Back to my 2nd home

So it's been over 2 years since I was last in Los Angeles. Whilst I have absolutely loved being back in London, it's fair to say I have missed the massive smoggy sprawling urban landscape that I called home for 6 months...

The flight from Mexico was ok, but the plane wasn't nearly as nice as the one down from New York. No individual TV screens and a pretty ropey meal. We didn't land at the International terminal, but at Terminal 2, so immigration was the quickest ever at LAX. From getting off the plane to getting in my hire car was 45 minutes. Amazing!!! If only every journey could be that smooth

I thought picking up the hire car was going to be a nightmare when I saw 7 people waiting outside in the empty 'M' section, waiting for their mid size cars, but being a Blue Chip (Thrifty Loyalty Card) member has it's benefits, and the first car out of the garage was mine! 

I rushed down to the ocean to get a glimpse of the beauty before sunset and it was as wonderful as ever. I love the Pacific. It's just so damn big!

I was staying on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Redondo Beach for 3 nights. The town is one of the beach towns down on the South Bay, right before the headland juts out for Palos Verdes. I liked the small beach towns down there. Hotels are cheaper than Santa Monica, and they have this very quiet nice vibe to them. 

I picked up my friend from the airport later on that evening and we settled in for an early night before exploring the coast the next day.

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We were due to meet friends of mine for lunch in Malibu at 12noon, so we got an early start on the PCH and headed north, driving through the beach towns, through the airport, on the edge of Venice Beach and Santa Monica and up to Malibu. We went straight past our lunch date and headed further up north, where the massive houses melt away and leave just rolling jaggedy hills plunging down into the ocean. 

Of course we enjoyed the scenery a bit too much and spent too long heading north, so we were a bit late for our lunch date! But eating by the ocean is a super thing to do in LA, and I thought the food and service at Moonshadows was pretty good! 

We then drove all the way back round the bay to explore Redondo a bit more, checking out the beach and the sunset whilst we waited for 2 more friends to join us later that evening...