7:00am – my friend picks me up in a silver Volkswagen Golf and drives me to the cozy motel where we crashed for two nights. The motel was in a very shady area of LA, but it had clean sheets and clean towels, plus cable TV. All I needed for my first weekend break in the city.
9:00am – we leave the motel in our great exploration of the fabulous city.
9:30am – passed the McDonald’s pancakes breakfast and the ride out of the ugly part of LA, we drive on Wilshire Blvd. by the great UCLA. There’re banners everywhere with extraordinary students which make you think if all of them (the students) will make it in life or steer at the uncertainty like many of us.
9:40am – we’re already on Sunset Blvd. where all the starts should shine. That Saturday, they were all hiding in the shade of their imperious residences. Still, I appreciated the clean neighborhood streets, the freshly cut green high fences, and the last generation hi-tech surveillance systems.
10:00am – we drive through Beverly Hills 90210. No Brenda or Brandon; though, the same houses style on both sides of the road.
10:50am – parked the car and begin walking on Hollywood Blvd. The smile from my face starts fading after the first 50 steps. Disgust appears along with reading tens of celebrities’ names under the golden/gray stars encrusted in the tiles of the sidewalk. Hope starts dyeing in front of the mall. One more wince at the glance of the Hollywood sign from the hills. And then…, in front of the tourism information center of the mall…, my LA heaven for tourists hope goes into cerebral death, when the associate shows me a map of the city with no attractions – just shopping places…
11:50am – start walking on Rodeo Dr. 20min into the promenade I have to express my disgust for splashy, exorbitant fashion. The Coach store looks by far the most acceptable. The only thing that totally impressed me: the fact that in an intersection you can get green light on all four corners and pedestrians can cross the street in any direction, including diagonal!
1:00pm – Pasadena, CA – “The city that feels like a village” – nice southern Californian combined with Mexican atmosphere, finally nice shops, kind ppl, lovely rose mosaics, good food, and the heaven of parking meters! This is one of the highlights of California: the genial solution for one thing I was wondering for ages - when will authorities implement parking meter credit card payment methods?!!? And… YES! they have it in Pasadena, CA. I love this place!
3:00pm – Venice Beach, CA. For a long time now seagulls have not been in my life on the beach… therefore this one was a remarkable encounter. The area… gave me chills.
8:00pm – Long Beach, CA (this time). One stop for a walk and an Italian dinner in the harbor where you can see the greatness of the city lights.
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