another perfect day

i first visited la several years ago when a best girlfriend of mine was living there. it was a great trip: we shopped at the grove and robertson blvd, saw a movie at the arclight, a diane arbus exhibit at lacma, and a great old 97's show at the troubador. on two subsequent visits over the next few years, my friend and i visited the getty, wandered montana avenue in santa monica, took a drive to malibu, and spent an afternoon in silver lake. the weather was nearly perfect every time i visited. once it was raining on the day i arrived, but we went straight to a movie, and as we were walking out, the rain stopped and a rainbow broke through the clouds. seriously. needless to say, after three visits i was hooked. i loved the weather, the proximity to the ocean, the distinct neighborhoods, the cool vibe, the wide openness of it. 

however, one thing i had never experienced was a trip to la with my travel compadre-my husband, ken. so last summer when i got wind of an upcoming show at the hollywood bowl featuring two of our favorite performers, neko case and the national, i knew i had to make it happen. we debated for weeks about where to stay and finally settled on a part of la i'd never been to: venice beach. venice turned out to exceed my expectations: each of our three mornings there, we woke early and got coffee to take with us on a boardwalk stroll. in the early morning, the seediness factor of the boardwalk is quite low; most of the people out are surfing, running, shooting hoops, or skating in the bowls that are built right on the beach. venice is a very walkable area: we walked through the canals, up and down the quite chic abbot kinney blvd., and even meandered all the way to santa monica along the beach. 

other than the show, we did have some specific goals for the trip: find a banksy, eat some great food, and check out some landmark homes. our first banksy-hunting adventure took us to a light industrial area of compton. after circling the same few blocks for half an hour, i finally spotted the very top of the painting we were in search of on a warehouse wall. we could see that it was behind plexiglass, but the very tall fence it was behind offered almost no visibility. when that didn't work out, we drove to watts to check out the watts towers, and i am so glad we did. what an unusual, beautiful edifice. luckily we did find a banksy later in the trip, right in the middle of beverly hills.

by far my favorite food of the trip was at son of a gun and gjilena. gjilena is one of the more beautiful restaurants i've been to-one of those places in which i think, okay, i'll just spend the rest of the trip here. we also visited intelligentsia coffee on abbot kinney several times and even stopped in at the one in silver lake as well.

our visit to the richard neutra vdl II house right across from the silver lake resevoir was a highlight of the trip for me. the cal poly pomona architecture student who gave us the tour of the house did a fantastic job and really translated neutra's passion and innovation for the causal admirer.

then there was the show. the hollywood bowl is the most intimate gigantic venue i've ever been to. somehow i didn't know about the picnic option, though. next time i'll be prepared.