Hotel

When we checked into the last hotel on this trip I was immediately smitten. The first thing I saw in the lobby was this:

It just had to be a good omen for the next two days.

But the rest of the hotel was equally nice. Here is a picture of the pool and hot tub on second floor:

Venice Beach

Our hotel was within walking distance to Venice Beach, so the first thing we did in LA was go there.

We were so happy that finally the weather was warm again that we decided to walk all the way from Venice beach to Santa Monica by foot. But first we had to head out on the pier.

To me it is a funny feeling that from here the next piece of land you come across is Japan- with a huge ocean between these to countries.

Even though my family grumbled a bit about the detour I wanted to see the Venice Canals Walkway. I had seen it in movies and found it incredibly beautiful. It does not remind me at all of the canals in Venice, Italy, but I think it is a must- see on any trip to Los Angeles.

Santa Monica

From the canals we continued along the boardwalk to Santa Monica. But first we came across Muscle Beach, birth place of the fitness boom in America. We were especially taken by the scaters there. There were even young kids doing incredible jumps on their boards.

Along the board walk at Muscle beach there are many souvenir shops and food places as well as merchants trying to sell their crafts.

By now we were quite hungry but didn’t like the food offerings on the boardwalk so we headed to “M Street Kitchen” a bit off the beach. They happened to have happy hour with tacos and burgers. Fast food done right! The meal was so delicious that the next day we took an Uber to Santa Monica just to dine here again.

With our stomachs settled we walked back to the beach for the sunset and a ride with the rollercoaster on the pier.