Travel writer Zoe Macfarlane travels beyond the celebrities, walk of fame and theme parks to discover the heart of real Los Angeles, just like a local.
When you’re headed to Los Angeles, iconic attractions like Disneyland, the Hollywood sign and Santa Monica Pier are no doubt on your agenda.
If you’re looking to add something a little more undercover, check out our seven suggestions on experiencing LA like an Angeleno.
1. GET YOUR WOO WOO ON
Image: Spirit Metacin
It wouldn’t be Los Angeles if people weren’t tuning their chakras or cleansing their auras. You’ll need to do yours after that long-haul flight so make time for a sound bath at Spirit Metacine. No water involved, instead, you lie down in a darkened room and let crystal bowls and Himalayan gongs vibrationally cleanse you. Ommmmm.
2. A RYAN GOSLING & A WHISKEY, PLEASE
Image: Blind Barber/Facebook
If you time your visit right, you can get a cool haircut and a cheeky beverage at the Blind Barber in Culver City. By day, it’s an old-time barbershop but come 6pm, a door swings wide and the speakeasy is open. Debauchery may ensue.
3. ARE CRICKETS PALEO?
Image: Salt and Straw/Facebook
It’s hard to keep up with LA’s eating trends. Is fat in or out? Is meat good or bad? Well, this is one trend that you might not think you’ll have a go at – but you should! Bugs in your ice cream!
Salt and Straw, one of the city’s yummiest ice cream shops, offers Creepy Crawly Critters – a creamy scoop filled with grasshoppers and other high protein insects. It’s much more delicious than it sounds, trust me!
4. NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED
Image: Museum of Death/Facebook
The Getty is fun and the California Science Center is informative but how about something a little more… gruesome? Find out about serial killers, autopsies, and those famed celebrity slayings at Hollywood’s Museum of Death.
5. PARTY AT DAWN
Image: Form
No, not as in you’re getting in at the break of dawn (though that is definitely an option in LA too); instead, you’re going to rise early to party. Sober.
Join scores of LA’s trendiest peeps at 7am for yoga, juice and a pre-work Daybreaker dance party.
6. THE TIME TRAVELLERS’ WIFE
Image: 826LA & the Time Travel Mart/Facebook
Who knew prepping for time travel was a thing? Well, the Time Travel Mart is ahead of the game and has a range of future-tastic items on sale, including mammoth meat in a can and the ever-useful Beasts of Burden Stench-Off Fresheners.
Humour aside, it’s actually a ruse for a non-profit tutoring organisation so you get to give back and prep for that upcoming time travel transporter.
7. YOU LOOK FABULOUS TONIGHT, DARLING
Dining in this modern era means you often spend as much time staring at your smartphone screen as your significant other. At Opaque in Santa Monica your phone is redundant as you embrace dining in utter darkness.
Abandon visual stimuli and rely on your sense of taste, touch, and smell to enjoy a delectable meal, Thursdays to Saturdays.
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