Los Angeles: Downtown in 5 hours

(Orginally published 19/3/13 on rantsofabitternortherner. Given a new home July 2013)

So as promised here is Los Angeles in several instalments, starting with the speed tourism of Downtown. Now ideally, if you are taking the lengthy journey to LA, I would advise a couple of days to do Downtown as there is actually a lot of stuff to see and it is well spread out. They say you need a car to live in LA; they aren't lying. A car is essential, though they do have a subway service as well as buses and light railway services. Public Transport is fine for shorter journies but a rented car is just easier and you can pick up from the airport or various places in LA, and it is really cheap, especially if you book in advance!

A great starting point for a venture in Downtown, is Union Station. There are various small and reasonably priced parking areas around there and you are a stones throw from the El Pueblo de Los Angeles, which is awesome!

The beautiful exterior of Union Station, with it's towering arches and bold white clock tower, flanked of course by bandy legged palms. Welcome to LA!

But its when you get inside to explore, that the magic really happens. It's Art Deco furnishings, all tiles and marble and mosaics, give it such a feeling of grandeur and luxury, that it almost doesn't feel like you're in a train station at all. There are gardens on either side, with fountains, more mosaics and an array of flowers and plants most Britains would only see in a visit to The Eden Project or Kew Gardens.

And what is even better.........This is rush hour on a Wednesday in October. Wow, the rush!

It's so chilled and relaxing in there, I urge you just to spend a few minutes in one of the famous seats (famous to me from the TV series Alias) and read a book or just sit and people watch, or just enjoy the inevitable Californian sun shining through those windows shedding light on the beauty of this remarkable building. For those TV buffs, it has also been used in 24 and lots of films too and you can see why. So if you want to be Jack Bauer saving the world or be Sydney Bristow and Vaughn having a secret meeting, pretending they don't know each other, back to back on the seats........We did not do this by the way....No no. 

Okay, the long and short of it is:

• Union Station is beautiful

• Go there if only for ten minutes to walk around

• Soak up the Art Deco furnishings

• Sit in the very comfortable seating area

• Grab a coffee

• If you have time act out your favourite Union Station moment

Now just across the road is the El Pueblo de Los Angeles, home to the oldest buildings in LA, celebrating not only the Mexican cultures of the families that founded it, but also the Chinese, Italian and French that arrived afterwards.  It is a tiny area crammed between two streets but there is so much to see.

Shown here are the Old Plaza Firehouse, which is open daily and free to look around. Expect fire helmets through the ages and some interesting pre-engine Fire engines. You can also see Pico House which was LA's first three storey structure and used to be a hotel. Now it houses various art exhibitions. Where the trees are is the Old Plaza, a central square (or circle in this case) with bandstand and benches. Lots of interesting cultural events happen here.

Fire Helmets through the Ages

The Old Plaza

Now, also in the Firehouse is a lovely group of volunteers that offer free tours of the Pueblo for anyone and everyone. Our tour guide Marilyn was so sweet and even though she had a tour to do in half an hour, she still fit us in with a brief walking tour and gave us lots of options for our continued exploration of Downtown. Lovely, friendly, helpful people and free free tours! They are local people with a great knowledge of El Pueblo and the local area. So ask your questions, ask advice on the best place to eat, they are more than happy to help and share their experiences.

Now if you were unlucky enough to find no tours or helpful people, then El Pueblo is more than small enough to navigate yourself around and has plenty to look at. Olvera Street Market is a great place to soak up the Mexican culture, with stalls bursting with colour and creativity, smiles, delicious smells and interesting gifts. There are plenty of opportunities to grab a bite of Mexicana with taco stands and restaurants with waiters in traditional dress, or more low key cafes where you can grab hot tamales, rice and beans for about $7. Yum!

Also along Olvera street is the oldest house in LA - Avila Adobe 1818. This is free to get in and free talks are given by local people dressed in period dress, discussing life in the 1940's and the history of the house.

It's kind of fun to just wander the market and soak up the interesting architecture and the way they have retained the original character of the buildings but kept them fresh and interesting.

Also along Olvera Street is Sepulveda House containing the El Pueblo visitors centre and America tropical, a controversial and extremely rare mural by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros, charting the exploitation of Mexican workers.

Ending up back at Old Plaza, if you're lucky enough to be there end of October/beginning of November then you are likely to encounter some sort of Day of the Dead festivities. Now, gloomy as it sounds, this is big, colourful and completely takes over El Pueblo. We managed to catch a dance rehearsal and bought some interesting souvenirs and cards. (Watch out for the Day of the Dead Wedding cards....brilliant!)

So now, leaving the Pueblo you can already see the iconic tower of City Hall, seen in so many TV shows and films and such a beautiful building. For many years it was the tallest building in LA. You get the sense from this picture that things are close by, but it's all an illusion. Still, if there's one thing I like to do, it's to get to grips with a new city and walk around, especially with that sun beating down on me.

It is possible to enter the rotunda and take a free tour of City Hall. Alas we didn't have time, but it's definitely on the list for next time. (So many free tours. The city of LA really doesn't want you to pay for anything.)

 

Okay, so City Hall is one of my favourite buildings in LA. So here are two more shots. There's just something about it. So striking and I love that it isn't surrounded by buildings that out tower it, or out beauty it in any way. It's just allowed to breathe and be. (Okay, next time I am definitely going in. They might not get me out again.)

Wandering the massive streets of Downtown, you get a sense of the size of the place. It may only be a tiny area of the City of LA, but it would take hours to walk the streets and take in all the sights. Still, once you are walking there are plenty of interesting/slightly geeky sights to see. I especially enjoyed seeing The Sister Cities Sign and saying, "Oh, I've been there." Or, "Ooo, I want to go there." And there are a lot of them.

