#251: Venice Mosaic Tile House

 

The Mosaic Tile House in Venice is a house built on a foundation of love. Artists Cheri Pann and Gonzalo Duran transformed the house, covering the inside and outside with beautiful mosaic tile. The house also contains their artist studios and their own homage to the Watts Towers (#75).  

the side of the house

Unlike the mosaic house in Santa Monica (#235), this one is open regularly for tours. To schedule one, just call Cheri on the number listed on their website. When I called, Cheri was very flexible with what time I could come in, and we set up a private tour that same day. The tour lasts an hour and is $10 a person. 

A tiled fortune cookie in their front yard

one of the fortunes

the kitchen

In addition to tile, there is another form of art on display: paintings.  The love that Cheri and Gonzalo share emanates through these paintings and tells the tale of how they met and the journey of their relationship.

Cheri's painting of her and Gonzalo

We had a really great experience at the Venice Tile House. Our little girl loved the house as well, and even enjoyed a good tummy time session on their tiled kitchen table. Cheri is a warm and inviting host, and really makes you feel at home. Follow the tiled rainbow to this pot of gold!

a bathtub full of veggies and herbs in their front yard

bottles coming out of a water faucet

the front porch

Cheri's amazing portraits of Gonzalo

Have you been to the Venice Mosaic House? What did you think of it? Leave me a comment below!

The Venice Mosaic Tile House

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#204: Venice Skatepark

Have you been to Venice recently? I hadn't been back since my visit to Float Lab (#147), but when Brad showed me videos of some kids skating at the Venice Skatepark, I knew I had to return to check it out.

We went on the weekend of the Festival of the Chariots (#203), so there were a lot of people at the park. The young and the young at heart took their turns in the bowls, and I watched mesmerized as they made aerials, flips and slides look effortless.

During Venice Beach's renovation in 1999-2001, people requested that a skatepark be built in honor of Dogtown, the birthplace of modern skating. The park finally opened in 2009 at 1800 Ocean Front Walk.

Check out VeniceSkatePark.com for a live video feed of the park!

While you're at the park, be sure to also check out the nearby Venice Public Art Walls. These walls have been canvases for graffiti art for over thirty years. ICU Art, a graffiti arts advocacy group, has worked to preserve the art so that anyone with a permit can legally contribute to the walls.

Have you been to the Venice Skatepark and Public Art Walls? What did you think of them? Leave me a comment below!

Venice Skatepark

#203: Festival of the Chariots

I'm not a Hare Krishna, but my stomach is. At least once a week, you can find me at the vegetarian Hare Krishna restaurant Govindas for their $8 all you can eat buffet. Carob halwa forever!

The Hare Krishnas are famous for feeding people for free. Such was the case at the annual Festival of the Chariots in Venice a couple of weekends ago. Thousands turned out to accompany three decorated chariots on the march from Santa Monica to Venice's boardwalk. At the end of the parade, tourists, Hare Krishnas, curious bystanders and beach locals lined up for delicious free vegetarian food.

We caught the parade just as it was ending on Ocean Front Walk. The sight of everyone raising their hands to God and looking so happy as they marched to the beach touched my heart, and I admit that I even got a little teary. Once they reached the beach, the singing and dancing continued on two stages.

One of the most memorable stage acts was a Spanish rap group that chanted about Hare Krishna and yoga. During one of their songs, they had three people in front doing crazy yoga positions while they sang "Yoga! Yoga-na like it!" A couple of young skateboarders came by from the nearby park and started grooving with them, and then a dancing Santa joined them. Ah, don't you love Venice?

Yoga! Yogana like it!

The Festival of the Chariots is an annual event, so if you missed it this year, be sure to mark your calendars for next year's event!

Have you been to the Festival of the Chariots? What did you think of it? Leave me a comment below!

Festival of the Chariots

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#147: Float Lab--Sensory Deprivation Float Tank

photo from www.floatlab.com

The idea of sealing yourself up in a pitch black chamber and floating in salt water for an hour and a half might not appeal to everyone, but the adventurous at heart will love their experience at Float Lab. Located in Venice just off the Speedway, Float Lab offers a unique and relaxing sensory deprivation experience for just $40 cash.

I called the float lab a couple of days earlier and the only times they had available were 8:30 am and 6:30 pm, so we took the 6:30 pm slot. We made sure to hydrate and eat a snack so that we weren't hungry or thirsty for those 90 minutes.

Once we got there, the owner let us try these Turbo Sonic machines that vibrate your body at various frequencies to accelerate healing and exercise your muscles without you moving. It felt like I was standing on top of a washing machine, only ten times more intense. My sides started hurting after a few minutes, so I stopped, but Brad lasted the whole session.

Then he showed us the two chambers. The whole lab is just one big room divided into a waiting area and two areas consisting of the flotation chambers and showers. He instructed us to take a shower first, put in our earplugs then go into the flotation chamber. He told us that we could stay as long as we wanted.

When I stepped into the chamber, I was surprised how thick the water felt. Lying down, I closed my eyes, then opened my eyes, and could sense no difference in the two. The water was warm, and only 10 inches deep, and the whole chamber was like a giant bathtub. It took no effort to float due to the large amount of Epsom salt dissolved in the water, but my neck started hurting a bit so I put my hands behind my neck for support.

Before we got to the lab, I joked with Brad that this was gonna be an extreme form of meditation. With nothing in there to distract me from my thoughts, I thought I would either be bored or anxious. I was actually neither.

