I was kind of half-expecting to hate Los Angeles - I put it on my itinerary because I figured it was the kind of place everyone should see... but maybe only once. It has to be said, my first impressions after arriving at the airport were pretty dire. The bus ride towards downtown takes you through deeply ugly low-rise suburbs, scarred by the many intersecting wide freeways and flyovers that you associate with LA. However, it soon got better.
Los Angeles covers a huge area. At least for visitors, it is not obvious where the city actually ends, with some districts commonly thought of as part of the city, such as Santa Monica and West Hollywood, actually being independent cities within the wider county of Los Angeles. Everyone knows that LA is the city where the car is king - in fairness, the sheer size of the city, even of individual districts (this is not the land of high-rise living), pretty much dictates this. Although actually, there is more public transport than you might expect. There is a Metro system with five lines, which is remarkably cheap and even fairly pleasant (with touches such as art installations in stations). However, this number of lines only scratches the surface of the city's mammoth size. It's complemented by a substantial network of bus routes. However, the chances of finding a direct route for wherever it is you want to go are pretty slim, meaning you'll need to change - and many bus routes only run about twice an hour. And due again to the vast overall size of the city, you'll also possibly still have a long walk at one end or both ends of your journey. And to boot, information on routes and times is often either incredibly difficult to follow or just entirely absent (I am appreciating more and more on this trip just how thankful Londoners should be for the mostly superb standard of information provided by Transport for London). Lonely Planet, which is normally pretty well attuned to the diverse circumstances of its readers, pretty much takes it for granted that all visitors will hire a car. As I don't drive however, I spent a lot of time just trying to get around LA, albeit in all cases I eventually managed it.
With warnings ringing in my ears from a backpacker in Auckland about the vital importance of being well organised before you arrive (for the reasons outlined above), I'd booked a hostel in Hollywood, mainly because it had a remarkable location right at the heart of Hollywood Boulevard and literally opposite a Metro station. I'm not the type ever likely to get hugely excited about Hollywood because I'm just not much of a fan of its films (generally preferring indie and European cinema) or of celebrity culture - but it was worthwhile to spend maybe an hour having a wander around anyway. I saw the legendary Hollywood sign (from fairly afar), and the famous Walk of Fame on and around Hollywood Boulevard, where hundreds of stars from the entertainment world have their names in gold on individual paving stones. Additionally, outside the equally famous (and sort of impressive if possibly rather grotesque at the same time) Grauman's Chinese Theatre, are imprints in concrete of the hands and/or feet of megastars such as George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Of course, many A-listers live around Hollywood, and, believe it or not, one of the major things to do is to take a bus tour around their homes. Should you prefer to do it yourself, you can buy a "movie star map" showing you where to go. Strangely enough, I managed to resist this particular 'pleasure'...
With warnings ringing in my ears from a backpacker in Auckland about the vital importance of being well organised before you arrive (for the reasons outlined above), I'd booked a hostel in Hollywood, mainly because it had a remarkable location right at the heart of Hollywood Boulevard and literally opposite a Metro station. I'm not the type ever likely to get hugely excited about Hollywood because I'm just not much of a fan of its films (generally preferring indie and European cinema) or of celebrity culture - but it was worthwhile to spend maybe an hour having a wander around anyway. I saw the legendary Hollywood sign (from fairly afar), and the famous Walk of Fame on and around Hollywood Boulevard, where hundreds of stars from the entertainment world have their names in gold on individual paving stones. Additionally, outside the equally famous (and sort of impressive if possibly rather grotesque at the same time) Grauman's Chinese Theatre, are imprints in concrete of the hands and/or feet of megastars such as George Clooney and Meryl Streep. Of course, many A-listers live around Hollywood, and, believe it or not, one of the major things to do is to take a bus tour around their homes. Should you prefer to do it yourself, you can buy a "movie star map" showing you where to go. Strangely enough, I managed to resist this particular 'pleasure'...
