Los Angeles, a busy day, Part 3

Our Friday was capped off with the opening of the SKULLS show at Chaos gallery, which is part of the Museum of Death (located right near our hotel, we could walk there.) The prints from the project Skull-a-Day looked wonderful and got a terrific reception from attendees. The proprietors of the Museum of Death are so nice. They have some interesting pets, too. Not the sweet guard dog, but others, like the albino turtle and the two headed turtle, both of which are very old.

Lots of our Los Angeles relatives stopped by. It was really a fun night.

Los Angeles, a busy day, Part 2

After 826LA, we headed to Olvera St. We went through the old house, which was interesting, looked at all the stalls selling Mexican clothing and stuff, and had a really good lunch at La Golondrina. Here's a sampling of what we ate. It was really good. I was surprised to see that there was a Chinese American museum right there. We didn't have time to go into it. We'll save it for another trip.

Los Angeles, a busy day, Part 1

Yesterday morning, we went over to Gelson, a big grocery store not far from the hotel. There was some fancy fruits, like the prickly melon and the already trimmed coconuts, passion fruit and persimmons. I'm posting just a sample of what we saw, (the rest will go to Flickr.) After breakfast at a small gourmet coffee & cheese shop, we got underway for our busy day. First stop was WACKO/The Soap Plant on Hollywood Blvd. It was so fun! They had lots and lots of books, cards, gift items, tchachkies, a gallery, posters, paper stuff. I got some fun stationery and stickers. I was tempted to buy more but am traveling light. C did some promo on the book SKULLS and learned that they did carry it but were sold out. Wow! That's cool. Our next stop was 826LA, The Echo Park Travel Mart. This is one of many places that were started by Dave Eggars with his foundation. They help young people with writing skills. Each place is a different type of shop. You really should check it out. If there's one near you, visit it. We'd done a bit of driving to get to these places but J. had borrowed her mom's GPS, which made things easy. I'm a paper map person, so I had my 1972 Los Angeles map beside me for back up. The first time the GPS spoke, I jumped! But she was pretty good, though I did give her some confusion when I refused to get on a freeway. ha ha ha. My plan this trip is to go surface all the way! Too many cars on those freeways.

Hollywood, USA, more eating!

Before heading out again, we had a surprise call from niece P, who was in the coffee shop off the lobby of our hotel. She and her fiance were there with a friend, who's staying at this hotel, too.
What fun! We got to spend a bit of time with them, pre-wedding hugs and chatting.

We drove over to Beverly Hills (90210) to meet up with cousins C & L for dinner at a hole in the wall (as they described it) pizza place called Mulberry St. (after the street in New York City's Little Italy.) The pizza was good! Afterwards, we walked down Beverly Dr. to Pinkberry for yummy, OMG so yummy, frozen yogurt. I had orginal flavor with kiwi and mango. OMG soooo delicious. The shop was pretty cute with shelves of Alessi items for sale.

Hollywood USA home away from home.

Our hotel decorates with framed photos of Hollywood stars. In the bathroom is a large photo of Marilyn Monroe, seen here reflected in the huge mirror that covers one wall. The bathroom itself, is huge, with a walk in shower and two sinks. The counters are granite stone. Over the two queen sized beds are photos from famous movies, like Casablanca.

Over the big, flatscreen TV is a famous comics photo collection. The two, rocking, easy chairs have three photos of above them and in the kitchen, a photo of "Columbo." The evening view out the window shows the Hollywood Towers building (not a tower, more like a haunted mansion) and here is an evening view of the desk with my computer. This is quite a nice room!

Hollywood, USA taking a walk!

The street our hotel is on is Franklin and a short walk east brings us to lots of little shops and cafes. I wasn't paying much attention when I guided us into BIRDS for lunch. I just noticed they had nice salads. It's a CHICKEN restaurant.
Only one of the four of us actually eats chickens. Here's his salad with chicken on it. I had a delicious veggie burger on a whole grain bun. It was really good. Notice that they use Fiestaware (or facsimile) as their dishes. I love those.

The fancy building is the Scientology mansion, with a sign by the gate for celebrity entry.







On a corner there is a nice book, magazine and gift shop called "The Daily Planet." It's small but full of neat greeting cards, magazines, foreign language newspapers, gifts, books, very fun. Down the block is the UCB. They have one in New York City, too. Our friend Eliza did her comedy act here not too long ago. As we crossed one of the side streets, we saw the HOLLYWOOD sign. We'll get a better shot of it another time. The crossing guard showed us the spot to stand in to get the best view. Yes!

We are all so tired and jet lagged. Time for a nap!

Hollywood, USA

Truth must be told: I did NOT take these photos. We arrived in Los Angeles about 5 p.m. west coast USA time. We got out rental car and drove to Santa Monica to meet our cousins for dinner at an Italian restaurant on Montana St. called Spumoni. The food was terrific but in my excitement of having driven in L.A. and meeting the rels, I took NO food photos. After dinner, I drove to Hollywood to our hotel. It was dark by then so no photos, but tomorrow I'll explore and get some neighborhood photos while waiting for mi hijo and his novia to arrive. The round building is a block or two from the hotel. It's the Capitol Records building. The Hollywood sign is up the hill behind the hotel. Now to get some sleep. It's a 1h25 in the morning east coast time....only 10h25 pm west coast time. Crazy time different. I'm tired but it's still early, no, not. I hope I adjust quickly!! Lots to see and do. I feel like this is a real vacation in L.A. We'll be sight seeing as well as attending wedding related activities and the Skull-a-day exhibit at Chaos gallery. More on this later.