I've been to LA a few times on business, but never really enjoyed it. So, when the opportunity arose to visit with an LA native, my friend Jason, I jumped on it. "Show me your LA!"
We headed out a little before 9 for the 5+ hour drive. It's a straight shot to LA, and we got to pass through this area with a field of windmills. It was quite cool! Traffic started picking up so I knew we were close. We arrived at the hotel, the Standard, and checked in. It's great! A boutique hotel, which I love. The rooms are really fabulous-- platform bed and a great open concept. The bathroom in my room is actually totally open and the shower is kind of in the middle of the room! Really different and fun, and the room has some great little touches including a well stocked snack bar including some fun things like cracker jacks, sake, beer nuts and gummi bears! The room also has some quirky touches. There's a sticker on the toilet paper that is an instruction (yes, on how to use the pot!) and in the bottom of the trash can, it shows a pic of a person with their head yacking in the can! Priceless.
The weather report called for rain but it was bright and sunny, so we decided to go for a walk and find some lunch. We walked down to chinatown and found a cute little place where I was thrilled to find had chicken pho, a fabulous vietnamese soup that I was craving due to the remnants of my cold. Jason got pad thai. There was a cute little kitschy area that we walked around with low, very asian looking buildings. Then we headed over to Olvera street, which is lined by carts of little things to buy. You know, fabulous hot pink dog sweaters, woven straw hats with a big flower, dia de los muertos memorabilia, etc.
We then walked down to the original site of LA, called El Pueblo. In the center there is now a cute little circular park called La Placa del Pueblo. In the center there was a huge manger scene, and some kind of flute music was playing. We walked past this great and huge post office, and did a quick tour of a cute old church called La Placita. We then started heading back to the hotel, but did a tour of a beautiful church called the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels. The street is actually named after it that it's on (Temple). We walked through the mausoleum underneath and saw some amazingly beautiful stained glass panels. Oh, and Gregory Peck's tomb! Jason picked his spot right next to it, being a fan, you know. The church was an interesting mix of modern and historic art, which was quite striking. Ah yes, a friend who is as obsessed with churches as I am! Go figure!
We took a short break then headed over to Santa Monica pier for *Cirque de Soleil*! Some of you may know of my Cirque fascination (obsession, really), and I was quite thrilled to find that it was here while we are! We walked around the promenade for a bit and found a fabulous italian place for dinner. What a find! I got sweet potato risotto, and Jason got boar tortelini with these sliced apples, which was amazing. We headed over to the big blue and gold tent where Cirque is housed, right by the beach. [sigh] I so do miss the ocean, and was looking forward to running through the sand after the show!
The show was just incredible, and one of my favorites yet! Everything was just perfect. We walked down the stairs to find an ocean at the bottom. Apparently it was raining, and hey, where did I leave the umbrella? In the car, of course! We trudged through three oceans, and after waiting a bit to see if we could outlast the rain (it got heavier!) we gave up and made our way. The walk was around 15 minutes, which seriously became much, much further! As we were dashing into the garage, we walked by a homeless person sleeping outside, barely covered by the roofline. Sometimes it just takes a moment to put things into perspective.
We finally got to the car and were soaked. Thank goodness for heaters! I didn't have anytime to tie my hair back to contain the water running down my back, but thank goodness for Lance Armstrong and his bracelets! It sure did the trick and I was thankful. It's the little things, I know!! I probably won't hear the end of this for a while, which is only fair. I'm not sure that an umbrella would have kept us dry, but I might not have had water running down my back from my hair!!
Figured I could sleep in until 7 today, however, the universe had other plans. I got a new phone and set the alarm, very proud of myself for figuring out how to already! Apparently I need to figure out how to get it to reset the time. It's 6 am now and I'm wide awake! Drat! Fun day planned, with a visit to the Getty Villa and Museum and I think a drive on the Pacific Coast Highway. And coffee, lots and lots, and lots of coffee. :o)
Sam
No comments:
Post a Comment