I soon left Hollywood behind to explore the Downtown area. I was there over the weekend when it was largely pretty deserted - while it acts as the city's business district and civic centre, it isn't the area where most people spend their leisure time. Some areas of Downtown are clearly a bit dodgy, and the random strolling I initially did before I'd managed to acquire a guidebook isn't entirely something I'd recommend - however once I knew clearly where I was going, a targeted walkaround was very enjoyable.
Downtown is dominated by the massive, towering and gracefully imposing 1928 City Hall, some 138m high in off-white concrete. However there is also highly impressive and contrasting modern architecture to admire, particularly the Walt Disney Concert Hall which is externally comprised of various sharply angular but curved elements which loosely resemble sails on a boat. It's pretty stunning and I can't think that I've seen anything else much like it Although it hasn't got any of the jaw-dropping setting, with its 1980s/1990s design you could possibly suggest it's a bit of a modern-day Sydney Opera House.
Walt Disney Concert Hall [picture pulled off Internet]
One area that definitely is populated at the weekend is El Pueblo de Los Angeles, the oldest area in the city. This features a lovely pedestrianised plaza, and a busy and charming Mexican market at Olvera Street, complete with Mexican street entertainers. With grand old buildings in this area such as Pico House and Old Plaza Firehouse, this is a great buzzy, multicultural and historic area to spend a bit of time, which doesn't really fit at all with my preconceptions of LA. Also elsewhere in Downtown there is some remarkably cheap if shabby shopping, with genres of store clustered together into a "Fashion District", "Jewellry District" and so on.
El Pueblo de Los Angeles [picture pulled off Internet]
Just to complete a thoroughly enjoyable day in Downtown is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), which is without doubt the best modern art museum I've seen anywhere, seemingly featuring work by a complete roll-call of the greats. I loved it and if modern/contemporary art is even slightly your thing, this is an absolute must-see, period.
After Downtown, I spent another day down at the waterfront. Santa Monica is famous partially for its pier, which frankly seems to have less charm and no more glitz than any other pier you might go and see. However strolling along the beach, with its myriad beach volleyball courts and seriously buff topless guys was great fun. Also on the beach is, er, a designated chess-playing area, complete with numerous boards built into tables and one giant board complete with giant pieces. Santa Monica also has a very pleasant pedestrianised high street - it's completely chain-ified with not an independent store in sight, but on a nice day it beats a mall hands-down as a shopping experience.
Further along the shoreline is Venice Beach, which could generously be described as
"alternative", with a busy line-up of stalls and shops peddling reggae CDs, bracelets, paintings, new age supplies and so on. (I was asked several times by merchants if I wanted to buy reggae CDs - I did consider asking if they had any Linda Bengtzing but figured the joke would be a little wasted!) The atmosphere was sort of interesting to briefly observe, but otherwise it was a tad underwhelming to me at least - if you are into reggae and dreadlocks however, you might well love it. Much nicer and without a hint of the grunginess, only a few blocks away from the beach, was Venice Canal Walk. This is genuinely idyllic, spotlessly clean and totally peaceful with charming multi-coloured houses and I could easily have spent much more time wandering around than I had available.
I also made it out to Beverly Hills, an undeniably chic, spotless and pleasantly calm area, in order to visit the Museum of Tolerance, which chronicles and explores bigotry and intolerance in all its forms. Sadly, they have airport-style security there, meaning I imagine that it is believed to be a target for extremists of one type or another. I got a taste of just how car-oriented LA is when they informed me that I couldn't bring any fluids in and there were no cloakroom facilities - they clearly expect everyone to drive there and to just leave any water etc in the car. As I was unwilling to abandon the water I'd brought with me for the whole day, I eventually persuaded them after taking a sip of my water in front of them to let me keep it, but it was clearly an exception and it was as if I was the first water-carrying pedestrian they'd ever seen! Amongst the exhibits there was an excellent if shocking multimedia display tracking the myriad extremist websites out there preaching every kind of hate you can imagine - quite sobering to see for someone who's never exactly gone looking for them. The Internet is a double-edged sword indeed.
