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Day 2. Alycia and I on our own today as the 2 boys flew out to Austin, Texas for some Rodeo action, while we're off to Vancouver, Canada tomorrow. We had every intent of driving the boys to the airport this morning but with them needing to leave the airport at 7.15am and our jet lag/limited sleep across the previous 36 hours... we bailed on them and asked if they'd be okay to take a cab! They were ok with that so we went back to sleep and woke up at around 10.30! Felt good though. We then made our way to Stumptown Roasters, a boutique coffee roasting shop Alycia had been told of. After almost breaking up again due to her terrible navigating/communication and my stress levels raised by driving on the 'wrong' side of the road, we got there. Was a cool atmosphere there and they had cold pressed coffee on tap which was something a little different - but nice! After the coffee we made our way to sunset boulevard and afterwards went up to Runyan Canyon. We went passed a few of those Hollywood tour buses on the way up to the Runyan Canyan park, as well as some massive houses so assume it was the area with all of the celebrity homes. Once we got there, went for a hike around the Canyan which tested my already shaky feelings for heights but had some amazing views around LA including the Hollywood sign and the valley. After that we drove back to the hotel, freshened up and made our way out to Misfit for dinner. It was a restaurant/cocktail bar where the kitchen was opened late, thankfully, as we didn't get there until around 9.30 and we were on a waiting list for about an hour after that, a wait which seemed to be fairly common in Santa Monica. In the mean time we stood at the bar and tried a couple of their signature cocktails (we drank responsibly, mum). We were then seated in a nice corner seat and ordered mussels, lobster sliders and Brussel sprouts. Was cheaper than it sounds! Was all delicious, especially and surprisingly the Brussel sprouts. After we finished up there made our way to the Pier, ordered a chuross (for me) and had a bit of a wander. Tried to get on the roller coaster but we just missed last tickets so played a few arcade games instead, where Alycia proceeded to whoop me. My machine was clearly malfunctioning. Gave our tickets won to some kid and made our way back to the accommodation. Tomorrow: Canada!
Santa Monica Accommodation: we stayed both nights at a place on the beach called "The Beach House". Great location. Was a cozy little one bedroom studio type apartment with kitchen and bathroom. It felt like an old beach house renovated and split up into about 4 apartments with common sun beds and outdoor spa. The rooms had aged a bit since that renovation but was comfortable and had character.
Was sad to see the poverty in Santa Monica and other parts of LA. You'd see one guy reach into a garbage bin and pull out some food and eat it and as you'd keep walking you'd see another guy doing the same but to no avail - obviously hitting the same bins a bit too late after the first guy we saw. There were homeless people everywhere. You'd see mother and daughter pushing their belongings along the sidewalk. Beggers everywhere. All very sad.
On that note the buskers were very very talented but not sure they were homeless.
The smog is next level there. Traffic is also intense. Which obviously go hand in hand. 5 lanes going each way.. So 10 lanes of solid traffic.
Nothing particularly inspiring architecturally from the parts we saw
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