Brief Excursion in Los Angeles

Our first day in LA we visited Caltech to see how the campus is doing lately. Here, we see the south houses under renovation.

The second day in LA we visited Universal Studios.

The highlight of Universal Studios is usually the studio tour, in which you get to see various movie sets. Here, we drove through the set of Desperate Housewives.

One of the most interesting new additions to the tour is the plane crash set from War of the Worlds.

Apparently they disassembled a real 747 for use in this set.

Back in downtown LA, we see here an interesting feature of the city -- the widespread existence of gardens, elevated above street level for use by the cities multitude of office workers.

A statue in one of the gardens in the financial district of downtown LA.

Later that day we explored Chinatown.

Olvera Street, a Mexican-style market.

The Bonaventure Hotel as seen from a sculpture garden outside the YMCA.

Three Graces (and Helen)

A streetscape of downtown LA.

Inside the Bonaventure Hotel is a series of curved walkways, including this running track and "pods" holding weight training equipment.

Alexander Calder's sculpture "Four Arches". Ironically, the Golden Arches is visible in the background.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, a recent addition to the LA skyline architected by Frank Gehry.

The sign for the concert hall is very understated, as seen here. This was done intentionally in order to not draw too much attention to itself.

Gehry's name appears on the wall of donors, which is interestingly lined with felt.

The complex interior of the concert hall's lobby.

Halfway up the side of the concert hall, a walkway meanders around the building with a series of stairways and passages.

The curves of the concert hall contrast nicely with the sky.

A garden behind the concert hall attempts to juxtapose nature with the amorphous metal of the hall.

The rear of the concert hall with the LA skyline behind it.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, a modern interpretation of a traditional cathedral structure.

Inside, a service was in progress.

A group of birds makes good use of this water fountain for bathing.

The official flower of Los Angeles, the Bird of Paradise.

Signs point the way to the sister cities of LA.

A rooftop garden at the New Otani Hotel in Little Tokyo.

Union Station, whose architecture blends traditional Spanish Mission with Art Deco.

A model train was being set up for the holidays around a Christmas Tree and Menorah.

The LA skyline against the nice blue, partly cloudy sky.

Grand Central Market.

The interior of the Bradbury Building, most famous (in my mind at least) for its use in the finale of the film Blade Runner.

A large rotating globe in the lobby of the LA Times building.

The LA City Hall.

The interior atrium of the City Hall.

A view of the Walt Disney Concert Hall from the observation deck on the top of City Hall.

Nice clouds that day.