Playa Vista, the home of Google, YouTube, and Yahoo

Playa Vista is a relaxing place to hang out on a weekend. It’s not overcrowded because it’s a hidden neighborhood, and offers something for everyone. The best thing to do is to drive around, and decide in which area you want to hang out. Then just park somewhere and walk. There is plenty of parking spaces, and areas where you can picnic. Village drive divides the area into east and west.

If you take village drive and go south to Bluff Creek Drive, cross the street, and walk west, there is a dog park. Go east and you'll find a nice path, perfect for walking or riding your bike. At some point you reach Spruce Park, a wooded area that wraps around behind the YouTube building and ends back on the road again. Look across the street and you'll find the black Google building. As you leave the dirt area, you’ll notice a sand volleyball court.

A little further down, there is an easy hiking trail at Bluff Creek Drive and Artisans Way.

Or you can continue walking until you see the Yahoo building across the street. If you cross the street, and go down a bit, You’ll run into Central Park Playa Vista. Dogs are not allowed here. This park can also be reached from Millenium Drive. From whichever path you get there, at some point, you’ll run into BlueBottle Coffee, and HomeState breakfast taco. These are popular spots for the locals, and people who work in the area.

Go West of Village Drive, and you’ll see a bunch of eateries. Sol Mexican Cocina is pretty good. Even my younger niece who is a picky eater, likes it. On Saturdays, there is a farmers’market, and sometimes musicians play. In the past, I have tried various foods here. They were just okay. The last time I was there, I had Indian cuisine which was good. They only have a few items on their menu. I had the only vegetarian dish they offered which was a crepe with potatoes and spices. The mango lassi was excellent.

If you keep walking west, passing by townhouses, and apartments, and toward the end where there is nowhere else to go, you’ll run into The Coffee Bean, a small market, a bunch of eateries, and a pleasant mini park in your path. On Sundays, sometimes they have events or concerts going on. The above musicians are Pine Mountain Logs. They move around, are friendly, and approachable. If you google them, you can find their venue. Sat February 10, they’ll be in Agoura Hills.

So, there you have it. Playa Vista is a peaceful area where you can easily spend hours, walking, hiking, biking, picnicking, dining, people watching, and listening to music without dealing with cars honking their horns, and driving impatiently.

What I did this weekend

Photographer: Francesco Marino

This weekend was very busy for me and a bit tiring. I’ve been taking an online course with Gary Goldstein titled Scaling the Wall of Hollywood. There are about 2 dozen or so people in our group. So on Thursday, when Gary asked those of us living in Los Angeles if we were interested in taking a workshop at the Writers Guild on how to make a short film, most of us dropped everything we had planned earlier and jumped at the opportunity. I know what you’re thinking…That I’m a novelist; why would I be taking a course in film. But it’s all tied in. Many authors want to promote their books to Hollywood and so the more we all learn about the industry the better. So, here I was, the only person in the group who had never written a script or had ever made a short film.

But I’m glad I did it because I learned a lot. Basically, Gary’s course which I will be part of for the next 7 weeks and the workshop I took were all teaching the mistakes many make when they write a script or direct a short film. So, Saturday was an information overload day for me and I was really exhausted, especially since I have no film background and I really needed to focus in order to grasp all the great information. By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was to have dinner, watch a little TV and sleep.

My day on Sunday was more relaxing. It was my friend’s birthday and I had invited her to have brunch at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, about a 45-minute ride from Los Angeles. Afterwords, we went to the Aquarium in downtown Long Beach and later walked around for an hour. It was late by the time we got back. Here are a few pictures I took with my iPhone while there. I hope you’ll enjoy them.