This blog is the first in a short series of blogs that I wrote while I was on holiday/vacation recently.
This year I had decided to venture further afield than in previous years and had booked 11 nights in Venice Beach, California. It was my first trip to the West Coast of the USA.
My first walk along the beach to the Venice Beach Fishing Pier then back along the boardwalk had been an immediate overdose in all things California-palm trees, pelicans, surfing. They were even filming Baywatch on the beach! It was all a bit overwhelming to wee jetlagged me!
After lunch I ventured back out for another meander (OK, I was actually in search of a liquor store and some white wine!) and decided to explore a bit.
Hidden a couple of blocks inland from the craziness that is the Venice Beach boardwalk is a tranquil oasis of European-influenced calm. The Venice Canal Historic District is a small network of six man-made canals, originally designed to recreate a corner of Venice, Italy in Southern California.
The canals were built in 1905 by developer Albert Kinney and originally covered a much larger area. Albert Kinney’s vision was to create a seaside resort with canals, gondolas, and Italian-style architecture. Sadly, many of the original canals were filled in during the 1920’s to make room for more roads as automobiles grew in popularity. (More about cars later in this blog series)
Now over a hundred years later, the remaining six canals (Carroll, Linnie, Howland, Sherman, Eastern and Grand. I’d expected more Italian names to be honest) are connected by nine arched footbridges. The gondolas of Kinney’s vision have been replaced by kayaks and small floating docks. Most of the architecture is more modern than I’d expected but nestled among these modern properties are some beautiful homes oozing character.
I’ll be honest, the shallow canals smell a bit. There didn’t look to be a lot of water movement but you could see that the levels were low.
The canal district is a wildlife haven for wading birds like herons and egrets plus other birds. As I wandered along the narrow walkways, I only spotted one lonely egret and a single duck. Apparently according to the signs there are seals and occasionally sharks spotted in the water. What I hadn’t anticipated seeing was a coyote warning poster on one of the bridges!
It’s easy to see why this area is popular with photographers. The romantic author in me could easily visualise a couple posing for their wedding photos on the quaint bridges and among the plethora of flowers overhanging the narrow pathways…. hmm…now there’s a thought…storyline!
Coral McCallum 