MONKEYING AROUND ON SANTA MONICA BEACH

DAY 2: LA; Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, Hollywood

The weather looked much better when we woke up from our 10 hour sleep this morning only for it to revert to cool and overcast again by the time we finished breakfast.

We then decided to check out our local surroundings and strolled the four miles or so from Santa Monica Beach to Venice Beach and back. On Santa Monica Beach Jen challenged me to a go on the monkey rings (the swinging rings like on Gladiators). Jen did really well. I did not. I put this down to lack of hand chalk availability and an inability to swing from one ring to another.

Although the beaches were really nice, and massive, the beachfronts were so dated, just like the infamous Santa Monica Pier. Jen had her photo taken inside Forest Gump's shoes outside the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and then we sourced some coffee whilst watching a local volleyball team train on the beach.

The guidebooks tell you about the 'freaks' in Venice Beach and they're not wrong. It's like a weirdo Mecca, all having conversations with themselves and singing to each other. Needless to say we exited quickly, via the Muscle Beach gym. By the way, the only muscles we saw were on this big guy who had arms like cannons. Shame he didn't pay as much attention to his gut as that was like a barrel.

The plan was to spend today on the beach and work on the much needed tan but as Mother Nature had other ideas we decided to venture off to check out Beverly Hills and Hollywood. What a totally different place this was. We felt so underdressed just being there let alone trying to get passed a doorman to get into a shop.

We parked ourselves outside a café to do a bit of people watching. This trampy looking guy decided to steel some leftovers from the person who was sat behind me, but then didn't look too impressed with what was on offer so he left it and just took the drink. Fussy!

The wealth of the people in the Rodeo Drive area is ridiculous, but isn't it funny that the more money people have the more tasteless they become. And as for the plastic surgery, I think I saw more people that looked worse off for it. Smacked arse comes to mind.

It was then time for a legendary cupcake from Sprinkles. Jen had the classic Red Velvet, I went for the Vanilla Cream. WOW!!! I had to give it 10 out of 10, although post-sugar hangover it had to be downgraded to a nine.

We then went in search of the Hollywood sign which is quite a trek from BH. Incidentally, LA without a car just isn't possible. We decided to drive around some of the spectacular neighbourhoods in the Los Feliz hills which were amazing. So many different houses all really unique in their own way, but where we were they were really packed in tight.

The weather then took a turn for the worse and we endured a two hour drive back to Santa Monica during rush hour, made a lot easier by the thumping tunes played by Amp FM.

For dinner, we sampled a local restaurant over the road called Upper West and I'm glad we did. Not only did we discover posh cheesy chips (melted stilton on French fries - you gotta try it) but also Jen tried roasted corn soup which was spectacular. I had one of the top five burgers in LA - apparently. Although it was really nice, I'd love to know who decides on these things, with nearly every food establishment claiming something similar. Highly recommend this restaurant though, on Pico Boulevard just before you get to the Santa Monica Freeway overpass (from Santa Monica). Well fed it was time to turn in.