The only thing I didn't enjoy about my experience was how sore my neck and shoulders felt at some points even with my hands behind my head. Your experience may be different though--I have a weak neck. I kept alternating between a sitting and lying position to alleviate the discomfort. Once I was out of the chamber, however, I felt great and it didn't bother me anymore.

Once out, I also noticed that my skin was super soft. We felt really mellow for the rest of the night into the next day, and I slept like a baby. This was a great way to relax, "detox" and meditate.... like a mini-vacation. Check it out!

Float Lab

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#142: Binocular Building

Frank Gehry's colossal black Binocular Building on Main Street in Venice oddly blends into the surroundings---so much so that I drove past this building many times without even noticing it!

On Thanksgiving, we made a trip to see this striking building up close. It is huge (see me in the above picture for scale). Cars can drive through the binoculars into a garage. I read somewhere that this building used to be an advertising agency. I have no idea what it is now though.

Venice, true to character, has a lot of unique structures. Across the street on the corner of Rose and Main is the famous clown ballet dancer.

Frank Gehry's Binocular Building

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#136: Abbot Kinney Festival

Photo from yovenice

I tend to shy away from festivals since parking is always a pain and long lines + crowds make me frustrated. Therefore with Glow in Santa Monica and the Abbot Kinney Festival in Venice this past weekend, a part of me wanted to run Eastward toward Pasadena and not look back.

Glow is an annual art walk festival on Santa Monica beach. It was held this past Saturday and ran late into the night. It has 1 1/2 stars on Yelp. That's pretty pathetic. Common complaints on Yelp involved parking, traffic and lack of organization. (I'm glad I didn't go.)

The Abbot Kinney Festival was held in Venice the next day. I tried attending this festival last year and have the all too frustrating memory of circling Venice for 30 minutes trying to find parking. This year, we circled for 20 minutes and finally found a spot after stalking a family for two blocks.

The festival highlights:

-There was a great band playing in a narrow crowded alley by a house-turned-art-shop. Didn't get their name, sadly.

-Tons of food trucks (most notably, Ludo Bites, Border Grill, Nom Nom and Grilled Cheese Truck)

-Refreshing young coconuts for sale for $5

-Free pop chips, coconut water, nut bars, frappuccino and more in the Whole Foods section of the festival!

The festival lows:

-Ahn Joo Truck (my worst food truck experience!)

-loooong lines for the food trucks

You are either a festival person or you aren't. If you don't mind crowds, being in the sun for a long time and walking a lot, then you're probably the former. Do beer gardens make you happy? Then Abbot Kinney's festival is definitely for you. They had two of them, and it looked like MTV's Spring Break in there. Do you like tribal/new-age jewelry? I must have seen 30 tents selling the stuff.

If this is your scene, then definitely check this festival out next year!

Abbot Kinney Festival

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#89: Super Sized Whole Foods

Photo from la.racked.com

I've found the Mother Ship!

Stepping into the Venice Whole Foods, the first thing that hits you is that this store is humongous; an SUV could navigate the aisles (hybrid of course). And then there's the deli section... I could eat here every day for a year and not eat the same thing twice. I also must have seen four or five security guards walking around; it's nice to know that I'm safe when perusing the vegetable aisle.

Travel 15 minutes south, and you'll find another monster of a Whole Foods in El Segundo. There are dining areas within this Whole Foods! Sectioned off areas designated as "The Grill" and "Wine/Tapas Bar" have nice tables and cushy seating in the middle of the store. The hot foods/salad/deli section is as gargantuan as the Lincoln Blvd store, and they carry items that I have not seen in other W.F.s.

Whole Foods

#80: Holiday Shopping at Abbot Kinney

Photo from social meetup

If #79: West 3rd Street Design Shops didn't give you enough ideas for holiday gift shopping, here's another one. The artistic stretch of shops on Abbot Kinney in Venice offers unique shopping for the creative personality on your holiday list. I have spent hours perusing the eclectic offerings on this street. If you get hungry, stop by Gjelina for a rustic oven baked pizza. Here are a few of my favorite shops:

A+R Store: From the pantone mugs to the soaps in the shape of baby hands, everything in this store is something I'd want in my own home.

Tortoise General Store: Fine jewelry, art, furniture, Japanese housewares and books.

Intelligentsia: For your friend or loved one who takes coffee seriously. Maybe a little too seriously.

#66: Muscle Beach Venice

I'm a small person, but never have I felt so tiny as I did during my visit to Muscle Beach. We decided to check out the Muscle Beach Championships in Venice a couple months ago and I felt like a plankton lost in a sea of giant squid. Giant squid with taut muscles who drink Muscle Milk and don handlebar mustaches.

Muscle Beach is the former home of bodybuilder legends like Arnold Schwartzenegger. It has not only weight lifting equipment, but also gymnastic, rope climbing, and acrobatic bars. The park has turned into a tourist attraction and it's free to the public. Oil up, chug a protein shake and flex your six pack at this one-of-a-kind beach.

Muscle Beach Venice

#7: Venice Canals

Contrary to that Missing Persons' song, I do like to walk in L.A.. One advantage to living on the west side is that I can walk anytime I want to. At midnight. At 2 am. (Not that I would do that... It's just nice knowing I can)

The Venice canals are my favorite walking spot in West L.A.. The houses are just stunning, with a mix of old and new architecture. The picturesque water system creates a tranquil atmosphere, and the smell of home cooking drifting out people's open doors warms my heart. Ah, what I would give to live here!

The trickiest part of visiting the canals is the parking, especially on the weekend. I was fortunate finding a spot right at the entrance. Good luck!

Venice Canals