Beautiful picture, Amy. I've been to Los Angeles twice (1984 and 1996), and I do remember Venice from the second trip. :-) Although we get our fair share of beautiful sunsets over here in Germany, we probably don't get as many of them as you do...

Thanks, Rainer. Every now and then, while living here, I feel like somebody's going to turn to me and say, "Your vacation's over, young lady!" and send me back to Michigan.

Matt Welch spoke on Thursday at Zocalo and talked about how people in his new home of Washington D.C. go on about the cherry blossoms. They are NOTHING compared to the jacarandas in bloom. Sorry no picture of those.

Actually, here's one:

http://gobedelighted.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html

Although this guy isn't quite so thrilled by their leavings.

I live in AZ and I gotta say while that is a nive picture, I despise palm trees out here.

They attrack scorpians roaches and flying rats, I mean pidgeons, they suck up far too much water cause a humidity spike as they moisture is baked out of them and they provide no shade what so ever.

And while Im on a rant I hope that the moron who thought pine trees in the desert makes for good landscaping was beaten to death as slowly and pianfully as possible

> They are NOTHING compared to
> the jacarandas in bloom.

Word, sister.

Loojy may be right about the palms. There's something about them that seems unresponsive and aloof during heat waves and such. The only expression you get from them is when a frond flies off in a Santa Ana wind and dents the hood of your car.

I'm going to be visiting L.A Thursday-Monday.

Any suggestions on sights to see, restaurants, funky shopping areas, etc.?

(I don't really like seafood and am on a budget!!)

Thanks :-)

> I don't really like seafood

You SAVAGE! STAY HOME!

(Ahem)

Go to lunch at the Getty Center in the Sepulveda Pass. No entrance fee, but parking is $5. There are three tiers of eatin': Fine dining, upscale cafeteria and lunch counter (and snack kiosks too).

Go to Farmer's Market, 3rd and Fairfax.

Make your date buy you dinner at any of the several elegant beachfront hotels.

Dress down and go to Venice beach.

Bring sunglasses. It's not that we'll be angry if you don't look cool, but it's going to be very bright.

At the Farmer's Market, eat (or have a glass of wine and some cheese or foie gras) at the counter at Monsieur Marcel's, in the back, on the right, if you're entering from Fairfax.

Walk/shop along Main Street, Santa Monica. Not so funky but fun.

Funkier but not affordable: Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Have pizza at Abbot's Pizza on Abbot Kinney at California. Bargain gourmet lunch: Joe's Restaurant, the prix fixe special.

Funky shopping area - Silverlake area, but stick to Vermont Ave, or you'll be lost for the rest of your life.

If you're not averse to such things, enjoy very reasonably priced beers and burgers and watch the sunset over Malibu at On the Waterfront Cafe on the north end of the Venice Boardwalk. Happy hour is 6-8, but get there by 5:30 to get a table on the boardwalk.

Even though it's LA, nights can be cool. Extra light layers help.

Other funky shopping areas: Sunset blvd east of Vermont, on and off until about Alvarado. Melrose ave. west of La Brea.

Lived there for most of my life have been on East coast last fourteen years. Have Daily cravings for Tommy's Chili Burgers, and San Pedros tacos. There are a few Tommy's though Xemino and 7th in Long Beach is the only location I can think of off of the top of my head. San Pedro's is in Hawaiian Gardens on Carson St. across from the Casino. Be careful neither are the nicest of neighberhoods. But well worth the trip. Unless your looking for healthy food then I can't help you.

Awesome - thanks guys! Can't wait. So psyched, first time to west coast.

Very understandable, Gretchen.

Let me give you a short travel report that hopefully won't turn into a sneak preview of yours:

When I arrived in L.A. in 1984, I hadn't slept for about 44 hours straight because I could neither sleep the night before nor on planes, trains and automobiles. (My all time high before and after, by the way.) On the bus from LAX to Anaheim I started hearing voices whenever I closed my eyes for about 10 seconds (no kidding.) Even more surreal: The bus rode some straight highway for at least an hour without the landscape of concrete buildings ever changing. (You just can't do that in Europe: When you leave an airport and go straight ahead from town to town, you see something green very soon. As I said: Surreal.) And as soon as we left the bus about 4 hours after our plane had landed, I saw fireworks in front of me.

No explanation. Two days without sleep and I began to see fireworks.

I had to ask my traveling mate if he saw it too. He confirmed. (We hadn't heard of the daily fireworks at Disneyland around closing time yet.)

When we had found a motel for the night, we went straight to bed, of course.

And. I. couldn't. sleep.

At least not for another hour. (Years later, I had to think of that experience when I first saw the movie "Fight Club".) Two or three trips to the window where I could see the Anaheim Convention Center as clear as a hallucination, plus watching TV, finally did the trick.

Have a nice trip! ;-)

Rainer - hopefully my experience will be a little less traumatizing. I'm flying into lax and taking the SuperShuttle back to my friend's apt. I'm just excited for a little warmth from the sun. Boston's been on the chilly side lately.

All of New England has been on the chilly side lately. This is May, ferpetesakes; we should be wandering around in shorts and flip flops, deciding what to do first this weekend - beach or barbeque, or how about a barbeque on the beach - not wearing jackets and boots and carrying umbrellas everyfrigginwhere!
Gretchen, have a safe, fun, fantastic trip!

@Gretchen: I must say that the rest of the trip was just wonderful. I even fell in love about three days later. (Very deeply, by the way.) Turned out to be one of the greatest traveling experiences of my life.

Have a beautiful trip, Gretchen, soak up the sun, and when you come back, ask me which strange thing happened on my way to L.A. during the second trip in 1996. I mean, apart from accidentally meeting that wonderful girl again. (No, I could sleep on the plane this time, but...)

All of New England has been on the chilly side lately.

Tell me about it. I've got $6,000 worth of rolling stock sitting idle in my garage because it's no fun riding in 60 degree temperatures with a 15 mph headwind.

Try standing under a waterfall in the Utah mountains at 3 in the morning during a february snowstorm.

Quickest 50 bucks I ever made.