🙂
Cathers x
