LA-dventure

So many people have a far-off, lifelong dream to go to Los Angeles; some people live in LA their whole lives but never seem to realize it. I refuse to be the kind of local that overlooks the unique specialness of my city. Every so often when I get the chance, I take advantage of my proximity to this vast and diverse downtown, and I never regret it.

Today’s itinerary looked like this (with pictures!) :

1. Metro. Gold line to Red line @ Pershing Square.
2. A short walk to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)

3. In MOCA: Appreciating beautiful and overwhelming and confusing but overall eclectic pieces of art. (And often taking pictures in front of it)

though we walk in the dark

we sit before him, children – children of the light

4. Walt Disney Concert Hall

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5. A stop in the Park (Pershing Square)

6. Late lunch in Grand Central Market :-)

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Grand Central Market was AMAZING. this one has been on my to-do list for over a year and it did not disappoint. it looked like those scenes in movies when they go to the biggest market of the city in another country, with stacks of fresh produce and spices and a million places to eat, and hustle and bustle and packed talking noise all in a small place. I got a grilled salmon avocado sushi roll, while Rachel had Thai food and Skye had a burrito. It was so amazing to see food from so many different countries in one spot; that packed diversity is what I believe Los Angeles is all about.

7. A stop in the historic Bradbury Building.

I’d read about the Bradbury Building and really expected the whole thing to be a letdown that travel articles had talked up too much… but when I opened the door and stepped inside, I caught my breath. Have you seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? This building looked like the set of that. Like 1920’s government buildings, caged elevators on steel cables (still in operation), white light streaming through the ceiling onto the bricks below. Just, striking.

8. A Metro ride back to Azusa.

“Then it suddenly occurred to me that, in all the world, there neither was nor would ever be another place like this City of the Angels. Here the American people were erupting, like lava from a volcano; here, indeed, was the place for me— a ringside seat at the circus.”

-Carey McWilliams, excerpt of an essay published on (literally on, as in, cemented into) Pershing Square.