If your loved one is obsessed with the history of Los Angeles, use our guide to the best gifts and experiences that will impress any L.A. history geek.
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How wanderlusty are we getting in Southern California, while debate flares over Europe’s readiness for American tourists? Well, I’m sitting at home trying to decide which continental stand-in made me happier, a croque monsieur
in Los Feliz or a gondola ride in Long Beach.
I think I’d have to go with the Venetian-style vessels that Gondola Getaway operates on the canals around Naples Island. To slowly drift under a bridge while a gondolier breaks into song that should put Venetian thoughts in your head, especially if you close your eyes and think of Italy.
Europe is here with us, if we only suspend disbelief. I don’t mean the missions (we know that story) or the churches, though they do deliver impressive domes, murals and stained glass.
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Welcome to the Ooops I Forgot to Write the Newsletter edition of Essential Arts. I’m L.A. Times arts editor
Craig Nakano filling in for columnist
Carolina A. Miranda, who as you’ll see has been immersing herself in architectural solutions for people who are unhoused. This week has been bizzz-eee as California kicked its reopening into a higher gear, so there’s much to share. I’m sitting down to write at an hour when I’m usually in a seismic snore. My 2-year-old is asleep, the coffee is hot, the contact lenses are out and the glasses are on. Let’s do this.