Day 21: Tuesday 8 April - Venice Beach and Farewell USA, by Ken

We awoke early on our last day in the United States. That wasn’t a bad thing as we wanted to maximise our time at Venice Beach before heading to LAX to fly to Europe. Before we got to the beach we had to pack, load up the car and find breakfast.

My left eye had started tearing up over dinner last night. Possibly the hot curry, I thought. However by this morning there were a lot more tears, my eye was very sore and sensitive to light. It was particularly bad in bright sunlight and, while sunnies helped, it was difficult to see out of that eye. That didn’t stop me heading off into LA’s morning rush hour traffic, but it didn’t take long before it was obvious I had to get some medication for my eye. Just as I mentioned to Jane that I needed to find a pharmacy I spotted a sign for a drive-in pharmacy ahead (I never knew such things existed!). While there was a window very much like a McDonald’s drive-through, there wasn’t a helpful assistant waiting to take my order and asking if I wanted fries with it. Moving on from the drive-through I parked and went in to look for a pharmacist. He was very helpful confirming my thoughts that I needed anti-biotic eye drops which was good news, the bad news was he was unable to dispense such drops without a prescription. I therefore needed to find a doctor. He suggested I go to an emergency care facility, there was one not too far away, but not to a hospital as that could take the whole day.

Drive Thru Pharmacy

We found a medical centre that seemed to be in the area the pharmacist had directed us to. Rather than being an emergency care facility it appeared to be a large collection of consulting rooms. Nevertheless, having explained what I was looking for the man on reception suggested I should try Room 210. The receptionist there checked with a doctor and it was agreed he would see me within half an hour providing I paid his fee of US$175 beforehand. There was little choice in the matter and something over half an hour later I was ushered in to an empty consulting room, asked to take a seat and told the doctor would see me shortly. The only place to sit was an examination couch, so I stood. Ten minutes or so passed before a nurse came in and took my blood pressure before asking questions about height, weight, medications, allergies, etc. etc. The final question was “have you had a colonoscopy lately”, to which I replied, “no, but I think the problem is confined to my left eye.” My sense of humour wasn’t shared by the nurse. When I did get to see the doctor, he confirmed I had an eye infection and gave me a script for anti-biotic eye drops. Downstairs at the pharmacy, Jane was relieved of US$85 for a minute bottle of drops by an Aussie pharmacist who said he should have dispensed two bottles at twice the price, but suggested one would keep me going until I got to England. So I paid US$260 (NZ$310) for drops I could have got over the counter in a pharmacy in New Zealand for $15.

Our unscheduled diversion meant it was 11:00 am by the time we got to Venice Beach and we were hungry. We headed straight for Mercedes Grille which has good reviews for its breakfasts. Jane went for eggs benedict with fried potatoes while I had breakfast fahitas (scrambled egg with chilli beans) accompanied by refried beans and rice. 

My Healthy Breakfast

Meter Maid and Parker at Venice Beach

Our table was outdoors next to the pavement and while eating we were entertained by a female parking control officer (it was meter parking outside Mercedes) greeting and talking loudly to a motorist whom she obviously knew. The greeting was a hug and a kiss and part of their exchange revolved around the fact she was going on holiday generating a response along the lines of what was he going to do while she was gone? She suggested he found someone that looked like she did when she was younger. And there was lots of similar repartee.

Outside Mercedes After Breakfast

Surfer Seen From Venice Pier

After breakfast we took a walk to the end of the pier and back watching surfers (some quite elderly) and men fishing from the pier. After that we briefly considered hiring a tandem to ride along the cycleway at the back of the beach, but opted instead to take the broadwalk. That was a good call as we would have missed a lot of the sights we were able to take in during our leisurely walk northwards from the pier.

Seagull Venice Pier

Venice Beach

Cycleway - Venice Beach

House - Venice Beach

We were impressed by the variety of architectural styles of the homes and apartments fronting the beach during the early part of our walk. These soon gave way to shops selling mostly tacky souvenirs of Venice Beach. T-shirts dominated the offerings, but there were plenty of sunglasses, hats, bikinis posters, tattoos and lots more on offer.

