Friend in town, 5

Philipp on a boogieboard at Venice Beach.

Today I would have liked to show Philipp the beautiful Griffith Observatory (virtual tour) with one of the best and most beautiful views over Los Angeles. But the famous location of the James Dean movie "Rebel without A Cause" was closed due to a major renovation so we continued to cruise on the legendary Hollywood Boulevard, spotted for celebrities on Sunset Strip, checked out the shopping district of funky Melrose Avenue and had lunch in a relaxing park in West Hollwood. Since we both felt the urge to jump into the ocean again we headed towards Venice Beach (webcam) where we had big fun riding the boogieboards (web pictures) for the rest of the day. Afterwards we went for a well-deserved happy hour at the Irish pub Finn McCool's and joined Leslie for a great American dinner at the Broadway Deli in Santa Monica. We ended the day with a visit of the cool and innovative (digital) music store (& coffeehouse) Hear Music and a stroll on the lively Third Street Promenade. Plus: the beach pictures.