I just spent a few days in Los Angeles with my sister and thought I’d share the highlights of our girl trip.  We spent most of our time in the West Hollywood area – a great neighborhood with lots of restaurants, shops, and beautiful homes within walking distance. Speaking of walking…I think I wore out a pair of shoes, but it was a nice change from driving everywhere. 

Here are some of the places we went in West Hollywood that you may want to try:

- Urth Caffé on Melrose Ave (see past article).   This is one of my favorite places anywhere -  My lunch (chicken curry sandwich and banana cream pie) was delicious (everything is delicious here) and a great place for people watching. 

 - Shopping on Wilshire - very up scale clothes and furniture shops in a nice neighborhood setting.  Don’t be surprised to see Rodeo Drive like prices.  It’s fun to shop even if you can’t afford to buy a $350 white cotton blouse or a $1000 cashmere sweater.

- Tour architect Schindler’s home on Kings Road - This small 1922 home is surprisingly current in its design.

 - Dessert at Sweet Lady Jane on Melrose Ave.  This bakery/café has wonderful cakes that look as good as they taste.  We enjoyed a slice of seven layer cake and a berry filled English trifle with French press coffee.  While we were there, a steady stream of custom cakes were being picked up for private events.

 - Visit the Farmer’s Market on a Sunday morning – flowers, wonderful fruits, vegetables and rustic bread - just around the corner from Urth Caffe and a fun place to visit on a cool Sunday morning. 

- Stroll around the neighborhood to see homes with beautifully landscaped courtyards and gated entries.

Just a note to you single girls - you’ll find many attractive males in West Hollywood. However a large portion of them are interested in other guys, not girls.

We did venture outside West Hollywood to Hollywood Blvd and on impulse took a guided tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Rodeo Drive.  The tour was really interesting (i.e. – we saw Bruce Willis’ house which is a few feet from Demi Moore’s house) and pointed out several celebrity homes and homes used in well-known movies like Gone with the Wind and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan. 

After the tour we shopped on Rodeo Drive, which was closed to motorized traffic for an evening event.  As we wandered from store to store, we saw an army of event planners – most dressed in black — prepare a stage on Rodeo Drive, set-up catering and arranged outdoor displays of shoes for the “Walk of Style” in honor of shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. Unfortunately, we had to leave just as the celebs were arriving, but we did catch a glimpse of Tim Robbins.

On our last day, we toured the Getty Villa which is located off the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.  Although much smaller than the Getty Center, the Villa is modeled after a famous Roman villa and has some wonderful gardens and mosaics.   If you plan to go, be sure to get tickets online (free) in advance.  They offer several free tours each day – we got a lot out of the Architecture and Gardens tour.

Tour Info: All Star Showbiz Tours van across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater