Walking tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles and Little Tokio. Historic Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour and Little Tokio Los Angeles Walking Tour

We will visit some of the sights of Los Angeles (LA, Los Angeles), some famous, some not so much.

- Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (LA, Los Angeles), California (California), USA (USA)

A bit of Los Angeles (LA, Los Angeles) and around

sights

Los Angeles Walking Tour

We had a free day and we decided to devote it to mastering Los Angeles... This was planned, i.e. we booked the car back from Sydney.

From the diary - May 24
7:00 - We got up. Long and slowly going to wake up.
8:00 - Breakfast buffet type for $ 25 for one, today for me, i.e. Ilya decided to order some kind of special omelet for $ 14.
9:00 - We took the car. Fortunately, it's not far to go to a nearby hotel. The HERTZ office is located in the Marriott hotel.

I wanted to visit Japantown and small Japanese gardens in it, stroll through the center with skyscrapers and plan a sunset at Mulholand Dr.

Is the name of one of the ethnic areas of downtown Los Angeles. Little Tokyo Los Angeles is one of only three official Japantowns (Japantown or J-Town) located in the United States. The other two are located in San Jose and San Francisco. B and we really liked it.

- Signpost in Little Tokyo

Little Tokyo has a fate similar to that of the Japanese quarter of San Francisco. It also appeared at the beginning of the last century, was also deserted due to the internment of the Japanese population during the Second World War, and also managed to revive after its end. In 1995, Little Tokyo was included in the list of national historical monuments USA.

– Interesting object Little Tokyo is the Yagura Tower (櫓, 矢 倉) at the Village Plaza, which is a replica of the traditional Japanese countryside lookout tower.

In the past in the area Little Tokyo lived up to 30 thousand ethnic Japanese, but since then their number has declined. According to guidebooks, many Japanese Americans have chosen the suburbs of Los Angeles as their place of residence, in particular, large communities of ethnic Japanese are concentrated in Monterey Park, Torrance, Gardena.

Rowon is easy to find, and we parked not far. After a little stroll, we had a snack in one of the cafes and went to look for Japanese gardens. I must say right away that they are far away. The first garden is in the Japanese-American cultural center and is called - James Irvine Japanese Garden - “Seiryu-en”, another in the Doubletree By Hilton Hotel Los Angeles and is called Kyoto Gardens.

- James Irvine Japanese Garden - “Seiryu-en”

Kyoto Gardens at Doubletree By Hilton Hotel Los Angeles
120 S Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
http://www.doubletreeladowntown.com/our-hotel/kyoto-gardens

- Weller Court Shopping Center. There are several restaurants, a karaoke club and a Bubble Tea cafe in the center. There are several boutiques of expensive clothes in the center. On the territory of the center there is a large bookstore Kinokuniya.

So, walking around Little Tokyo we were approaching the business center Los Angeles.

- Los Angeles City Hall

Los Angeles City Hall located in the city center in the Civic Center area. This 32-storey building with a height of 138 meters was erected in 1928. On the 27th floor of the building there is observation deck open to the public.

Apparently, the prototype of the building was Mausoleum of Mavsol Is an antique wonder of the world that has stood for almost 2 millennia. Los Angeles is famous for its earthquakes, and the architects took this into account during construction. City Hall of Los Angeles built with a huge margin of safety and is able to withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake.

- downtown Los Angeles

Further, our path lay through Grand park To Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is considered the gem of downtown. The idea for the concert hall was proposed by Walt Disney's widow, Lillian, who donated about $ 50 million for the construction in 1987. It was completed in 2003. As a result, Los Angeles has received a masterpiece of architecture and design, as well as a concert hall that surpasses the most famous venues in the world in acoustics. Frank Gehry became the architect of this masterpiece.

- Walt Disney Concert Hall

The exterior walls of the building are formed by a series of undulating, curved stainless steel surfaces. The sun reflects off the building and further emphasizes its amazing shape.

Admission to the Walt Disney Concert Hall is free, but the guide strongly recommends going to the live concert to appreciate and experience the inner atmosphere, or take a free audio tour that tells the story of the concert hall. Concert hall Walt Disney Theater is the home stage for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

- MOCA Museum, Omni Hotel, Angels Flight & Water court at California Plaza

Now, just a photo of downtown Los Angeles.

- Water Court at California Plaza - You can walk among the skyscrapers, in their shade and relax by the fountains. I contented myself with a shot of buildings looking up at the sky, and we did not go for a walk to cafes and restaurants in California Plaza, because it was lunchtime at 13:30 and there were a lot of people.

- View of 5th Street (W 5th St)

- Pyramid of the Sun - Tower Roof Central Library(Central Library)

Central Library also known as Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). Built in 1926, this architectural treasure is decorated with bas-reliefs of great thinkers, writers and scientists. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. In 2001, the building was renamed, and now it bears the name of Richard Riordan - the former mayor of the city.

Architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue made this building unique. He drew on Mediterranean and Egyptian Renaissance architecture. The central tower is decorated with tiled mosaics and the Pyramid of the Sun.

- Tower in the center of the frame - AT&T Tower or “Pacific Bell Tower”, height 137 meters - AT&T Switching Center building

- Corner of 5th Street (W 5th St) and Broadway (S Broadway)

Walking along 5th Street (W 5th St), we realized that we were leaving a beautiful well-being center (or as they like to say “downtown” here) and approaching an area that should be bypassed or passed as quickly as possible.

We checked the map and decided to return to Little Tokyo, have a snack and move on. The car is parked nearby.

Los Angeles (English Los Angeles, IPA (English):, Spanish Los Ángeles, IPA (Spanish):; obsolete Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, also known as LA and City of Angels - City of Angels) is a city in the United States in the south of California, located on the Pacific Ocean. The largest in terms of population in the state and the second in the country (as of July 1, 2009 - 3,831,868 inhabitants). The city is administrative center the eponymous county, as well as the center of Greater Los Angeles - an agglomeration with a population of over 17 million people. The people of Los Angeles are called "Angelenos" (pronounced [angelínos]). Los Angeles is one of the world's largest cultural, scientific, economic and educational centers. Also, the city is one of the largest world centers of the entertainment industry in the field of cinema, music, television, computer games.

The coastal areas now occupied by Los Angeles were inhabited by the Tongwa and Chumash Indians in the 16th century. The first European to land in the area of ​​present-day Los Angeles in 1542 on two ships "San Salvador" and "La Victoria" (each with a displacement of 50 tons) was the navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (the pilot and his deputy was Bartolomeo Ferrelo). Departing La Navidad, Mexico on July 27, 1542, Cabrillo landed in San Diego Bay on September 28. At that time, the Indian village of Yang-Na existed on the coast. The discoverer himself died on January 3, 1543 and is buried on the island of San Miguel, later named after him "Juan Rodríguez". Rodriguez Cabrillo wrote about his voyage in a log that was brought by his pilot, and now it is stored in one of the archives of Seville (Spain). Only 227 years later, the next expedition under the command of Gaspar Portola landed here, in which the Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi took part, who noted in his notes the suitability of the area for settlement. In 1771, another missionary, Junipero Serra, founded a mission there, named after the archangel Gabriel. By that time, on the territory of modern Los Angeles, there were about 30 settlements of the Tongwa Indians, where about 3 thousand people lived. On September 4, 1781, at the insistence of the governor of both California, Felipe de Neve, next to the mission, a group of Spanish colonists, consisting of 46 people, founded a village called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles sobre El Río Porciúncula (from Spanish - "Village of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Angels, on the Porsyunkula River"). For several decades, the new settlement remained just a small town, but by 1820 it was already the largest secular settlement in California: 650 people lived here. After the proclamation of Mexico's independence, Los Angeles was part of it for a short time. After the defeat of Mexico in the Mexican-American War, the city passed to the United States under the peace treaty of 1848. In 1850, Los Angeles received official city status. Southern Pacific completed construction in 1876 railroad to Los ...

To get to know Los Angeles better, it is worth taking a short walk along the the historic center cities, possibly with trips to public transport... I propose my own route, which will take about 4 hours, comfortable shoes, a camera, a bottle of water (if in summer) - everything you need on this walk.

So, we parked on paid parking on Alameda St for about $ 15 a day. You can cheat and park in a shopping center for free, but with Validation, i.e. you need to buy something in this shopping center and ask the seller to put a stamp on the ticket from the parking lot. You can even buy coffee at Starbucks and get a stamp. By the way, I recommend this method of parking throughout Los Angeles.

Here is a map of the city center where we walked:

We started our walk with a visit at 800 N Alameda St to the famous transport station in the beautiful Spanish style, Union Station, which was built back in 1939. By the way, the film "Catch Me If You Can" was filmed at this station with DiCaprio.

After exiting Union Station, go Alameda str to Olvera Street, where there is a small Mexican market where you can buy various souvenirs, clothes, beautiful leather bags, Mexican sweets and other things. By the way, the prices are not very high there. You can just walk around the market and feel the Mexican flavor.

This market has the oldest residential building in Los Angeles that has survived to this day, it is a house-museum. You can go there for free. This is a Mexican house, consisting of a courtyard, a stove on the street and the house itself: all this is a square with a courtyard in the center. There you can watch a video with the history of the house and the area, talk with a woman worker, read various inscriptions, walk around the house itself and see how they used to live. By the way, I was not surprised by anything from the situation, since something similar can still be found in our villages, but my American friend was at a loss how to use a wooden sofa and bathe in a basin)))

If by this moment you get hungry, then everyone advises to go to the famous cafe near the market at 1001 N. Alameda St, which has been operating since 1908, where you can taste some of the most delicious French Dip Sandwich, but unfortunately we are there. did not make it, but there are about 4000 reviews about this place at http://www.yelp.com/biz/philippe-the-original-los-angeles

After the market we went to Little Tokio, you can go along Main or st Alameda st. This is the Japanese district of Los Angeles, where there are many shops with their goods, there is even a large shopping center, many restaurants.

We met a Japanese Buddhist monastery on the way, decided that if we didn't go there, the walk would not be complete. They rang the doorbell, a monk opened for us, politely invited us inside. There was no service at that time, so the hall was empty. Inside, everything is bright, in candles, in the middle sits Buddha, as in any monastery, but in the hall itself there are benches in the American style. Of course, the monk understood that we were just tourists, but he was very kind and told about the monastery itself, about their services, how everything happens.

Little Tokio itself is not very large, but you can buy almost all goods there.

After Little Tokio, we returned to our parking lot along Main st and photographed the city, the buildings of state administration services.

There you can see a sign with the names of all the sisters of the city of Los Angeles.

By the way, there you can still find a lot of homeless people who just sleep on the street.

Crossed the bridge over the highway and returned to the market

We were lucky, just at that time in a small square near the market there was a performance of the Indians, who gathered a large crowd of onlookers, including us.

Near that square is the Museum of the First Chinese in Los Angeles, admission is about $ 3, and there are constantly changing art exhibitions there.

The oldest Catholic Church in Los Angeles it is also located next to the square (near the market).

Once you have explored the historic Downtown Los Angeles and Little Tokio, you can go to one very extravagant place -

Have you been to Los Angeles? If so, I would like to hear your opinion about this city. If not, then I will tell you about how Los Angeles appeared before us. And I'll try to explain why we didn't like it.

