Katja and Alex

Katja is not particularly the most organized when it comes to planning her travel, so less that a week after her trip to Vegas she found herself back at Newark, traveling out west once again. This time the destination was Los Angeles, where she frequently goes to visit her fabulous friends who call the city home. Although disliking LA seems to be fashionable, Katja has always been a fan of the city, and thinks that those who criticize have never bothered to really explore the place.

Katja generally stays in Pasadena when she’s in town, but this time opted for a change of scenery, and stayed with her friend Alex in the Hollywood Hills. Being the fitness conscious girl that she is (not to mention how grumpy she gets if she doesn’t get her daily exercise), Katya’s first order of business was finding a place to work out, as the Dance Conservatory of Pasadena, where she usually takes class when in town, was too far away. Luckily LA is a city with no shortage of classes, studios and gyms, and Alex is equally concerned with getting in his daily workout, so was happy to help her in her endeavor. Katja was hoping for ballet, but as there was no studio nearby Alex took her to her first ever Pilates class, at Circuit Pilates Hollywood. Although initially she was daunted by the reformer, which she thought resembled a medieval torture device (Katja’s sure she saw something similar as a child in Rothenburg’s Kriminalmuseum), she avoided humiliating herself and actually rather enjoyed the class. That said, she won’t be giving up any of her ballet classes in New York for Pilates.

On the subject of ballet, no trip to the area would be complete without a stop at her favorite dance shop, The Red Shoes, where she always finds great skirts and legwarmers (being a ballet class fashionista requires dedication and constant upkeep).

Lest you start thinking that Katja has become shallow and dull, and that it’s no wonder she loves fitness obsessed LA given how she goes on and on about her exercise routine (and wardrobe), she assures you this is not the case. In fact most of her trip was spent lounging by the pool with friends, catching up over copious amounts of wine, and eating lots of treats (including yummy - and gelatin free! - Swedish candies from Sockerbit that a friend brought over).

And of course there always needs to be some art thrown into the mix, she’s a highbrow girl, after all. Usually Katja checks out the latest exhibition at LACMA, but Alex thought it would be more fun to go somewhere new, and instead took her to Materials & Applications, a small gallery in Silver Lake. They had been lured there by a sound installation, but ended up being much more entranced by Warren Techetin’s La Cage aux Folles – nothing better than art one can climb on and explore.

Katja and Alex also went on numerous frozen yogurt dates (she thinks frozen yogurt should be a food group all on its own), and enjoyed long hikes around the neighborhood, taking in the beautiful views of the city. Sadly the latter resulted in an unfortunate farmer’s tan for Katja, as she was foolish enough to go out without sunscreen (her dermatologist would not be impressed…).

As always, the trip went by much too quickly. Katja was sad to leave Alex and her other friends, but as a small consolation she got upgraded on the flight back. She’d like to say she was able to return home in style, but she’s not sure there is such a thing in domestic air travel. But at least the wine is free, and, more importantly, drinkable, in First Class...