Shops - Venice Beach

On the opposite side of the broadwalk to the shops was an eclectic collection of stalls some selling goods including paintings and painted miniature skulls (for which there didn’t seem to be a large demand). Others offered services such as henna body painting and tarot readings. Interspersed among the stalls were musicians playing everything from country and western to rock. 

Musicians - Venice Beach

Our favourite stall by far was the Lazy Dog Show featuring a dog wearing a bikini and sunglasses lying on its back sound asleep. For a dollar offering (tucked into the dogs bikini) you were allowed to stroke the dog which showed no reaction whatsoever.

The Lazy Dog Show

Star of the Show

Star Performance

CD Seller

At regular intervals along the broadwalk we came across West Indians selling home-made CDs of their reggae music. The more enterprising of these proffered headsets asking punters what they thought of the music. 

T-Shirt Seller

There was also one of their clan on roller skates selling hand printed T-shirts. The street sellers were as persistent as others we have come across in other parts of the world but, unlike their counterparts, once we said no they backed off straight away.

We also saw Muscle Beach with a few guys working out on machines and with weights.

Muscle Beach

There seemed to be a lot of homeless on the sea side of the broad walk, or near homeless judging by the decorated RVs parked there.

RVs at the Beach

Snake Going for a Walk

On our way back along the broadwalk we took a break in the shade of a tree and watched the passers by. Among them was a man and a woman taking a snake for a walk (we thought that topped the parrot we saw on a woman’s arm in France in 2012) and we saw the lazy dog going home sitting on a trailer hauled by its owner on a moped. 

Lazy Dog Going Home for Lunch

Off to His Open Home

Also cycling by was one of the guys we had seen sitting among the homeless, but he possibly he had somewhere to live because amongst his possessions in the trailer he was towing was a couple of Open Home signs. 

Near the end of our walk we came across a large crowd watching some street entertainers who were as quick witted as Captain Ryan in San Francisco. They got a young boy and girl from the audience and got them to perform some dance routines for which they each got paid $20. Reasons why the crown should contribute to the performers included “that way we won’t be in the poor house” and “we won’t be in your house picking up your DVD player and flat screen TV”.

Street Entertainers

Jane with Sean and Jean

Back at the car Jane, who likes to be in plenty of time for flights, wanted to head to the airport, but agreed the check-ins wouldn’t have opened at the time we would have arrived. Instead, we went to a nearby bar for a drink. There we met Sean and his mother Jean from Taupo who were in Los Angeles for a wedding.

SatNav got us painlessly to the Thrifty rental depot at the airport from where a courtesy bus dropped us at the Tom Bradley International terminal. I had read that the terminal is practically deserted late afternoon and early evening and that was the case for us. There was no queue at the Swiss International Airlines desk, but there was a long queue at security. That eased once a second screening station was opened and after removing shoes, belts and everything in our pockets we were each put in a full body scanner and passed as good to go. Jane was really pleased with our timing - we were in the Star Alliance lounge 3¾ hours before the flight was due to leave! The time passed quickly and it seemed no time at all after showering and changing, having a few drinks and nibbles that our flight was called at 19:00.

Swiss Seat - Bed Reclines Into Area Beneath TV Screen

Our opinions differed on how Swiss compares with Air New Zealand. On Swiss' A340 all seats face forward in either a 2-2-2 layout or 1-2-1 as alternate rows are offset such that legroom (and bed room) is provided under the storage areas of the seats in front. While both airlines give you a flat bed, those on Swiss are the seat which simply reclines until it is flat. Air NZ’s beds are the back of the seats which gives a softer bed. Also, Air NZ provide a thin mattress and a duvet, Swiss only provide a blanket. We both agreed the Swiss beds are cramped and claustrophobic compared with Air NZ’s but Jane felt it easier to watch a movie from a semi-reclined bed. We both agreed the TV screens are on the small side.

Leg and Bed Room Under Screen

Our dinner was slow in coming and the food not as good as Air NZ. And, most importantly, the wine selection was poor with no dessert wine or port to finish off our meal. But, as the cheese came with our starters, the lack of port was rather academic.

We watched movies as we ate. Once they finished Jane took a sleeping pill and we both settled down for the night.