There was a lot to see in LA in addition to the ultimate going on (e.g. the Walt Disney Concert Hall, above which I’ll get more into later). With Venice Beach only steps away from our rented condo I had a chance to explore the strip which is a bizarre and interesting place. I have never seen so many wheeled methods of transportation in my life from segways, to ellipticals, cruisers, rollerblades, strollers, recumbent bikes, rowing bikes, etc.
The strip on Venice Beach is also filled with interesting hippies and the alternative crowd, with vendors, fortune tellers, artists, hula-hoopers and crazies. Some memorable lines directed at me were: “Can you spare some pocket lint?”, “You don’t skateboard.” [It was a statement, not a question], and “Come back in 10 minutes to see my striptease breakdance”. I saw one guy carrying a sign saying “Reggae: save the children”, and another guy in a red Speedo carrying a bejewelled antler and having words with a guy dressed up as the devil:
I also witnessed a random love-mob; a mother and her two kids were invited to press a button set up on a small circle in the middle of the pavement. Upon pressing the button suddenly a cardboard scaffold opened up to reveal a dozen dancers with heart-boxes on their head dance around the bewildered family whilst streamers flew through the air.
A more conventional sight – the Venice Beach sign signalling the beginning of muscle beach at the end of another perfect California day:
When travelling I always like to buy a local paper to see what is making news there. LA news that week focused on how cash-strapped California is with the beach cities (e.g. Santa Monica, Malibu, Venice) trying to sell off every square inch of space on garbage cans, lifeguard stations, etc. for sponsorship deals. Maybe they should consider charging more than a dollar for their pretty impressive public transit system. Where else in the developed world can you get to the airport for $1? The bus drivers there though are pretty tough. Our bus driver put the bus into park in the middle of a left-hand turn lane to come to the back of the bus and give someone a dressing down for listening to their ipod. “Whoever got the radio on shut it off! ipod, iphone, telephone, radio I don’t care. If I can hear than there’s a problem!”. Picture that coming from a petite black woman with a whole lot of attitude.
After all of the ultimate excitement in Santa Monica, I decided to head downtown for my last day before flying home. My grandiose plan was to check-in my bags at the airport and then explore central LA encumbered. Ha! Turns out there is no luggage storage ANYWHERE since 9/11..the only tips I got from the airport info desk were to get a hotel room and leave my stuff there or to rent a car and leave everything in the trunk. So, luggage in tow, I arrived at Union Station and proceeded to walk around downtown and take in the sights.
City Hall:
Public sculpture (any good suggestions for a title? I’m thinking Lady-bug, paperclip, northern lights):
For lunch I headed to the market which was bustling on a week day and filled with mostly Mexican-inspired fare (I like the older cowboy guy on the left hand side too).
Also fun at lunch was that I got mistaken for a food critic/gourmet food blogger after taking some notes and taking a photo of my food. The other patron was disappointed to find out I only contribute to a travel blog, but she started off with a conspiratorial whisper (“so...are you a food critic or a blogger?”), as in I just HAD to be one or the other!
I didn’t have a time to get a peek inside, but I checked out the outside of the MOCA (Musuem of Contemporary Art) and enjoyed a delish old-fashioned lemonade for an afternoon energy boost. More public sculpture...
My highlight of downtown LA was the Walt Disney Concert Hall, mostly because they let me check my luggage The concert hall is another Frank Gehry creation and is described by Lonely Planet “the landmark that launched a thousand metaphors. Billowing ship? Blooming rose? Silver bow? “. I’m going with boat-meets-metallic-wedding-cake (see top photo). Admission is free and the audio-tour was pretty informative drawing attention to the architectural design details including how air-conditioning units are hidden inside smooth Douglas fir columns:
Special perforations were created for these walls in BP Hall to improve acoustics (smooth curved walls are bad because everything reflects converging to one direction….OK, no more physics for the rest of this post).
Floors feature the “Lily” (named after Lily Disney) bright and colourful floral carpet pattern which is mirrored in the colourful rooftop garden with “Red Hot Poker Torch” lilies.
The concert hall itself; the auditorium has beautiful carved Douglas fir organ pipes which Gehry under no circumstance was going to keep straight. It’s unusual to have seats behind the orchestra, but this way one can look at the conductors’ animated faces as they work their magic.
More great views from the outside of the concert hall:
Wandering around downtown I was surprised at how empty and deserted it all seemed for a week day. There are hundreds of thousands of cars on the road, but they are all on the freeway bypassing downtown. This is more what LA actually looks like:
And to get onto the freeway you have to be able to understand complicated traffic lights such as these – how many different lights does one intersection need?
