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Walking Tours |
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It sound incorrect to say, but no city is better for walking tours than LA. The diversity of areas gives us walking tours and spots in a wider variety of settings than most cities have. We have mountain/forest walks, beach walks, gardens, lakes, downtown, Beverly Hills and a lot of funky neighborhoods. Free walking tours are just everywhere. It is just that they are… Well Hidden Walking Tours Since most of us live here, I suggest taking the free guided tours first. You can always return or stay longer to check out what interests you. There are books on the subject of walking tours in Los Angeles. The internet has a ton of free maps too. Often I find walking tours after visiting a spot or a website about that place. Downtown was chosen because it has changed much over the years yet still has lots of history and things to see. Downtown has so many things to do it was impossible to choose and plan out my walk in advance. After you click on the google map below and take a closer look, you will see downtown has way too many places to see in one day. Instead I just headed out and decided to take the map with me and start at the Bradbury Building. The 10 Fwy headed east was absolutely packed so I got off right away and started cruising down Adams Blvd. At the corner of Adams and Figueroa I noticed a door open at Saint Vincent Church. Having never seen it, curiosity got the better of me. Once inside it was a little too dark for good pictures but I can honestly say this is… The Most Ornate Church in LA! All the stained glass is original and beautiful. There are scenes from the bible in the wood panels, the many windows, tile mosaics and of course there was the requisite statuary. Once outside I noticed a small sign on a pole denoting this as one stop on a self guided walking tour. Here I am headed to downtown LA to blog about my own walking tour and discovered a walking tour which was completely new to me. Across the street is another building from the early 1920s. It is the original home of AAA and it turned out to be one of the… Many Hidden Gems Discovered Today The parking lot had very old highway signs with the telltale signs of authenticity (bullet holes). There was a cross cut section of a giant Sequoia tree and inside there was a very cool old ford pickup. The truck in the pictures used to roam the highway cleaning up glass and debris after auto accidents. Nearby is the Doheny Campus of Mount St. Mary’s College and next to it is a house famous for the… Many Wild Parties and Continuing to downtown, I was determined to get some pictures of the Bradbury Building and then go from there. The Bradbury Building was made famous by the movie Blade Runner. Most of downtown is a mixture of the very old and the very new buildings. The Bradbury is lost in between. It was built a long time ago and designed to be very futuristic. It ended up with a very steam punk look. You half expect to hear pistons and gears working when you enter. After the Bradbury Building it was time to see… Angel’s Flight Angels Flight is an old landmark of downtown. It is basically a two car cable system or tram which ascends Bunker Hill. They were making it operational again but funding fell through. In one picture below, you can see one car through the middle of the other. Many of the buildings in downtown have sides built butt up against other buildings so they are made without windows on those sides. Sometimes these other buildings get torn down and everyone can see one side of the building has no windows. In the photographs you can see someone fixed this by painting some windows where there should be real windows. They Even Painted A Mural of Window Washers! The mural used to have one of the window washers dangling from the platform but it was the cause of too many 911 calls. Across the street is a bar famous for having an angled mirror behind the bar so you can look up the short skirts of the bartenders. At this point it was tempting to make this the Blade Runner Walking Tour because the Westin Bonaventure Hotel which, was also made famous in Blade Runner, is just up the street. Instead I decided to check out city hall and the area around it. There was a storefront which was closed but through the window you could see a modern art piece of what looks like an undead woman riding a bull. Could it be a criticism of wall street? I also discovered a lot of little outdoor areas I had not seen before. I especially like the fountain which looks like a sphere. Another thing I learned is... Los Angeles Has Many Sister Cities! we have many sister cities as denoted by the sign near city hall. You can see it in a picture below. I'd like to send a special shout out to Yerevan. Not only did I not know you were a sister city but I had never heard of you. Once I knew Yerevan was a siter city, I launched an investigation (checked wikipedia) and discovered it is the city which has been continually inhabited longer than any other city in the world. Go Yerevan! Anyway, from here I’ll let the photos do the talking. On the way home I spotted a great view of downtown from the freeway so I exited and back tracked to the spot and found a great little park with an awesome view of the downtown skyline. I'll save that for another day. Personally I like self guided tours and you can find them everywhere. Start with the Angel City Tour but keep an eye out for free guided tours. Free guided tours are everywhere. They give them in many sections of downtown, The Mount Wilson Observatory, Parks, Museums and every type of place you can think of. Downtown has so much to see, you simply couldn’t do it all in one day or even one weekend. The following is a list of just what came off the top of my head: Boneventure Each one of these spots deserves its own page. Note on parking: Some people may say this isn't free because it costs to park almost anywhere in downtown.
The way I see it, to get here you are either in walking distance, taking a bike, riding public transport or driving your car. Obviously walking is free along with riding a bike. If you park the car and take the train, it will not only add adventure to the whole day...
It Costs Less Than Single Gallon of Gas So it is free. Plus, if you don't buy that argument I did find free parking. As I said you just have to be willing to walk a few blocks. It was on the West side of the 110 Near Temple. All that being said, I do have a little admission. I have a cheater pass for parking. If you have a truck, van or any vehicle with a loading door you can pay a little extra and get commercial plates. Mine let me park in loading zones. So I did park for free, found free parking for sticklers and still say it is fun top take the train in.
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