Los Angeles: The Land of Fabulous Buildings (Act One, Scene One)

I arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday evening and Sharon picked me up at the airport. We made dinner (a semi-successful attempt at calzones, which was more Trader Joe's dough's fault rather than our own). After chatting for hours we were both pooped and went to bed.

I woke up Friday morning and planned my attack. While Sharon was at work, I felt that I needed to make the most my day. I had never been to Los Angeles before and knew only one thing about the city: Hollywood. Naturally, I wanted to go there. And I did. And it was a total bummer. I'll be perfectly honest with you, Hollywood Blvd (in the touristy spots) kind of sucks. I spent about 3 minutes in front of Mann's Chinese theater (which actually looks like it could use a good paint job) before deciding that I needed to find another spot to spend the afternoon. The area was swamped with people walking with cameras pointed down at the sidewalk trying to take pictures of their favorite actors' Hollywood stars. It was annoying when they would run right into me with their heads and act like I had done something wrong by having the audacity to stand on Meryl Streep.

Also, I could only take a small dose of the struggling actors/actresses dressed up as characters trying lure unsuspecting tourists to pay for photo rights. An exceptionally short person dressed as Chucky decided that I was his next target and started chopping me with his plastic knife. He followed me around the courtyard of Mann's theater grunting (while fake stabbing me between the shoulder blades) until I finally told him to go away. I was seriously ready to deck him if he didn't knock it off. The photo is a little blurry because I was taking it from quite a distance trying to be covert (I'm thinking my spy skills could use some work).

Afterward, I walked around for another hour, feeling sort of lost and letdown -- up Hollywood and down Sunset Blvd, wondering, "where the hell are all the famous people?" Then I realized that the best parts of the area are located on the side streets and paths where the tourists don't care to traipse.

I was more excited by this fabulous US Post Office than finding the Brittney Spears Star.

I stopped for an emergency M&M's break and took in the beautiful view of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church on Sunset Blvd.


I ogled the New Deal-era bas relief at Hollywood High. Maybe I'd be a star too if my High School looked like this.

While trying to figure out what to do next, I stumbled on what seemed to be a staging area for all of the actors and actresses who swarm the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I saw a guy putting on his Barney costume, Darth Vader without his helmet, and a half-dressed man who might have been going for the Cheetos Cat look. It was time to get the heck out of there. I hopped on the Dash bus and headed to West Hollywood to my second planned destination, the Rudolph Schindler House.

Stay tuned for Los Angeles: The Land of Fabulous Buildings (Act One, Scene Two)