Today it's Venice Beach - but I'm so tired after all this weekends driving so far! So I don't get out of bed until gone 12 - a typical Sunday for me then! It's about an hours drive away, back in the same direction as LA, but something's not quite right - when we left the hotel there was bright, hot sunshine, here in Venice Beach its overcast, and breezy. Great! So much for me getting a tan today - it's just like being in Margate (without the jellied eels!!).

But this place is something else - there's Muscle Beach for starters. Although watching big dudes flex their muscles, while sweating like beasts, isn't exactly my idea of a good time (honest) there is something rather amusing about it! For example, there's this one geezer - not overly huge, as iron-pumpers go - who's attempting to lift a ridiculous weight. He's clearly struggling as he places the irons on the bar - but this is all a rouse. He grunts and huffs for a bit, to attract a crowd - then when sufficient people have gathered, he attempts a lift - but he fails. After huffing a bit more, he re-adjusts the weights, and looks to see if more people have arrived - he tries again, but no success. By this time, I'm bored of the whole charade - there's no way in this world he could lift that bar - so we move on.

They have squash courts here, but there appears to be something missing from the sporting attire - they don't play with rackets here, merely their bare hands - how queer! They're literally whacking this little ball with the palms of their hands - although on court number 4, the semi-pro's have little gloves on - ahh! PLAY A REAL GAME YOU FAIRIES!!

Walking up and down the promenade (if you can call it that) there's shops on one side, selling the usual tourist pap, and hippy stalls on the other. These stalls are great, and sell everything from weird paintings to stories - yes stories - it is here that I meet Malik Griot, Storyteller, Donations Appreciated - for that is what was scribed on a piece of cardboard hanging around his neck (he must be in his sixties)! I can only assume that this poor man has nothing else to offer the world than his stories of danger and heroism - or more likely homelessness and alcoholism - but I admire his candour; I'll tell you a story, and you give me some money. And not like your average beggar either, they usually talk bollocks for nothing!!

Another funny stall consists of three small garden chairs placed in front of an umbrella, with a sign reading Venice Beach 2003 hanging from it. The left-most chair is occupied by a blow-up female alien, and the right by a male - the chair in the middle is empty. [Are you all getting it??]. The stall-owner is sitting at the back, enticing people to come and have their pictures taken for a small donation - and he actually has money in his KFC cup! People have paid to sit in the empty chair, and have their photo taken with two blow-up aliens - WHY?? Fair-play to the stall-owner - he obviously found a gap in the market for robbing complete idiots of their hard-earned money - maybe he's related to Malik?!?

But mostly the stalls are selling the usual: incense burners, candles, henna tattoos, paintings, hippy clothing - the sorts of stalls/ shops you get at Glastonbury! And they have street entertainers here - we stop for a few minutes to watch this one guy - he's pretty funny. If any of you have been to Covent Garden (any day), or Bournemouth Promenade (Bank Holidays) and seen the street entertainers, this guy is no different - but the crowd are really into him. My hunger takes over though, and we stop for a bite to eat.

On the way back to the car, there appears to be a gathering on the beach - there's a couple of hundred people just hanging out - and I can hear some drums beating, so maybe it's a show or something - we go take a look. Nope, it's not a show - this is the coolest thing I've seen since I've been here - there's a circle of people playing musical instruments (mostly drums or bongos), with people dancing in the middle. And what's so good about it, is their all complete strangers - just some random people who have got a drum-kit, and want to join-in - and the people dancing are just random people who fancy a boogie to the rhythm. There's no set pattern to the music - they just play what they want, and somehow it all fits together nicely.

This is great - as we sit here for 15 minutes or so, people come and go - some dancers, some drummers - there's even one guy with a stick and an old tin pot, just standing there beating it - not even in time to the music!! But he doesn't care, and no-one else seems to either!! Although the weather isn't great, I could sit here for hours - but we don't. We have a table at PF Changs waiting for us, and I'm bloody starving - so we head back. I'd like to come back here and see what it's like in the evening - maybe a Friday night - I'll let you know!

We book a table in advance, but still have to wait for twenty minutes upon arrival - just enough time for a quick roll-up, and a perusal of their menu - hmm, looks and smells good! We're shown to our table, and Brian introduces himself as our waiter for the evening - "He is not the Messiah" I keep telling myself!! I order the mango chicken, but Brian tells me this is not a good dish - he's worked here for five years, and wouldn't recommend it - he recommends something else, so I go with that - he doesn't seem to care what Jem's ordered! Then, halfway through the meal, he pulls up next to me and asks how I'm doing - was the food a good choice - again, no attention paid to Jem. He must be a 'no-racket squash player' - but the food is really good, so we'll come back here!

A quick stop at the cheesecake factory, then home to bed.

END OF DAY 16