Archive for June, 2011

This was my parents last weekend here in LA. After having a nice shopping trip yesterday I decided that my parents had to do something Sightseeing related today. The weather in LA was amazing the whole weekend, so it was out of the question that we had to be outside. After browsing the internet for a bit I made up the plan to go behind the Hollywood sign and show my parents a little of LA from a higher point of view.

We found a cool spot to start our little Hollywood sign mountain hike on the internet and hopped in the car to drive up to 3350 Deronda Drive, from where you can enter the paved way that leads you all the way around the mountain behind the most famous letters in the world. Flo and I hadn’t been there before, so it was a new and excited hike for us, too. The hike up to the sign normally should take about 30 minutes, but we made a lot of stops to enjoy the view over West Hollywood, Downtown, the Griffith Observatory, Burbank and Forrest Lawn Cemetery.

Even if the photo opportunity more likely is the Hollywood sign from a little far away, you should definitely walk up there when you have some time in LA. The view over the city is breathtaking, the hike up there is really pretty and you also get to see some wildlife like eagles, lizzards and maybe some coyotes!

The best spots in a city are mostly always the ones that you can’t find in any tourbook, but you have to kind of find by yourself or by accident. We found one of these secret gems a few weeks ago by driving by a sign for it. It’s the West Hollywood Farmer’s Market, that is taking place every Thursady evening on a little hill in the back of the Magic Castle Hotel.

It’s a tiny, tiny Famer’s Market that is organized by a restaurant it’s in front of and it attracts a real relaxed, mixed and cool crowd. The market offers one of the best views over LA as well as amazing food, music and basically just a good time. We were really surprised to find this secret, relaxed gem in the middle of crazy, busy Hollywood and find it really relaxing to go their after work, buy some great vegetables, tasty Tacos and just enjoy the amazing view.

We took my parents there this Thursday and I think they were surprised as we were about how cute this place is. It’s something that you just don’t expect to find in the middle of LA. But that actually is what makes it really worth visiting!

We took total advantage of the beautiful state we life in this weekend. The first reason for that was my parents being in town. The second was that I needed to get back in the sun so bad. I haven’t seen a lot of sun lately, because I’ve been sick and the weather hadn’t been at it’s best behaviour lately.

So this weekend we decided to get out and enjoy the weather and beautiful California. I bought myself a bike this week, so our plan for Saturday was doing a little bike tour down at the beach. We rented bikes for my parents and rode them from Huntington Beach to Newport Beach. The weather was amazing, the beach was crowded but super nice and we strolled through Huntington a bit after our bike ride.

Today we had some bigger plans. We had bought Whale Watching tickets for this Sunday and so drove all the way down to Dana Point to watch some sealife live! We made a little stop in Laguna first and showed my parents our secret spot in the Laguna Hills, which offers you an amazing view down to the coast. Afterwards we drove to Dana Point, got on the cruise ship and spend a good two hours out on the sea. We sadly didn’t get to see any whales, but hundreds of dolphins that put on quite a show for our ship which made the trip more than worth the money!

It always amazes me like hell to discover the beauty of California all over again and I already have thousands of activities planned for this summer!