Los Angeles - which one? It's absolutely huge. It doesn't have a city center. Los Angeles is divided into several neighborhoods, the most famous of which are Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Santa Monica. To like Los Angeles, you need to unconditionally love and know American films, shopping and entertainment. And not to love just walking along the city streets. And yet, being in Los Angeles, you should never go to the San Pedro area. But you can find the point from which it is best to photograph the HOLLYWOOD inscription (you can find out the address ) and see the witch's house.

We don't like Hollywood movies. We are not strong in the biographies of stars and we do not care what their mansions look like. We do not like attractions and do not know how to go to sales. Therefore, having arrived in Los Angeles for a day and a half (he just caught us on the way - so the route was laid), we went for a walk. In the most famous neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Not participating in any shows.

Do you want to visit the districts of one of the most famous cities in the United States?

Not far from Hollywood Boulevard

Griffith Observatory, located in the largest urban park in the United States. From here, everyone diligently photographs the Hollywood sign, not knowing that there is a much better place.

Here it is, this is the most successful place:

And next to him on the sidewalk are walking such dummies:

View of Los Angeles from the platform in front of the observatory:

If not for the inscription on the car, one might not believe that this is Los Angeles:

The famous Hollywood Boulevard, where the stars trample their feet .:

Not the first time they read the name and surname and were very surprised:

I really liked these mannequins on the peak of the next shop. Originality - it is always in the price.

A typical intersection in a typical American city:

I admit, this place is really very beautiful:

And here it is also quiet:

Who knows what these trees are called? The whole city is stuck with them, their roots break the asphalt, and their branches get tangled in the wires:

Without words, it is clear what the place is:

Someone's own house in Beverly Hills. I have no idea whose it is:

And one more:

Passer-by:

The San Pedro area, which was mentioned at the very beginning. The only more or less successful photo taken on the go. It was scary to stop. It is very dirty there and there are a lot of "non-stars".

Beach in Santa Monica with an equipped bike path.

The part of the beach that helps empty your wallet:

Oscar-winning cinema:

There are two of them at once!

American Japanese:

House of the Witch in Beverly Hills:

Downtown:

Sculptures of American Athletes:

Bubba Gump chain restaurant (if you have seen "Forest Gump", then this name is familiar to you):

Third Promenade Street in Santa Monica:

We somehow ended up with Andryusiks in Los Angeles and we had a few extra hours. We decided to spend them walking around the city center. It so happened that usually the most interesting things happen in the center. But, it seems, just not in the City of Angels.

Even before the trip, I heard the widespread opinion that there is nothing to do in LA - boring things and it is not clear what to look at, but we could not drive past a city known to the whole world, so we dropped in.

Los Angeles City Hall

Out of the corner of my eye, they caught the Los Angeles City Hall. In general, nothing special either, but in the absence of any bright and interesting sights, you have to pay attention to at least such.

There is an observation deck on the twenty-seventh floor of this building, which anyone can climb. We did not know about this when we were walking.

Los Angeles Plaza Park

By some miracle, our legs led us to the park, in which little Mexico appeared to our eyes. We just had time to miss the country we traveled to for the last six months, and here it is! Park, church, gazebo, dancing people - all in the best Mexican traditions.

Church of La Placita

Nice and cozy-looking church, which, if you wish, you can go and sit in silence and coolness. In Mexico, they never kicked us out and looked askance in churches, I think they wouldn't do it here either.

Olvera Street

To the north of the park stretches the bright Mexican street of Olvera (here, as soon as something Mexican appeared, the color cut through). Those who have never been to Mexico and do not plan to go there should look here - the atmosphere is correct and souvenirs, sweets, clothes are the same as those sold in Mexican markets.

Union Station

We also looked into the passenger Train Station Union Station, surrounded by tall palm trees. Such-and-such is shown in all the films that take place in Los Angeles.

Streets of Los Angeles

This is where the list of point sights that we saw in a short walk ends, but that's not all, because they are not all hanging in the air)) That's right, they are connected by streets, and the streets in downtown Los Angeles are very different.