6th to 10th August
After hours of driving we finally arrive in Pasadena where we stayed for 5 days. As a cost-effective choice we booked an AirBnB where we stayed in a spare bedroom of someones house. Our host owned a beautiful house a few roads up the hill from the main high street of Pasadena and was very accommodating. Getting to the house late in the evening we went for a short drive into town for some dinner and went quickly to bed.
Day 1 was planned around exploring the Hollywood area. We're talking the stereotypical spots of LA, with arguably the most iconic sight of this town, the Hollywood sign. there is a walk between the neighborhoods here which made for a nice way to see the area in view of the sign.
This park by the beginning of the walk was full of people taking photos and recording videos, a common sight in this town. I'm in no way saying we didn't also take a few photos, but by no means did we milk this view to the extend some were. I'll never get use to people recording TikTok's...
I couldn't help taking a photo of this beautiful car. Reverse image search has revealed this to be a 1973 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, and I am certain that's what it is as my search just found this exact car - it's a bookable experience on GetYourGuide! Not that I had any idea of this when I was there at the time.
The walk was hot, dry and exactly like it is in the movies. This city has a strong familiarity that I expected but was still a bit baffled by.
After our short hike we drove up to the Griffith Observatory, a place (like many landmarks in LA) I recognize from playing GTA 5. We weren't able to go inside but the view from the small walkway around the front showed the whole city and ocean in the distance.
From the viewpoint we drove down to the Hollywood Walk of Fame to see all the famous names written on the floor. I was surprised to find out even fictional characters had been added to the list; hilariously Shrek has his own star in the walk. The stars have symbols to denote what category they were awarded the star from. These are Motion picture, Television, Radio, Recording, Live performance and Sports Entertainment.
Near the end of the road we peaked in to the Dolby Theatre and read the top movies aired per year. The names are written on tall glass columns that border the main footway in. We also passed the Original Grauman's Chinese Theater just next door where clearly Borderlands 3 was the feature film to see. I've never seen entrance-way decoration for a premier like it!
Add more (at least 1 image) of us going in shops here, maybe the Acai bowl place?
We grabbed an Acai bowl from nearby and while walking through a nearby market found this cute sweet stand. They really did seem to have every kind of "candy" you can imagine.
The night we arrived in LA I was on Atlas Obscura (first mentioned in my previous Milwaukee post), trying to find interesting things to do in town. This unassuming came up as a top unusual attraction. The outside is unassuming, but the interior may give away the significance of this place...
This is the Bradbury building. As you can see the interior is certainly unique, being a combination of beautiful glazed stone brick and wraught-iron railings and lifts. Any final guesses...?
Ok I'll tell you. This is one of the filming locations for the original Bladerunner film! It was in these walls that Harrison Ford fought the replicant in that penultimate scene. Now looking it up it's been featured in many other films as well - a common shoot location, especially among sci-fi pictures.
Another fun place to visit in Downtown LA is "The Last Bookshop". Across 2 stories is this labyrinth of books and displays. Large greek columns in the ground floor area made for a unique and interesting space.
Book bundles - a set of mystery books for someone based on a theme. A great idea! And I love the paper ink stamped wrapping tied together in string. No wonder they're almost completely sold out.
There was a lot to see in the shop. Lots of pieces of art (such as this floating scroll of paper spiralling out from a typewriter) littered the store. Mostly based upstairs there were a lot of these pieces.
As well as these bespoke pieces the shop featured local artist's work for sale. I especially liked a painting featuring a red barn in front of a mountain range (see the image below). One problem with long term backpacking is the inability to buy these sorts of souvenirs. It's not the purchase, but the transporting it home that adds the faff.
Between these points of interest were more books. They're all displayed on zig-zagging shelves making the whole upstairs feel like a maze.
They even have a "Certificate of Recognition" award from the "United States House of Representatives" commending them as a noteworthy small business.
After my girlfriend googled the best coffee shops in Downtown LA we decided to heat to Tilt. A coffee shop within the center of the city we were surprised to find it raised above the ground built atop another building. This pedestrian walkway took us to the two coffee shop buildings, covered in plants and suspending a large steel flower (a lotus flower?) between the shops. One building sold merchandise and coffee beans and the other operated as the actual coffee shop. We ordered 2 "cloud" coffees and despite the horrendous calorie count they were some of the best coffees we'd drank this whole time. If you find yourself in downtown LA definitely grab one while you're there!
For those who don't know the LA City Hall has a free viewing platform for a high viewpoint of LA from right in the center. The building itself looks a little like the capital building, excluding the palm trees.
Once we checked in with building security we were handed LAPD passes stating we were only allowed on the viewing platform levels. We were also given explicit instructions on how to get to the correct floors. Very considerate for them to print the guidance in multiple languages, something not too common across many USA attractions.
The image below is from the 26th floor. The walls are decorated with various mayors of Los Angeles. The room as a masonry masterpiece with beautiful beige stone and what I think are granite stairs.
The Mayor Tom Bradley room, one floor up is a small conference space with the outside viewing walkway around the edge.
The views from here on a clear day like this one was are fantastic. Unlike metropolises like New York being 27 floors up is enough to see right across the city. Sights from earlier in this article like the Hollywood sign and Griffith observatory can be seen from here.
Time to check out the iconic Venice Beach! The energy was certainly different here, mostly driven by the increase in people. Compared to the city center Venice Beach was very busy. Souvenir shops now dominate the section of the beach closest to the pier. I was impressed by this decal these guys were painting above this store, which I couldn't quite place. Is that the Seattle Space Needle?
We looked at a few shops, finding out lots of these merchandise places do custom prints for a small fee. I wouldn't have put that as a specific thing people would want from a shop but it must be popular as half the stores were advertising for it.
After a quick ice cream and watching the skateboarders, cyclists and roller skaters roll by we wandered towards the famous Santa Monica pier. This part of the beach has a large outdoor gym on the inside of the path. Very busy and quite extensive, you could watch calisthenics professionals do all sorts of gymnastics here all day. We tried climbing the hanging rope but both of us couldn't get very high, me only about 3 feet off the ground. I was never a gymnast.
While walking towards the pier someone ran up to us with a polaroid. I assumed he was selling pictures and politely declined, but was mistaken; This polaroid photographer had taken a picture of my girlfriend and I walking into the sun towards the pier and simply wanted us to have it. Touched by this we accepted and thanked him. The polaroid is a similar shot to the one below and lives happily on my girlfriends desk to this day. If by any chance you ended up on this page of the internet Venice Beach photographer, thank you! You made our day.
The pier itself is a mixture of carnival rides and shops. It is also the site of the end of route 66, one of the most famous roads in America. It was just a month or so ago when I was in Chicago and found the other end of that famous road and am happy to report I have photos of myself at both ends. Now I just need to drive it!
The image below is of the very end of the pier after the section with the rides. Despite the fact we arrived at sunset people were still fishing off the end.
Out of everything on this pier I think this shop is my favourite. Anyone who's seen Forrest Gump will recognise the name Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. I do regret not getting one of their stitched caps, even just to recreate the photo of Forrest running across the USA. By this point in the trip I had the beard to match and would have been a striking resemblance of him in that scene.
That just about covers our activities in Los Angeles! There's so much more to see in this city but we'll have to save it for another trip.
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