LA
Oh bugger, civilisation and not the good kind. Too many movies have made this town look glamorous when it just ain’t.
FIRST STOP THE SIGN
The coolest thing about the lookout for “the” overrated sign is the Observatory building that houses the Foucault Pendulum, in motion all day swinging away with the aid of a magnet. While it looks like the pendulum changes position, it is in the fact the earth turning on its axis. Every ten minutes or so it knocks over a peg to demonstrate the turning of the earth. Fascinating. The sign lookout is also the best place for a spectacular view of the permanent cloud of smog that blankets LA. Nice.
Our next stop was the infamous Hollywood Boulevard and its starred walk. A bit crappy and kind of grotty. The whole team was underwhelmed.
I did find a couple of my favourite Aussies
The crazy religious people have their presence here on the boulevard and I’m told own much of what I see.
Rodeo Drive was our next port of call and I didn’t even bother to get out of the car or get out the camera. Places selling $500 pairs of socks just don’t interest me. We did see a chihuahua wearing pink socks which made me regret my lack of ready camera. Apparently some stores you need an appointment to even enter. I did toy with the idea of doing the Julia Roberts line from Pretty Woman in one of those very stores where she got refused service. “You’ve just made a big mistake!” I stole someone else’s photo for illustration purposes. Thank you Bob Adams.
Our last stop of the day was the beachside areas of Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Venice Beach is the place to go for people watching and “medical” marijuana. The spruikers dress in scrubs outside the clinics offering visits to the doctor. Yep, they think they look like real medical professionals. Not! So stupid. Hippies, buskers, crazies, they are all here. Reminds me of home.
“Venice” in LA
Another crazy people watching opportunity is the muscle men work out zone on the beach. It falls into the category of things that can’t be unseen and I will not torture anyone else with that sight. Oiled egos in speedos. I am traumatised. All kinds of yuck!
Instead a pretty Venice Beach sunset. Much better for the eyes and the mind
The skate park at Venice Beach is one of the coolest I’ve ever seen with the most unusual shapes and crazy talented kids with mad skills. Hours of fun.
LAX Airport shooting
The morning we drove into LA was the day of a dramatic airport shooting. A disturbed young man had a profound affect on the city and airports all over the USA. Thousands of people’s flight plans were ruined and an unarmed man working for the TSA lost his life leaving a wife without a husband and two kids without a father. Senseless. Our hotel was near the airport and despite the fact that the shooting occurred just after 9am, the road there didn’t reopen until around 6pm that evening. It was still excruciatingly slow going. The poor hotel staff were working overtime checking in all the seriously delayed passengers which I’m sure was a familiar story all over the city. People that dropped their belongings when fleeing the terminal didn’t get their stuff back until several days later. One mixed up kid did all that. Sad and crazy times.
AND, that was the end of my last group tour around the USA. Back on my own again I had a few days up my sleeve in LA but that first day there was all I needed to see. I couldn’t have cared less about the other voyeuristic pleasures on offer. Spying on movie stars by visiting their homes from the outside or doing Hollywood studio tours is pretty much all there is to do here. And I’m a bit old for Disneyland. The airport hotel region is full of restaurants, supermarkets and bars so I was all good and perfectly happy to commune with my hotel bed catching up on my blog and doing some serious TV watching with the occasional foray outside for supplies. I just ain’t a city girl.
NEXT STOP TUCSON, ARIZONA & PUERTO PENASCO, MEXICO
Jimmy D at the sign lookout
Happy horti at the sign lookout. Yes that is a Koala on my t-shirt. Represent!
The palm trees seen all over LA are the Mexican Fan Palm, Washingtonia Robusta and are instantly recognisable as synonymous with LA.
Happy Horti 