For any Offspring fans out there, you will have to physically force yourself to stop singing 'LAPD' as you walk past the LAPD building. It's not worth it, trust me. Though by all means sing along in your head and smile. Their building is ultra modern actually and across the road from an equally modern and also kind of weird Transport building:

LAPD

Weird!

Then if you take a turn on West 1st Street, you can swing by The LA Times building, take another free tour or if you don't have time then you can just check out the free exhibit on the ground floor. Cool building and it's interesting to see how the paper has evolved in the 21st Century. 

Continuing up West 1st street you finally get a glimpse of the cluster of high rises comprising the banking district. Such a well seen view, though usually more aerial then ground level. Think Alias, Chuck, Numbers, 24, anything set in LA really and you'll know what I'm talking about.

On the corner of 1st Street and Grand Avenue you meet the Music Centre and the Walt Disney Hall, home of the LA Philharmonic Orchestra and an architectural beauty.

Wow!

Head inside even if there's nothing showing because guess what? You can get a free tour. It's a self guided tour. All you have to do is sign in as a visitor and get your wonderful sticker and set off. It's all about angles and space and shape and light. And it is truly magnificent. The very asymmetry of it is strangely stabilising but there was no way I could get my head around it. Magic?

There's a roof top balcony, as well as gardens, an out door amphitheatre, gift shop and cafe. Sadly, unless it is a performance you are not permitted in the actual performance space but if you're speed touring then this is enough to give you a thirst for more. (Next time we'll take in a show).

Oh and watch out for 'wannabe' actors and models having photo shoots dressed in tight dresses and ridiculously high heels. It's obviously a great place to be photographed! Plus it made me giggle.

All about the angles!

Taking Grand Avenue South, you head towards the high rise district and LA's lovely little cluster of giants. I love that it's not all high rise, that there are all these spaces and smaller buildings. It really creates such a different feeling than say New York where everything just feels so big and domineering. LA is a huge place but it has all these pockets of air, these spaces to breathe and you never know what's going to be around the next corner.

Along Grand Avenue is the Museum of Contemporary Art and The Wells Fargo History Museum. But it's mainly all about the modern giants, eating away at the sky, making you feel exactly what you are, tiny and insignificant, just another ant in the colony.

I love this reflection!

Combination of shapes and angles.

The Heli Pad building from Alias (AKA US Bank Tower)

I actually went in the lobby of the Heli Pad Building from Alias (to give it its proper title.) Giddy. And sad, I know but it was literally on every episode in Alias. You see it and it's like, wow, where's Sydney? Oh wait, she's probably on mission somewhere. (By the way, I do understand it's not real, but my mind is a warp of fantasy and it's fun to live there.)

Take West 5th street to see The Central Library and Bunker Hill Steps, two beautiful staples of Downtown. The Library has free tours which usually take around an hour and fifteen minutes. They are super interesting but we had no where near this much time, so we asked for a twenty minute one and got fifty minutes. Those lovely Americans really do love to talk. But it was really cool, especially for a writer. American libraries are just so much nicer than most of our libraries. Honestly, I would probably live in Kentish Town Library if it looked like LA Central Library, so grand and again, luxurious!

The Library

It's beautiful tower top

I liked the inscription.

The entrance.

I won't ruin the tour for you as it is actually really interesting, but there are a few awesome sights that you shouldn't miss:

The original torch from the roof.

 

The 48 light bulbs for the 48 states at the time it was made.

The new atrium with crazy mobiles.

 An amazing use of the now discarded, card catalogue filing system. They fill the lift shaft so that when you are moving you see them all. I even managed to focus on a very British one: Shakespeare. As our tour guide said, you always find something relative to you.

We just had a little time to wander the streets to find a taxi to take us back to the car and whilst doing so saw some classic American architecture: It's all about the fire escapes. And we even managed to catch a glimpse of China Town through the cab window.

There is still a lot to see in Downtown, least of all China Town and Little Tokyo. But also gems such as Grand Central Market, the Museum of Neon Art (no I'm not kidding and that sounds awesome!) and the LA Live centre, with music venues, sports and entertainment. But if you have a very short time, I've proven you can see and do much and on an extremely small budget. We only paid parking, lunch and taxi. Everything was free, all the tours and places of interest. It's great! I honestly wasn't sure I would like LA but from that first few hours in Downtown, I loved it! The people, the vibe, the mix of old and new. The architecture, the innovation and the beauty. And that was such a small segment of a massive City. 

Now, in terms of places to stay,  LA is huge so you just want to find something suitable for you. If you want to be nearer the beaches, then go for it. Check out the usual air b'n'b, hotels.com and lastminute.com. There are always deals and with air b'n'b you often get whole apartments to yourself. We stayed in the Echo Park area which was phenomenal and you got to wake up to views over the whole City. If you can stay on higher ground it just gives you that lift and makes you feel out of the City, yet still close enough you can touch it. 

Watch out for the temperature fluxes. It gets very chilly at night, especially out of the confines of the 'Inner

City'. So no matter what time of year you go, make sure you have a decent jumper. I ended up wearing the jumper I'd taken for the East Coast - was not expecting to need it. It almost has that desert mentality. Extremes of temperature.

Now that's all for Downtown but next time I'll be reporting on two of LA's most fabulous beaches. I hope this inspires you to visit. It honestly shocked me. I never thought I could fall for a place like LA. (Genuine sentiment, no sarcasm!)

The Sarky Traveller