Two Coasts. 7,300+ Miles. 9 Days.
Los Angeles
3 Hours, as many sites as I can cram in!
Trying to save as much time as I could, I rushed into LAs Union Station and quickly found the luggage hold area. It was in a sleepy corner of the station where the baggage carousel is. I had two bags and a jacket to check which normally would cost $2/item. The attendant however suggested that I tie all my items together, creating one giant unwieldy bag. Thus saving me some money. I thanked him and headed off to see a few sites. I took the Red Metro up to Hollywood and Vine. The metro was a nice subway -- clean, efficient, fast (i never had to wait for a train) and operating on the honor system. There were no station attendants and you had to purchase a ticket. My tickets were never checked and are now souvenirs. For someone from New York this was slightly disconcerting. LA was beautiful -- 70 degrees and sunny, an amazing change from Chicago. I walked the streets, saw the sites and made my way back towards Union Station.
Two of Hollywood's landmarks: the Capitol Records building and the Chinese Theater. As much as I love Christopher Walken, I couldn't help but do a little "walkin' on Walken"
Two things I won't find in New York: The Governator and trees like that. One thing no one will find anywhere, a Hollywood star for Pee Wee Herman. I felt he deserved one though, for his work in that excellent movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
If you look really really carefully in the distance you can see the famous Hollywood sign. I swear it was much bigger in person!
Because of the loss of an hour I was unable to visit the tarpits. I ended up exploring the new Walt Disney Concert hall in Downtown as well as the brand new church a few blocks away, which I am told is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. They offer a free pipe organ concert daily, which I would have loved to have experienced but my connecting bus left during the middle of the scheduled performance.
The new Walt Disney Concert hall is one of the strangest buildings I have ever seen. It is very impressive to see it and walk around the facilities. Aside from what I hear is a top notch concert hall there is a very peaceful garden open to the public, 3 stories up from the ground. Unfortunately when they designed this building they didn't take into account the effect the sun would have reflecting off the side of the buildings on surrounding buildings. That is why they had to place a tarp on parts of it. The last picture is one of the strangest churches I have ever seen. I generally don't like modern churches and this one, though impressive, has not changed my mind. I was particularly turned off by the souvenir shops and food court outside of it.
Because of all the mudslides and such I had to take a series of buses and trains to Sacramento.
