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We travelled early in the morning to try and miss the traffic. The weather was very hot already. Looking forward to seeing the sea and beach of Santa Monica. We intend to walk the boardwalk to Venice beach. I had to get onto the Santa Monica freeway which was really heavy with traffic. The freeway was scary. The cars were weaving everywhere and I had three near misses. Madness.... Eventually neared Santa Monica us and the car in one piece. Missed the turning to downtown but then found that we had arrived opposite the pier. The view of the sea was break taking. Managed to cross the road no drive into a car park right on the beach by the pier. Awarded myself ten out of ten for driving and Martin ten out of ten for navigation. The cost of parking $14 for the day. I wore my slightly hippy tie dye dress which I thought would suit the location. We walked up to the pier and the views were wow wow wow. This was a very long golden sand beach which stretched for miles. Behind it were the Sanata Monica mountains rising high and thePacific Oceon was very blue. Looking for breakfast matin knew of a place called Coras coffee house which had very good reviews. This was a short walk a block behind the beach front. We found this quickly and were able to be seated under cover of some overhead Vines outside. Martin had blueberry pancakes and I had a bowl of fruit. Wished I had the pancakes yum yum. Coffee finished the meal. Refreshed we decided to start the walk along the boardwalk.
The boardwalk is not wooden but a large concrete path that winds by the side of the beach. Part of it is given over to cyclists and roller skaters and it looked just like the movies. Cafes and hotels lined the side. The walk is approximate,y a mile and the temperature was now hitting ninety. Lots of water.
The beach had lifeguards huts along it very bay watch. Started to see a few homeless who had set up alongside the boardwalk. They had trolleys filled with stuff and Canopys over them, as we neared Venice beach they were all along the side. Some with placards and some selling CDs . There was even a piano. One sign said " s***ty advice given" you had to feel sorry for them but the smell was quite bad.
The nearer we got to Venice beach the worse it got. From just a few there were literally hundreds. On the left side of us the nice cafes and hotels had turned into shanty shops selling the worst type of tat ever. Imagine your worst market stall and the more. I had imagined craft stuff and totnes type of hippy style but this was quite different and slightly threatening. We had to have a stop as my feet were failing. Found a cafe that did not look too bad. We ordered two large fresh orange juices that cost over $5 dollars. Each. When they came the cups were tiny. Still my feet recovered and we made it last. No air con so still quite hot. Attached to the cafe was bizarrely a book shop. We went in and it was like stepping into another world from outside. Had a good look but I am using my kobo now so it would have to be a special book for me to buy it. Leaving the shop we decided that we did not want to walk to Venice pier but to return to Santa Monica. There was a big blue bus that seemed to shuttle between the two places. Walked inland and found one. It cost one dollar each to get to Santa Monica. Bargain. Very glad to escape the dirt of Venice. Even at the bus stop was a homeless lady laid on a bench with her cart.
The bus took us quickly to Santa Monica and civilisation. We decided to try some of the shops which I had heard were very good. The shops were spread across lots of streets set behind the beach covering many blocks. It was like many princes shays joined up. Saw lush, Apple, and other posh ones. We stopped at a booth in the middle which sold refreshments and had free wifi. We had two Italian ice creams which cooled me down and tasted yummy. Moving on came to yet another very large bookshop called Barnes and noble. A bit like borders that was in the UK. Nice and cool in there so browsed for a little while.
We made our way back to the pier and walked the length of it. The pier is the end of Route 66 and there is a sign there. The views from the end were stunning. In the middle was a fun fair with a big wheel. We went on this and had suburb views. Instead of a seat the big wheel had round pods. Needing food we went to Rustys Shack on the pier.
We had pineapple and pulled pork burger and I had a simple burger with chips. Great and went down well. The time was now late afternoon and we went on the beach and sat. I put my toes in the sea but it was as cold as teignmouth sea. The sun was starting to cool.
We decided to leave so I would not have to drive in the dark. The freeway was less busy although an accident on the other side had caused hundreds of vehicle to stack up. The freeway has stacks which mean multiple roads converging. Managed to get back to LA in one piece before the sun set. Back to the hotel and sleep.
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