Day 13; A day in Santa Barbara

Never minding the sun allergies that have been crawling over me since a couple of days ago I wanted to see more than Los Angeles. There were 3 possible destinations; Grand Canyon, San Francisco and Santa Barbara. Since San Francisco and Grand Canyon are both longer trips that would include a sleep over--in this shape of condition--I decided on Santa Barbara. A 2 hour drive north of Los Angeles.

What first fascinated me about this city is that the population is merely 89.000 people. It's a small and warm town. With clear and calm waters and a beautiful beach-side walking and cycling track.

First I drove all the way up to Santa Barbara pier--90 minute free parking validated from the restaurant--to have lunch. My view from the pier Restaurant window was at the whole Santa Barbara beach left, right, up, down...this is my favorite one...

Lunch was brilliant. A Lobster taco, homemade, and of course another Martini to get my mind buzzin. I fugired; I'm only in Santa Barbara for one day...I'm going to live it up.

After lunch I went sight seeing to the most talked about places in Santa Barbara. First the Courthouse. A beautiful building that one would not think it's even close to being a Courthouse... This is again my favorite view of the Courthouse from the Santa Barbara Tower.

I was able to go inside and look around. Everything free of charge which was a welcome fact. What most impressed me was a hallway window and the hallway itself which speaks volumes of the time when this Courthouse was first built; the 17th century.

After chillin on the grass in the Courthouse courtyard I made my way to the Old Mission. It was really peaceful there. All the time I kept thinking; No car sounds, no highway buzzes, no buses, no nothing. Just the scenery.

Since the 75 minutes of free parking in the uptown Santa Barbara parking garage were coming up I swung by my parking spot...

...threw myself a peace sign...

...left my "footprints in the sand"...

...and drove back to Los Angeles. A trip I would recommend everyone to take. Especially those who want to enjoy bathing in calm sea, good food, loads of free parking, wonderful scenery and much more.

Day 11; Disney Palace

Taking a day just to stroll around the neighborhood...but first I still hat the itch to photograph the famous Beverly Hills sign. I drove up to Santa Monica blvd. Parked on one of the most beautiful streets in Beverly Hills...Hillcrest...

...and then continued on foot to take the picture I so wanted to take. It always gets me when I see this sign no matter how many times before I saw it.

Then I went back to my neighborhood. I wanted to se the palace, the concert hall that was built in honor of Mr Walt Disney. Took my breath away to see this abstract structure rise before my eyes.

every curve reminded me of the Walt Disney initials...there were Ws and Ds dancing all around. Could not quite decide from which perspective to take the photos. Then I narrowed it down to; the grand entrance...

...and the Walt Disney Concert Hall engraved sign on the right side of the entrance...

...I could not get enough so I kept on watching the building till the sun went down. It's another great memory that I'll take home with me.

Day 9; Terminator

You never know where the road is really going to take you. I decided to visit my favorite theme park but on the way remembered I forgot to get the cash I needed for the daily escapades. Since I only use branch bank ATMs I neede to find Chase or similar branch to do my thing and get the green.

I turned out to be quite an outing with some unexpected sightseeing... First I run into 101 sign that I had to take a picture of since the signs, like this one, are placed on the ground... weird but good so you know exactly where to turn.

Walking across the freeway bridge it was unusual to see the fence being so high.

You'll never guess who I run into while looking for Chase...me. And if you can guess how I did that I will personally buy you a cup of coffe when I get back home.

After meeting myself I saw something I could not believe. The Terminator filming site and the LA River!

Since I had not let them know in advance I was coming (because I did not know myself I was coming) I could not go in but I still got some pretty explanatory pictures made of the spot where the motorbike crossed onto the LA River site.

And me again...cannot hide my excitement...ever.

So, after getting my cash I got an awakening sign on the way back.

And needing some shade after this few hour hike I sat myself down and waited for the free Universal bus to take me home.

Day 7; House Hunting

Skipped day 6, since it was a travel day for me, right to Sunday when I enjoyed my very first full day in LA. As the sun came up I decided to go straight to Beverly Hills. My purpose; house hunting.

On top of my list; Tower Road and San Ysidro Drive. So you can imagine my heart lept when I drove up to this crossroad (BH meaning Beverly Hills)...

I took a left and immediately found myself on the very road that Mr Jack Lemmon used to drive to work and back. The feeling was surreal. Like I was back in the 50ies.

  

So after I got my bearings I saw it. The entrance to my dream house. You can't see it from this side of the street, but believe me it's a place of heaven. And the view is spectacular. You can see the whole Los Angeles area. So, for now, the entrance (since I did not want to jump over the front door and let the security guard get me)...

