During the first week of being here, we were taken on quite a few trips to see the LA area and to amuse us before school started. We went to Santa Monica on the 16th September which was a lovely sunny Saturday. I think Santa Monica is one of my favourite places that I've visited so far. A couple of blocks in lands from the beach is the 3rd Stree promenade where there are lots of cool shops and cafes and things. The trip to Santa Monica was the first time I had been back in a proper city with cafes, trendy shops and lots of people around since arriving in Riverside so it was really nice to be back in civilisation again.

This was a group shot of all of the international students who went on the trip. They were mostly grad students from India and China. Only a handful were exchange students.


These were the poor people who had to hang out with me all day (hahahah). From left to right: Andreas, Laura, Javier, Ronaldo, Yours Truly and Caroline. Amelie was behind the camera.


The famous Santa Monica Pier from a distance...


The view from the esplanade

This is the view looking in the opposite direction to the pier. Imagine owning a house right on the beach!!


Forrest Gump fans back home, this one's for you...that's right...Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.


The pier was quite cool, lots of food stands, a small fun park and loads of touristy stuff.


This was the view of the beach from the pier, was quite a busy day as the weather was really nice.


BOO!Tourists again...

The famous ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier.

We decided to walk down to Venice Beach which is the next beach down south, which leads on to Marina Del Rey - sorry Josh...but you should have looked at a map!


Venice Beach! We finally got here after walking for what seemed like ages. We passed lots of topless runners and people on rollerblades and bikes. Lots of bronzed, muscly bodies...


Venice beach had lots of little stalls that sold all sorts of paraphenalia. More interesting than that were the people who actually manned the stalls, they were...uh, interesting to say the least. There were also lots bag ladies who enjoyed muttering to themselves, and one that we came across that looked like an Orc.

Frolicking in the water.
Amelie has an aversion to having her photo taken, but has no problem taking our photos, so I decided to take a photo of her taking a photo.


Running Baywatch stylie on the beach...minus the red swimsuits and the little red buoy tucked under the arm.The lifeguard shacks that are scattered along the coast. See the red buoy hanging off the roof?


Andreas - this is what I meant by the t-shirt hat thing that the Brazilians are so fond of.

The sunset at Santa Monica. Really quite beautiful, then you turn around and trip over a homeless person sleeping on the esplanade.


The pier at night all lit up.