The second largest city in America, LA is famous for many places including Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice Beach.
But if you had to live somewhere let me recommend Beverly Hills. The average house price there is around $4 million.
That’s where you want to be.
That’s where you want to be.
But I’d imagine no matter where you lived in LA you’d still have a lot going on in your ‘hood. It’s no wonder too many of the NFL’s franchises all wanted to up and move to this city all at once.
Either way it was a welcome break from rainy Dublin weather as temperatures soared in the city for most of our trip.
I say ‘our’ because I had company for the first time on one of my trips. This time I was joined by my brother Graham as well as Stockport’s finest poker player of them all Mike Hill who both had to shadow me for five days listening to bad jokes, drinking bad Guinness and getting woke up before sunlight to go to Subway for a bad breakfast.
It wasn’t all bad though as we did get to see some big time sports while we were there.
As temporary domiciles go, the Rams have found an excellent holiday home in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. The atmosphere last Sunday night was tremendous for a team that only four short years ago was in St. Louis and who in nine months times will be playing nine miles up the road in Inglewood. The team itself was competitive, just like they have been throughout their return to the city of angels. Spurred on by a vocal home crowd the Rams found their way to a 17-7 win over a now downtrodden Bears outfit who will be wondering where it’s all gone wrong this season. The win pretty much ends all hopes for the Bears returning to the postseason this year and whilst the Rams’ playoff hopes also appear slim, it’s not over for them just yet.
I also got treated to a chef's table experience up in the sky at 71 above for my birthday. It was a wonderful experience and really gave you an impression of just how big and sprawling a city Los Angeles really is.
My last trip of 2019 was a strange one in many ways. It was my first time having company. It was my first time seeing only one game. It was my first time taking in an NBA game. My first time to LA. It was also my first time thinking maybe I’ve seen too much of America too quickly.
It wasn’t all bad though as we did get to see some big time sports while we were there.
We also got to see some big time NBA and none come bigger in the world of basketball than Lebron James. We saw his Lakers struggle to a 99-97 win over a much inferior Sacramento Kings side who led for most of the way at the Staples Center. It was a rough night for favourite backers on the spread who had a saver on the overs, that's for sure!
We also took in some big time comedy and getting to see Anthony Jeselnik live was a real thrill. Star of several Netflix stand-up shows, his headline performance at the Comedy Store last week capped off a fun night at the iconic Hollywood venue.
There was comedy on the streets too. In fact, almost everywhere we went we saw the same street comic selling jokes for a dollar (and two dollars if you laugh). We saw him at the basketball, we saw him at the NFL, we even saw him one morning on the sidewalks of Beverly Hills. If it’s perseverance you want instilled in your kids, bring them to downtown L.A. and follow this guy arounfd for a day. His work ethic is as good as I’ve ever seen.
I also got treated to a chef's table experience up in the sky at 71 above for my birthday. It was a wonderful experience and really gave you an impression of just how big and sprawling a city Los Angeles really is.
My last trip of 2019 was a strange one in many ways. It was my first time having company. It was my first time seeing only one game. It was my first time taking in an NBA game. My first time to LA. It was also my first time thinking maybe I’ve seen too much of America too quickly.
I’ve been to 15 teams in the league now and they’re starting to blur into one.
I absolutely intend on getting to all 32 teams eventually but there’s no point racing through them either.
The way I see it, you might as well take in and savour the views along the way.
With that said, next year I intend on doing much less and taking it slowly from there on in. I just don’t want this experience to be over too quickly.
Until then!