I carried on a little further on Tower Road...

...and made my way to the 2nd dream house choice, which is San Ysidro where Mr Danny Kaye used to live. And lo and behold there was a sign...

...so I took a picture of me in front of my second dream house choice...

...and left for downtown LA...

...to get my first dose of City of Angels night life.

Day 5; Footprints

To conclude my NYC experience I picked out some moments that I named; NYC impressions...

Starting with The Freedom Tower. As I was walking all along Broadway avenue I attempted to walk from 79th street all te way to Battery park. It was extremely exhausting I must say, still on the other hand as I reached the Financial district and moved around a little bit I stumbled upon the skyscraper that made it all worth while...an amazing structure stipulating that no matter what happens life will go on.

Brooklyn bridge is an experience everyone coming to NYC should have. Abundant in people walking and cycling and poeple taking memorable photographs it represents the ultimate crosswalk between Manhattan and Brooklyn. What got me the most this time around was the "Godzilla Tower" as I call it...looking like Godzilla came and scratched it diagonally and went on her way...

I think you do not really know you're in NYC until you spot The Chrysler building. It fascinates me every tome I see it. In a movie or while visiting NYC. I never do get really close to it...why? Well, I guess since this is usually the first building that gets destroyed in "end of the world" movies I rather stay at a safe distance...

Remembering "An Affair to Remember" it is always rewarding to see The Empire State. Walk anywhere, sit anywhere, do anything and most of all taking all these impressions with me wherever I go next.

To be honest, NYC is really not that big. And the buildings are actually not really that tall, are they?

 So after I visited the Sherman statue...

...and took a stroll in Central Park...

...I left my "footprints in the pavement" and left NYC.

Day 4; You Got Mail

First of all - all the time in NYC the songs from the movie You Got Mail were going thru my mind. Could not stop singing them. The good thing is that with all the noise around I could sing them anywhere and no one once said I was bothering them.

After realizing that my hotel is on exact street where Tom Hanks (Joe) gets out of his 152 Riverside Drive apartment building....

...and that West End avenue where Meg Ryan (Kathleen) walks to work is one block away...

...I naturally had the craving to find Cafe Lalo where the sequence of the first "meeting" takes place. Where Kathleen does not know that Joe is her corespondent and she unloads a pile of zingers at him...the Cafe is lovely. I loved every corner of it and this is my favorite view of the Cafe...

There's also another revelation that I had after finding Starbucks on the corner of 81st and Broadway. It's the exact Starbucks where several scenes were shot since Joe and Kathleen were both West Siders and kept "casually" meeting...

And the famous market scene where Kathleen tries so hard to avoid Joe that she misses the "cash only" sign and gets in the wrong line only to find out at the cahs register that she cannot pay with her Visa credit card...cue Joe :-). Zabar's is as good as it gets, any true gourmet shopper needs to visit this store;

This concludes our You Got Mail movie experience tour. I hope you loved it as much as I did. Next time I'm in NYC I'd be glad to take you to any of these places.

Day 3; Indian Land

Taking the Subway from 79th street to Battery Park is quite a drive. Still I needed to see Ground Zero and the new Freedom Tower. As I got off the Subway at Battery Park I came across, quite unexpectedly, The National Museum of the American Indian...I pondered going in the I inspected the "free admission" sign...that's my cue. The neon sign at the beginning got me thinking; how many were there and how many are left...

The oldest artifacts in the Museum are from as early as 11,000 BC. Two Clovis projectile points that highly skilled hunters used. It's hard to believe that something so old ended up here at the Museum. Could not ter myself away, reading and re-reading about where they were found and so forth...then the guard came up to me and whispered; "You know, you can take a picture if you want. No flash." I was eternally grateful and took one.

As the guard pointed out I moved on to the next ancient artifact the Museum is known for; Valdivia female figurines. Coming from Ecuador around 3,500 BC and made of clay. There is such detail on these figurines, the hairstyle, the color, the poses...a hidden treasure I never knew before.

Moving on to the Mayan area I spotted musical instruments. What mostly got my attention were little bells from 1,200 A.D. made of Copper alloy. I wonder what they sound like. Must have been great to play.

When I got to the God's imagery the one that caught my eye was God of Life and Creation, Mexico, 1,325 A.D. Apparently it's disfigured to represent the destruction of idolatry and the dawning of the new age.

What got the best of me in the Museum was something an Indian named Tecuwsen said;

"Where today are the powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of white man as snow before the summer sun. Shall we without a struggle give up our homes, our lands? I know you will say with me, Never! Never!"