At 7:00 a.m. we awoke to a beautiful sunrise through the curtains, which was actually reflected by the windows of a nearby tower block.
After breakfast we met the Hop-on Hop-off Tour Bus at the Convention Centre. We drove direct to Highway 101 to Hollywood. We saw the first 4 level highway intersection and a distant view of the Hollywood sign on the Hollywood Hills before arriving on Hollywood Boulevard near the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, famous for its celebrity hand and footprints embedded in the footpath. Adjacent to this is the Dolby Theatre, the venue for the Academy Awards presentations.
Los Angeles is such a big city that it takes five tour bus routes to cover all the sights, the hub being Hollywood Boulevard.
We returned to Downtown LA along Wilshire Boulevard to complete our tour around the art deco city centre. We saw the Frank Gehrey designed Walt Disney Concert Hall which is the home of the LA Philarmonic. This is one concert venue on Bunker Hill once the home of wealthy Victorians overlooking MacArthur Park (of ‘cake left out in the rain’ fame).
We continued to Chinatown with pedestrian friendly streets and decorated pedestrian crossings as well as the usual restaurants and food shops.
Nearby was Little Tokyo which celebrates things Japanese.
Next it was through LA’s original settlement of 1781 on Olvera Street known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles. Passing the Civic Centre, which at 27 storeys was the tallest building in LA at the beginning of the 20th century.
We drove through the Broadway Theatre District which we were informed is more like Broadway in New York City in its hey day. If a period film involves Broadway then this is where it is filmed. This part of the tour had art deco buildings lining the roads. Lots of the upper storeys have been converted into Loft Apartments for workers in the city.
In our hotel room is a book about Downtown LA and the following photographs show what it was like in the 1920s and 30s.
The trams of that time have long gone but have been replaced by a Rapid Transit System.
Some 3 1/2 hours later it was time for refreshment.