usa
'04 - los angeles
It was late March when we
flew to Los Angeles. Flying high above the clouds, the seemingly
interminable flight started getting interesting as breaks appeared
and the land underneath was increasingly exposed to view. It was
unfortunately revealed to be only slightly more interesting than
the clouds as we crossed the vast frozen expanse of northern Canada.
Subtly the surface changed, however, and then we were over the
prairies - an even more featureless flat expanse. Then the land
started to be broken, hills and river valleys appeared.
Snow capped mountain ridges
and ranges and as we continued southwards large basins with salt
lakes as well. These red mountains, I think in Utah, were especially
eye-catching.
I think I identified Lake
Mead but the Hoover Dam was cut off from sight as we flew directly
overhead.
Then over increasingly desert-type
landscape till we turned west to approach our destination and
getting closer caught sight of one of the forest fires that frequently
occur in California. This one was I think somewhere in the area
east of San Bernadino - those white streaks on the wooded hillsides
could be ski runs?
And then, beneath us, unmistakably,
was Los Angeles.
Anticipating, correctly
after the 11 hour flight, that driving too far in a strange car,
in a strange city (especially if it is Los Angeles) would possibly
be too much we had pre-booked ourselves into an hotel not too
far from the airport - in Culver City.
I should point out, to dispel
any doubt, that our car is the one on the left.
Looking completely unlike
the entrance to any cemetery I have seen, Forest Lawn was our
first tourist stop the next day, following essential retail therapy
after our long flight. Due, no doubt to my ignorance, I had extreme
difficulty locating the sort of map that I would be happy with
and even more difficulty in finding the right outlet from which
to purchase (without a map!). I can't blame the map for landing
us at the Hollywood Hills not the Glendale FL which was the one
recommended in the guide book. However, it was an interesting
happenstance.
No serried ranks of headstones
interrupt the sweep of the lawns which are each given names such
as Murmuring Trees, Loving Kindness, and Bright Eternity. Here
a lady tends a family grave in God's Acre with the replica Old
North Church as a backdrop.
What does interrupt the
sweep of the lawns are the formal gardens that, at their foot,
host this grandiose erection of George Washington atop a white
marble column ...
... and lead up to the Hall
of Liberty Museum housed behind this huge mosaic depicting scenes
from the early history of the USA. In this area we found, not
very far apart, the graves of Buster Keaton and Stan Laurel.
Further mosaics, shewing
scenes from his life, flank the impressive statue of Abraham Lincoln.
There is even a replica
of the Liberty Bell ...
... and bizarrely a Plaza
of Mexican Heritage where visitors are instructed to 'walk counter-clockwise
through the history of the great early civilisations of North
America' and to 'stay on the path' and 'avoid the cactus'. Further
artifacts are indicated to be in the Museum, but it was closed.
The occurrence of exotic
plants in the borders of the gardens, the mixing of almost sentimental
piety and patriotism expressed in a grandiose form were a heady
mixture that seemed to confirm the 'otherness' of the place. We
departed in search of food for the body, the soul already having
a surfeit of offerings, and in search of Hollywood.
We found this view, of the
famous sign, on Mulholland Drive ...
... and this overview of
Downtown, and a stretch of gravel on which I slipped and badly
grazed my knee. Twenty four hours after arrival I was in a Los
Angeles hospital's A&E! Cleaned-up and jabbed with anti-tetanus,
I limped away to the hotel.
Continued
in Part II
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