Further along the shoreline is Venice Beach, which could generously be described as
"alternative", with a busy line-up of stalls and shops peddling reggae CDs, bracelets, paintings, new age supplies and so on. (I was asked several times by merchants if I wanted to buy reggae CDs - I did consider asking if they had any Linda Bengtzing but figured the joke would be a little wasted!) The atmosphere was sort of interesting to briefly observe, but otherwise it was a tad underwhelming to me at least - if you are into reggae and dreadlocks however, you might well love it. Much nicer and without a hint of the grunginess, only a few blocks away from the beach, was Venice Canal Walk. This is genuinely idyllic, spotlessly clean and totally peaceful with charming multi-coloured houses and I could easily have spent much more time wandering around than I had available.
I also made it out to Beverly Hills, an undeniably chic, spotless and pleasantly calm area, in order to visit the Museum of Tolerance, which chronicles and explores bigotry and intolerance in all its forms. Sadly, they have airport-style security there, meaning I imagine that it is believed to be a target for extremists of one type or another. I got a taste of just how car-oriented LA is when they informed me that I couldn't bring any fluids in and there were no cloakroom facilities - they clearly expect everyone to drive there and to just leave any water etc in the car. As I was unwilling to abandon the water I'd brought with me for the whole day, I eventually persuaded them after taking a sip of my water in front of them to let me keep it, but it was clearly an exception and it was as if I was the first water-carrying pedestrian they'd ever seen! Amongst the exhibits there was an excellent if shocking multimedia display tracking the myriad extremist websites out there preaching every kind of hate you can imagine - quite sobering to see for someone who's never exactly gone looking for them. The Internet is a double-edged sword indeed.
I also had a stroll through West Hollywood, another relaxed and chic area which seems to be pretty much defined by its gay population and scene. I'd never seen so many rainbow flags in one district and most of the people out on the streets (in the very early evening midweek) seemed to be gay men - bearing in mind that in true LA style, the area stretches out over several miles. However, between what I'd read about the nature of the LA scene but particularly the difficulty of safely getting there and back late at night from where I was staying in Hollywood, I ended up not actually going there for a night out. Infuriatingly, I'd actually arrived in LA just as the Pride weekend was starting - but by the time I realised this (LA not exactly being the sort of city where you 'can't miss' something happening elsewhere in town), it was more or less at an end. Whoops - not a mistake I intend to make again when travelling.
If you know anything at all about my political persuasion, you'll be able to guess roughly what I think of the levels of inequality in the US. You didn't have to look too hard to see some of the downsides of the American dream. There are a lot of people begging on the streets, some of whom clearly have mental health issues. Vandalism is clearly rife - for example you won't find a public toilet (sorry, "restroom") that you don't need to get a key or a combination by making a purchase to open. And the Greyhound bus station is apparently in virtually a no-go area after dark, when you're advised to get a taxi to come or go - at the risk of being naive, I'm not really aware that such areas really exist in London. I've read LA described as the "city of private places", and public space seemed to be in pretty short supply. However, I'd have to admit that it didn't feel as wild or as barbarous overall as I might like to sometimes assume when I'm eating my muesli a stone's throw from Islington. I wouldn't presume to have got a sense of what it's like to actually live here - except to note that if you live in somewhere like Beverly Hills you seem to be buying yourself great physical separation from the city's social problems.
As I'd gleefully anticipated after the so-so winter weather in Australia and truly horrible conditions in New Zealand, the LA weather was mostly lovely - really pleasantly warm and bright without a trace of humidity. The hostel receptionist complained to me that it was well below average and (shock horror!) a little cold early in the morning - if that was poor weather, I'll take it please!
When it's that nice it's difficult not to enjoy yourself just walking around and soaking up the sunshine, but genuinely I was pleasantly surprised by LA. It goes without saying that it's not the kind of place I could contemplate living in, and overall I'm probably not likely to rush back given all the other places on my travel wishlist, but up to a point I really can see the attraction of the place. It is very calm and surprisingly well organised, with for the most part a well maintained feel - felt more like a place on planet Earth, and in the civilised West at that, than I expected. And no doubt I'm very glad to have seen it.
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