City of Angels?

We pulled into the LA Bus station and I asked the guy there how to get to the airport (the crazy lady invited me to spend the day with her, but I was adamant that I had to check my bags in first thing, so maybe I’d see her at Santa Monica?) and he literally sighed, rolled his eyes, and told me, “You know, it’s very difficult. You have to catch like three buses”. First of all, I don’t know why he seemed so surprised at my question – you’d think every second person would ask him that. Secondly, catching three buses is not one of the most difficult things in life – compared to quitting smoking, raising a family or growing up, dealing with bus exchanges doesn’t really rate. Thirdly, he didn’t know what he was talking about, since it turned out that the trains were only a short bus ride away, providing you with transport directly to the (free) LAX airport shuttle. Nothing could be easier. Feckin’ eejit.

I checked in my bags about 14 hours ahead (my flight was at 22:30 that night, the cross-country red-eye flight) and set off to explore LA for the day. John, who had lived in LA three years, had advised me to spend my one day hanging out in Santa Monica and Venice Beach, which I proceeded to do. Things were looking up as I rode the bus out to Santa Monica, the sun was shining, I was in a new city, and I was on my way to the beach. By the time I actually got to Santa Monica however, it was gloomy, cold, and blanketed in mist. I walked along the boulevard, went down to the deserted beach where you couldn’t see the sea for the mist, and took in the strange juxtaposition of palm trees and fog. Nothing to see here, so I made my way on foot to Venice Beach which I heard would be covered in stalls, rollerbladers, lots of activity and people. That day it was completely deserted, not a soul to be found anywhere. In conjunction with the weather it made the scene more or less post-apocalyptic. There was absolutely nothing to see and do, so after a quick Indian meal at a local restaurant, I headed back to the airport to wait out the long nine and a half hours before my flight.