Travel Tips

Continuing our tour of Downtown Los Angeles...

From the Museum of Contemporary Art at California Plaza, you can see the Walt Disney Concert Hall. How can you not see it? This building designed by Frank O. Gehry is eyecatching, to say the least. The Disney Concert Hall is part of the Music Center of Los Angeles County.

Across First Street from the Disney Concert Hall (and also along Grand Street) are the rest of the Music Center--Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, and Mark Taper Forum. They are excellent venues for the performing arts. I saw the "Phantom of the Opera" at the Ahmanson. "Like Jazz" was the latest performance I attended at the Mark Taper Forum.

Diagonally across the Ahmanson Theatre is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Its modern architecture is not typical of Catholic houses of worship. Some even say that from the outside, it doesn't look like a church at all.

Its exterior is brownish in color--like the sun-baked adobe walls of the early California Missions. It has an extensive courtyard where one can sit and ponder on the deeper meaning of life. A separate building houses a coffee shop and a gift shop. Inside the cathedral are many religious artifacts and works of art.

The cathedral has become a city landmark. It receives many visitors from near and afar every day.

From the cathedral, you can walk east on Temple Street until you reach City Hall on Spring Street. City Hall, built in 1928, was the tallest building in the city for many years. Because of L.A.'s showbiz connection, this building served as a backdrop in many movies and television serials. Unfortunately, the observation deck on the 27th floor is no longer open to the public.

Olvera Street is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park. It's like a piece of Mexico in the heart of Los Angeles. There is even a fake Tijuana-style burro at the entrance. The street is almost always full of people checking out the many stalls that sell everything from food to souvenir items.

The Plaza Firehouse, built in 1884, is the first building of its kind constructed by the City of Los Angeles. It is now a museum where antique fire fighting equipment and related memorabilia are on display. The firehouse, like Olvera Street, is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park. Admission to the museum is free although donations are encouraged.

From the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park, you can walk to the Los Angeles Union Station. The Union Station, completed in 1939, reminds visitors of a bygone era when life was simpler and the railroad. It is still a working train station with Amtrak, Metrolink, Red Line, and Gold Line using it as a terminal.

Our tour of Downtown Los Angeles ends with a visit to Chinatown. It has many fine, reasonably-priced restaurants. It also has many shops that sell all kinds of stuff. To get there, just take the DASH Route B Shuttle Bus.

I hope that you had a nice glimpse of Downtown L.A. There are still many things to see but I have to check out my star on Hollywood Boulevard...