Los Angeles - a pleasant surprise

I had debated with my self several times as to whether LA deserved a visit given all I have heard of the city, but after reading City of Quartz by Mike Davis in my Political Economy class at UBC I knew I had to go see it. The visit would be brief though with really only 2 full days and half a day on arrival and the same on departure. The afternoon I arrived I dropped my bags to the hotel and made my way to the Grove shopping area, which also houses LA’s farmers market – yes it has one and it has been there since 1934. It was alive with people wandering around sampling all the array of foods offered as well as craft shops. I found a health food supermarket on my return journey and was set with a fridge in my room for breakfast – the hardest meal to deal with when travelling!
The next morning I had booked to go on a Warner Brothers studio tour at 9am and so set off from the hotel at 7.15 to navigate the vastness of the city. It took me an hour to get there, 2 buses and the metro but it is possible to take public transport in LA you just need to have time. The tour was really great because rather than being really touristy, it was much more about the workings of the studio and there was filming going on around us including The Mentalist. It was a fun and interactive tour and I would highly recommend even for people who are not big film/tv addicts. After the tour I hopped back on the bus to Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood where it turned out I was the only cyclist on my afternoon tour of Beverly Hills and BelAir. My guide Alex and I pedalled around the hills of the mansions in the area and happened upon Leonardo DiCaprio in his Lexus, at which time he tried to hide from us at the traffic lights. I had to laugh for if only he knew I have no interest in star spotting – there are a few exceptions of course but he certainly is not one of them! The tour ended with a ride down Rodeo Drive and the hotel made famous by Pretty Woman. That evening I wandered back to the Grove and watched the Iron Lady as Meryl Streep had won the Golden Globe the night before, and she definitely deserved it! Don’t go to the film expecting a political story of Britain in the 1970s, rather it is the story of a girl then a young woman with an ambition.
Up and out early again on day three and I made my way to the wonderful Getty Museum – LA is worth a visit just to see this beautiful building with its lush gardens and breathtaking views over the entire metropolitan area. There was also a special exhibition on about art and social movements in California from the 1950s through to the 1980s, and you start to see what an alternatively vibrant area LA was before the celebrity culture of the late 1990s and 2000s took over. Having spend 3 lovely hours there I had to pull myself away in order to see all the other sights I had marked off, and so I hopped back on the bus and made my way down to Santa Monica. I wandered around the Third Street Promenade shopping street making my way eventually down to Ocean Drive and gazed again at the Pacific Ocean – I have seen it from so many different locations in the past 5 months! The weather was glorious with a blue sky and a light breeze and so I began to walk towards Venice beach where I wandered amongst the stalls and artists set up on the boardwalk. Please don’t judge me when I say I preferred Santa Monica – I felt uncomfortable on Venice beach kept an eye over my shoulder at all times and just never settled. I had initially considered having dinner there but instead once I had explored the area I turned around and made my way back to watch the sunset over Santa Monica Boulevard (Sheryl Crowe song anyone ☺). It took me an hour and a half to get back to the hotel but I was satisfied that I had conquered Los Angeles solely through the use of public transport!
Now I leave California and head east with my first stop being Houston and the wonderful hospitality of Tim’s parents the Roshckes, and the added bonus is that Caitriona is there too….


Yes it is me on the couch in the set for Friends at Warner Brothers...


View over LA from Getty museum


One day I want to drive this route