A happy little bubble, Venice Beach is far removed from the fast-paced competition of the city
On the other edge of time, 12.5 hours behind India, Los Angeles is a heady cocktail of intense jet-lag and dazzling California sunshine. Between the glitz of skyscraper-crammed Downtown and the glamour of Hollywood, there is little room to experience that famous, laid-back California vibe.
In a city where the lines between real and reel life are blurred, aspirants harbouring celluloid dreams quite literally treat the world as their stage. From tour guides to waitresses, most people’s day job is actually their side gig, while evenings are spent at auditions, making show reels, and updating Instagram and YouTube channels in hopes of being noticed. Hopping from trendy cocktail bar to iconic restaurant, I quickly realise that while regular jobs are meant to pay the bills, starry-eyed hopefuls also use them as a platform to polish their act. Make-up and outfits are magazine worthy, and lines are delivered with precision and drama, even if it’s just reeling of the day’s specials.
So where do Angelenos go to let their hair down, I wonder. The answer: Venice Beach — a beachside LA district where the glitz and glam is replaced by the weird and the wonderful; where a purple mohawk-touting puppy is as commonplace as, well, a regular puppy. I head to the seaside resort town for a holiday from my holiday, joining tourists, artists, buskers, and magicians on the famously tolerant Venice Boardwalk. Clouds of marijuana smoke rise from street corners, the street art is irreverent, and the mix of people reflects the precinct’s quintessential ‘come as you are’ spirit.
Muscle Beach
A happy little bubble, Venice Beach is far removed from the fast-paced competition of the city. Here, surfers roll down the Pacific’s waves towards the beach where sun worshippers practise their yoga asanas. “Do you guys have yoga in India?” one asks me in all seriousness. Between the beach and the boardwalk is where flamboyance meets physicality: skateboarders show off their skills at the skate park’s deep pits and cyclists try stunts along the bike path, but most of the action plays out at the ‘Bodybuilding Hall of Fame’, Muscle Beach.
Best known as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home turf, the beachfront outdoor gym is equal parts tourist attraction and fitness ground. Buff bodybuilders pump iron while camera-toting tourists hover around for a selfie or five.
Schwarzenegger remains among Venice’s most famous sons. A testament to this is the giant mural of his likeness sporting nothing but tiny speedos. Street art in Venice embodies the district’s quirky, creative vibe, and often pays homage to its well-known exports. The Doors were formed in Venice Beach, where frontmen Jim Morrison and Ray Manzareck met. From High Rooftop Lounge, swathed in a blanket at sunset, I spot the famous bare-bodied Morrison mural. The edgy bar sits atop Hotel Erwin, one of Venice’s uber cool spots, where on check-in, I’m welcomed with a charcoal cocktail. Infusing edibles with activated charcoal is the newest food trend, and it’s no surprise that Venice’s establishments are already on the bandwagon.
Design shops
On-trend dining is a lifestyle in these parts, a phenomenon on display at the achingly hip Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Named the ‘coolest block in America’, the colourful stretch is crammed with chic design shops, street-art-splattered studios, and eateries that tap into the dining scene’s latest buzzwords.
I dip into the vegan lifestyle at Plant Food+Wine, one among Abbot Kinney’s many cool eateries, where my companions and I sit al fresco under an olive tree and dine on avocado toast and quinoa and kale plant bowls. The space is a microcosm of Venice Beach, drawing an eclectic crowd that is unafraid of expression: the fashion-forward, the edgy hipsters, and Edie the cocker spaniel, curled up under the next table, proudly wearing an entire bushel of lavender in her collar.