Christmas week in LA

We found ourselves back in LA for our last week of this amazing trip and decided that this is where we would be spending Christmas. We had originally planned to have a white Christmas in Tahoe but since that wasn't to be it was left to me to be the 'Christmas coordinator'. Christmas Eve went off without a hitch and we spent the afternoon at the Getty museum which is an amazing space set high up in the LA hills. Although it houses some beautiful 19th and early 20th century art my favourite thing about this place was the unique architecture, gardens, and view (overlooking Los Angeles). In the evening we went to see a movie in the pretty town of Westwood at the The Village Theater which opened in 1931 and is often used for movie premiers. We watched the movie 'Yes Man' which was really quite funny and much better than I was expecting. After the movie we headed to Church for the 10pm service (much better than waiting for midnight mass in my opinion). It was quite strange to be at a church where the priest had an American accent and the service was so formal, not what I'm used to at all. It was a lovely service though complete with a pipe organ and choir.


Christmas day was a little less organised unfortunately. I had planned a day of ice skating and movie watching but after waking up on Christmas morning to grey sky's and rainy weather my plans were foiled. Instead we spent the day driving around the abnormally deserted streets of LA. At night we visited the Grove with the intention of watching another movie, however it was sold out by the time we got there, so again my plans were foiled....I think Jack was beginning to wonder why he put me in charge by this point. We stood around watching the fountain and the Christmas tree trying to think of something to improve this day, when a Christmas miracle appeared, It began to snow! Snow in the middle of LA...could this be possible? I got my white Christmas after all, what a great way to end the day. OK so it was fake snow coming out of the roof tops but who cares!

After several attempts we finally spent one day skiing at Mount High. It took us ages to get there due to all the holiday traffic but it was well worth the wait. I hadn't been skiing for 12 years and it had been five years for Jack. While he was full of confidence I was a little more apprehensive. After my lesson though I remembered just how much fun skiing can be and I'm proud to say that I only fell over once it sux that it had to be in front of Jack but it was my first time on the chair lift so I can't complain. We both were feeling pretty tired by the end of the day and happy to head back to the hotel for some R&R.

The rest of the week was spent exploring Venice beach, catching up with Jack's friend Harry and his wife, and watching more movies.

LA is a pretty crazy city, its strange to me to see so much going on that the people just seem to ignore. Everyone just seems to go about their business with minimal interaction with the people around them. In the week we have been here we have seen some weird and crazy stuff. A man collapsed in Whole foods and people just ignored him and continued to shop and eat their dinner (paramedics were called). We saw one of the most outrageous car crashes where the front section of the car was completely cut off right up to the windscreen. Luckily no one was injured, however the guy in the car was in a bit of a daze. He managed to stop three lanes of traffic (including us) to pick up the scattered pieces of his car. I guess he figured if he survived that crash he must be invincible. We also walked passed a person lying face down in the bushes on the side of the road, again no one seemed to take any notice!

Aside from all the craziness LA does have a lot to offer and I'm glad that I got to spend some more time here and get to know what this city is all about. I think a lot of people come here and only see Hollywood and downtown and then decide they don't like it much. I guess it would be like coming to Sydney and only seeing Redfern and Kings Cross, and missing all the great things the city has to offer.

With only a few days left to go of this Vacation I'm starting to hear the warm Sydney weather call my name, don't let me down Sydney I need a tan!