Around The World

We were late getting to bed last night but we did have a really good sleep. We got up around 9:30 am and got downstairs to breakfast about 10:15am.

After breakfast we had our car brought around and we set off for Santa Monica. It was a beautiful sunny day today and we had a very chilled drive to Santa Monica (as much as that is possible in LA traffic!). When we arrived in Santa Monica we cruised around the streets and accidentally wound up on the Pacific Coast Highway, which saw us leave Santa Monica for a drive along the coast. The first turn we could take off the highway was nearly four kilometres down the coast. But rather than just immediately head back we drove up the steep hills and through the beautiful streets of Pacific Palisades and Rustic Canyon, where we enjoyed looking at the beautiful houses.

We eventually turned around and headed back down the hill to return along the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Monica. We found a car park and set off on foot to explore the area.

We decided to head for the Santa Monica Pier, which was a lot of fun. We spent a bit of time walking along the pier, watching some of the street performers, taking in the views, and just generally soaking it all in.

We left the pier and walked along the Santa Monica coastline. The beach was full of people enjoying a beautiful California day.

We didn’t get far from the pier before finding Muscle Beach. Muscle Beach is considered to be the birthplace of America’s physical fitness boom, which started in 1934 with gymnastics activities on the south side of the Santa Monica Pier. There were plenty of people working out on the equipment today so we felt that it was only right to join in!

We had a lovely walk on the beach before we decided that we’d head back to the car, stopping along the way for a very delicious smoothie. We hopped in the car and headed along the coast through the trendy Venice Beach area to Marina Del Rey. We had a short drive around Marina Del Rey before stopping to contemplate our next activity.

We decided that there were still a few clothing items we would like to buy and, since we were so impressed with Santa Monica, we headed back there to do a little shopping. We ended up buying a few clothes (which are generally cheaper here than at home). Chuffed with our clothing purchases, we then had to confront the realisation that we don’t have a lot of spare room in our suitcases. We decided that we’ll just deal with that tomorrow when we have to re-pack before checking out of the hotel.

By the time we finished shopping, the sun was setting so we walked down to the water to watch a beautiful sunset.

As a bonus, we had a great view of the rare conjunction of Jupiter and Venus.

We continued walking along Ocean Avenue until we arrived back at the Santa Monica Pier again.

We had a nice walk down the pier and then back onto the beach. The beach was still very lively, with the main activity of the evening being beach volleyball. We left the beach and headed back to the car. By this time it was about 7:00 pm and we decided that we should think about getting back to the hotel. We hopped back in the car and had a lovely drive back through Beverly Hills, where we admired many incredible houses as we wound our way through the back streets off Wiltshire Boulevard.

We got back to the hotel around 8:00 pm and ordered room service for dinner. We both opted for roast chicken, which was excellent.

It’s now time for bed. Tomorrow afternoon we are leaving LA for Nashville (but we have a fun activity planned around midday in LA before we fly out).