LA & the peripheral 🎨

Airports are so tedious. Why does no one ever include this in their holiday-10-pic-dump? So after five hours of waiting and lounging and crossing our fingers, we passed through Express Business and into the Koru lounge. I’m a first-time travel w*nker (flying business and skipping queues), and I love it. I do feel that my life as a public sector worker is not worthy of this experience and to be honest I am VERY blessed that my partner is a pilot.

The contrast of staff traveling by standby is that you’re kicked to the curb one minute, with no hope of a flight or seat and endless waiting (my adaptability as a teacher works wonders here). However once that initial period ends, and the seats have been glanced a thousand times over (by my meticulous partner), we start to ready ourselves for an actual chance at a cheap and wonderful holiday. One minute we were shivering outside, delirious after a five hour wait and feining nicotine after a couple vinos. The next, we are on the fast lane to the Koru lounge with champagne and mannerisms fit for the King. 

Here are my observations of Ventura California:

1. Humble coastal city (about 150,000 people)

2. San Buenaventura is the official name of the city. Very yummy Mexican restaurants. Most signage also has Spanish on it. I didn’t realise how close California is to Mexico, so it really puts things into perspective when old mate Trump wants to put a wall up… but the inherent population is Latino. The area is lively and has quite a surfer vibe to it. 

3. Quieter. Great harbour to walk on. 

4. Has a Spaniard/Catholic history and the original Mission Basilica was very cool. Obviously quite touristy because we had to pay to go to the Church. 

5. Santa Barbara was Greece in USA. Very stunning and picture-perfect to befit the people that live there (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle).

6. The best for LAST: ‘In and Out’ was sooo tasty and worth the hype. Maybe because I researched the secret menu on Tik Tok and I recommend you do the same. 

Now for the LA observations: 

1. We stayed in downtown LA for two nights, so I’m grateful to be alive writing this (LOL kidding, maybe). We stayed a few blocks from the infamous SKID ROW and it was a social shock of homelessness, addiction and grotty streets. I needed to see an area like this to know how BAD life is for some and that I am very spoilt and grateful. I love NZ even more now. I needed to keep my wits by me and avoid going out on the street once it got dark. I stood out like a tourist thumb.

2. HOT and humid. The concrete jungle was intense and I wished I had access to a pool, nonetheless everywhere has air con. 

3. West Hollywood is dirty. We obviously did the touristy thing; walked along the Hollywood stars and visited the Grammy Museum. It astounds me that 'Hollywood' is the epicenter of all film and TV but the underbelly is dark and impoverished. The streets are lined with people trying to make a quick buck with tarot readings, fruit stands, and souvenirs. Gum-trodden stars in the pavement are perhaps a euphemism to those living it up in Hidden Hills. 

4. The Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was INSANE. I cannot give enough praise to the wax artists and I'd like to know their secrets. Also is there a theory about inhumane figures which appear human, that is kind of scary? 

5. The Hollywood Sign at sunrise - do it.

6. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art needs its own segment. It was incredible in architecture and substance. I always find it interesting what art a country chooses as representation. A LOT of Picasso, art brut (raw art), surrealism, abstract expressionism and signage. Nothing on Native American-Indian Art though... like I said, I find it interesting what a country chooses as representation. One description struck me "Jean Dubuffet was the founder of art brut (raw art), a postwar movement premised on the idea that the most truthful, arresting art is made by individuals at the periphery of society and non-professionals such as children, prisoners, and psychiatric patients allegedly unburdened by cultural conventions and norms." Art by civilians matters: it is the most important and most authentic. 

My unsolicited advice: See the other side and come back with gratitude and a few extra kgs xx