What better way to kick off my “love” month than with five things about my favourite place on Earth?
I am back from a rather short trip to Los Angeles, where I was on a not-so-secret mission with Emily. As usual, I packed a lot of things in a limited amount of time and so I figured I would share some of my L.A. favourites with you. It isn’t all cafés and restaurants, this isn’t a Los Angeles city guide (but if you want one, by all means click on the link). Today, I wanted to tell you about five things in L.A. that make me love my life. My list doesn’t end at 5, but I figured 5 million things would make this post a little too long. So here goes nothing:
Locally Produced Goods
There are so many lovely little boutiques dotted around in Silver Lake, Arts District and Venice that sell locally made products. From fragrances to home goods, clothes and stationary, the L.A. design scene is vibrant and well represented. This makes for very inspiring shopping trips!
Nature, Everywhere!
Despite being a sprawling megalopolis monster town, Los Angeles is filled with nature – flowers, palm trees, cacti, of course, but also proper lunar wilderness with mountains in the backdrop and many parks to lose yourself into. Horse riding in Griffith Park is an experience you won’t forget!
Awesome Coffee
When you travel to California from Europe, you will suffer from jetlag. I am a total wuss when it comes to it and so I need a daily caffeine drip to keep me alive. Thankfully, there are many places to cater to my needs with the added bonus of great people watching. A list of my favourites is in my L.A. Guide.
Incredible Architecture
I already wrote about the Stahl House, aka Case Study House #22… Well there are other case study houses in Los Angeles, plus a host of mind-blowing architect abodes dotted around town. Make sure you get in your car and go driving around in the Hollywood Hills, around Los Feliz and in the back streets of Venice to fulfil all your house porn fantasies.
Driving!
Well… Being driven around, really as I can’t drive. But I love observing the city from a car window. It is so big, so colourful and there is something really contemplative about it. One of my greatest pleasures is to listen to my favourite songs while sitting in the back of an Uber, feeling the breeze on my face. I love the video below, by Petra Collins for COS, it sums it up perfectly.
If you are planning on travelling to Los Angeles in the future, I suggest looking on , which is one of Europe’s largest online travel agents. I always check their site first as they offer a huge selection from over 250 airlines, 110 000 hotels worldwide and car hire from most of the major international brands – this generally makes booking decisions much easier, for me at least! They offer rewards on flights and hotels too with their Bonus+ programme, which means each time you travel, you gather points towards your next trip – it helps a lot when you like to travel.
The site also offers advice to travellers which I like to check regularly. The site has been around for a while and the company goes back 20 years, so you can go right ahead and trust my advice here!
My favourite airlines on the London to Los Angeles route are: American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand – flights to L.A. start at around £470 return off peak
