After going to watch our basketball team play in the Big West tournament at the Honda Center, and also celebrating 3 birthdays in the previous week, on March 22nd we finally made the trip to Venice Beach, which certainly did not disappoint. It has a reputation for its cool and relaxed vibe and its weird and wacky street shows. It is definitely different to anywhere I have ever experienced before and is worth a visit. I'd really like to go back again. The boardwalk fulfilled expectations with its crazy atmosphere and this included not being able to escape the smell of weed, but I think that just became a part of the Venice experience! It was also very cool to see the world-famous Muscle Beach. It was just like the image created by its reputation, shirtless men everywhere!
I had read in my guidebook that there were men on rollerblades who went up and down the boardwalk playing electric guitars. I was excited to actually see one and take a photo. His quirkiness sums up Venice Beach! Another funny musical highlight from the day was repeatedly seeing a man who was playing baby reggae music, which he was trying to sell, walking up and down. It wasn't a mixture of songs, it was just reggae "Incy Wincy Spider" on repeat. We must have seen him about ten times that day, and that song remained stuck in my head for the rest of the day!
One of the things I loved most about Venice was the murals. Being very interested in art I always like to see new street art, and Venice certainly provided an abundance, variety and a lot of colour as shown in these photos below.
One of the street vendors' work:
Another highlight was seeing some dancers called the LA Breakers, they were pretty amazing at what they do and seemed to make a substantial amount of money from the crowd!
The next day I met up with family from Seattle who were down in California for Spring Break. Firstly, we went to Huntington Beach where there was a Beach Cruiser car show which was really interesting as you got to see cars as old as the first Fords. Here's a photo of a very beachy Volkswagen which had a straw roof, very Huntington Beach!
We looked around and spotted some local wildlife such as this bird, and then hung around on the beach for a while before heading to lunch.
After lunch we headed down the coast along Pacific Coast Highway to Mission San Juan Capistrano, which founded in 1776, has some of the oldest buildings in California and the oldest buildings I've seen since I got here! Missions were initially used to encourage Native Americans to practise Christianity and were the first real attempt by Europeans to colonise the region on the west coast. I loved finally seeing some history, it was very beautiful.
I love the not very enthusiastic slogan "Worth a Visit," but it definitely is:
The ruins of the "Great Stone Church," which was devastated by an earthquake in 1812:
The bells of the mission:
The mission is famous for its annual "Return of the Swallows." It is said that the swallows flock to San Juan Capistrano on March 19th every year.
The "Sacred Garden":
The Baroque altar of the Serra Chapel, which is the oldest building in California still in use:
That weekend was one to remember; I saw two completely opposite sides of California, one modern and crazy, the other traditional and with religious elements. It was great to spend it both with friends and family, and I'm grateful I got to see such interesting places.
Hope you enjoyed reading, 3 more catch up blog entries to follow! Next up Spring Break!
Jen
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