Downtown wasn't really my favourite place in LA so I want to dedicate this post to the Arts District (which is a part of Downtown LA). I still included a couple of pictures from the Financial District and Walt Disney Concert Hall because people always say that this is what you'll have to see in LA. I didn't really like it that much there, to be honest. But don't get me wrong, I think it's all really beautiful and there are quite a few impressive buildings but after all it's still the Financial District with skyscrapers, busy people and stuff.

We started our day at the Grand Central Market. We wanted to go there for lunch because about 10 different uber drivers suggested to go there. Unfortunately it was so crowded, there were no seats anywhere and it was kinda dirty too. I'm sure the food is nice, if you like fast-food and eating on the go but I really prefer sitting down and having a meal with someone where it's a bit more quiet and relaxing, you know what I mean?

Very hot and kinda hangry, we went up the stairs that you can see behind Tobi in the picture below. And all of a sudden the vibe of the city completely changed. It was a lot cleaner and prettier there and since we were still so hungry we got something at Starbucks because that's the first place we saw (and I'm really not fun when I'm hungry).

Walt Disney Concert Hall

OUE Skyspace

Sugarfish

After a stroll through the city we wanted to visit the OUE Skyspace. It has the best view over LA and even a pretty scary glass slide. Unfortunately it was really crowded and busy and so we decided to take a couple of pictures because the building was even really beautiful from downstairs. Later on we had lunch at sugarfish. Seriously, best sushi ever! You can order a menu and they will serve you a couple of fresh pieces of sushi. I'm getting really hungry writing this and seeing that picture above. It's pretty expensive but so worth it.

Arts District

In the afternoon we went to the Arts District. I think this might be one of my favourite places in LA. After Venice of course. Nothing beats the Venice vibe. But the Arts District has its own very special, chilled, artsy (obviously) and relaxed vibe. There are a lot of warehouses and industrial buildings which have been transformed into shops, cafés and offices. The street art is also amazing. I guess you could say it's the Shoreditch of LA. We visited a couple of little boutiques, design and art shops, had some random but great conversations with interesting strangers and had some pretty great coffee. But the best thing that happened to us was seeing a Shiba Inu meeting. There were about 10 puppies behind the truck in the last image. This literally made my day.

 

I have already been back for two weeks and my final uni year has also started. The annual autumn stress makes me want to think about our wonderful time in LA even more. Since I have about 10.000 pictures I thought I would only share some of the highlights with you, categorised in locations. So here it is, my first LA travel photo diary - or whatever you wanna call it. Let's start with my absolute favourite place, Venice.

We stayed in a Venice Beach house for the entire two weeks of our travel. In the morning we would get up and take the bikes to the beach and have breakfast there. Honestly, this is how I want to wake up everyday. The sun, the sea and the positive vibe of that place just calm me down and make me truly happy. Whenever we didn't get something at Erewhon (which rarely happened) we would go out for lunch or dinner. And here are a couple of my favourite Venice restaurants and cafés. In case you'll ever go there or just want to read about food.

The Butcher's Daughter

The Butcher's Daughter

Good vibes is the only term that sums up this place. Especially when you get there early in the morning because then it's not as busy. Definitely get the surfer's breakfast (burrito), the avocado toast or the açai bowl. Most of the dishes are vegan and some are vegetarian. You will also get a great view of Abbot Kinney Blvd and all the dogs walking by.

Café Gratitude

I love Gratitude. There is one in Venice, Beverly Hills, Hollywood and the Arts District. We went to all of them (except for the Arts District one - no idea why though). Venice is definitely my favourite one and the one in Beverly Hills is, well just kinda Beverly Hills you know. But they all have the same menu and I'm still craving the açai bowl aka vivid. The names of the dishes are adjectives and when you order, the waiter / the waitress would say "you are vivid". And there is also a question of the day which you can think about for yourself like "what inspires you". Oh and everything is plant-based there. I honestly love this place.

Gjelina

Kinda hyped but such a calm and beautiful place. Some of you might know this place as the restaurant from the Netflix show Flaked. I was fascinated by the wooden interior and also this place smells so good. Most of the people order a couple of dishes to share. This is great since everything on the menu sounds so delicious. We had the pizza and it's actually one of the best ones I had in LA.

Abbot's Pizza Company

Speaking of pizza, this place has a salad pizza that is actually topped with green salad and LOADS of avocado. It's so good. But the restaurant is more like a takeaway place. It has limited seating and is not so pretty inside but it's the pizza that counts, am I right?. We ordered a large one and watched AHS apocalypse at the apartment. Perfect night.

Gjelina

This now sounds like all we did was eat, which is not (entirely) true. I also enjoyed shopping on Abbot Kinney Blvd because there are a lot of great individual boutiques and local fashion and design shops. I have already shown you some of my Venice purchases on Instagram but you will definitely see more in the next couple of posts.

We spent most of the sunsets on the beach. In the evening we would go to the skatepark and just sit there, watch and really absorb the unique vibe. Then we would just sit on the beach with all the birds to experience the most beautiful sunsets we had ever seen. The sky above the ocean looks as if it was painted in every possible yellow and orange shade. Once you turn around and see the palm tress and the moon you will see pink, purple and blue colours. It's the most inspiring colour palette I've ever seen in real life.

The palm trees and the colours of the sky alone make me miss this place a lot. We both have fallen in love with Venice and it won't be long until we come back. And then I don't know if I'm coming back.