LA
more hanging out with Rosa
15.08.2009
In all the years I've lived in the US, LA never sounded appealing to me and I actually never went until now (I was there briefly 13 years ago). This time probably only because Rosa's family lives here and I was invited so many times that I really wanted to go before taking off.
We went to Santa Monica then Venice Beach. Tons of cops were swarming the beach in their vehicles and a LAPD helicopter was even flying over many times. We found out that some kid was lost and they were searching for him. Luckily the kid was found eventually – probably some stupid kid not listening to his parents and staying in the water way longer than he should have. I was and am still wondering who will pay for LAPD searches like that - tax payers??
Typical LA beach scene: almost naked (ugly) guys weight lifting and posing for pictures (gross), Botox on the Beach, medical marijuana, hoodlums, tattoo parlors, piercings, hot lifeguards, dodgy stores, stereotypical beach bums and whatever else people desire to see, LA has it all!
The next day we headed to the Getty Museum, what an awesome architectural place. We stayed there for quite some time looking at different exhibitions, sitting in the gardens and enjoying the views over LA, at least what could be seen in the smog! I particularly enjoyed the “ Foundry to Finish: The Make of a Bronze Sculpture”, a step-by-step introduction to making a sculpture.
Then we drove the edges of UCLA and saw some amazing houses. Actually we could never really see the houses/palaces since they were hidden behind huge walls, trees and entree gates and some even had permanent armed guards!
On Wednesday we headed over to East LA for the best fish tacos ever, they were amazing. After a brief visit to Olvera Street, the birthplace of Los Angeles, we actually went home in the early afternoon. We were just too tired from all the sightseeing, staying up late and eating we had been doing for the last week. Furthermore two of Rosa's sisters and the twin nephews came to visit from the Bay Area and we wanted to be there when they came. It was great to see them again and it was fun to be around so many people.
What can I say, I am still not keen on LA. It is way too big, the traffic is insane, it's hot and the smog is terrible (it looked like it was super foggy all the time) but nevertheless I still had a fabulous time!
