March 27, 2022
We are back in Washington DC and with temperatures, currently, in the thirties we are already missing the sunny and balmy southern California days. Here are some photos taken during a walk around Venice on our last day in Los Angeles.
March 26, 2022
When Mal first visited Disneyland it was the 1960s and he was a small boy. At that stage, the amusement park had only been opened for only ten years or so. Now, over fifty years later, much has changed but much has remained the same.
It was a surprise first visit for Sofie and Emma and they had the same excited wonder that Mal had all those years ago.
The first ride we went on was the classic jungle cruise which has not changed at all over the years.
From Adventureland, we moved on to the recently opened Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction.
From Star Wars we headed to another galaxy and another time and visited New Orleans
Where the girls acquired their first tiaras.
Unfortunately, the line was too long to take a ride on the legendary Matterhorn roller coaster.
So we headed to the much more sedate but no less iconic Small World attraction.
We spotted this young maori boy and two kiwis, representing New Zealand (Aotearoa).
But it wasn’t all sedate rides. Jake, Kylie and the girls went for a ride on the log flume.
And Mal joined Jake and Kylie on Space Mountain.
With night and temperature falling, Mal, Lauren and Ben headed to the exits, leaving Jake, Kylie and the girls to enjoy the fireworks over the magic castle.
March 25, 2022
Today we wandered through the westside suburb of Venice. Famous for its vibrant beach, it is an interesting suburb of multimillion dollar homes and small beach shacks. Running through the middle of Venice is Abbott Kinney boulevard, home of some of LA’s most fashionable stores and restaurants.
March 20, 2022
Just outside Palm Springs, Palm Canyon is absolutely stunning. The canyon runs for about fifteen miles and is lined with huge California Fan Palms. On a hot day, it was very pleasant to walk a mile or so along the shaded valley, admiring the majestic palms, surrounding mountains and slopes full of yellow wild flowers.
March 20, 2022
Today we moved on from Old Las Palmas to the adjoining neighborhood of Vista Las Palmas. It is a mecca for lovers of midcentury modern architecture lovers. In the middle of the twentieth century, the firm of Palmer and Krisel, as well as the architect Charles Dubois designed approximately 350 homes in the neighborhood, including Krisel’s iconic ”butterfly” roof houses and Dubois’s distinctive ”Swiss Miss” A-frames. Like neighboring Old Las Palmas, it has been the home of numerous celebrities, including Dean Martin and Debbie Reynolds.
March 19, 2022
We drove down to Palm Springs for the weekend. Unfortunately, due to the infamous LA traffic, a trip that would normally take two hours, took over four. Once there, we explored the town and neighboring canyons. Our first walk was through the Old Las Palmas neighborhood. The neighborhood dates back to the mid 1920’s and over the years has been the home of numerous celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas, Liberace and Elizabeth Taylor. There were many beautiful homes, although most were hidden behind high hedges, walls and ornate gates.
March 17, 2022
On occasion, people have said to us while we have been here in Los Angeles ”It’s a beautiful day today” and we wonder why, because it seems that the weather is perfect every day here in Southern California. With temperatures in the mid-seventies, the sun shining and no humidity, it was perfect walking weather. We decided to wander the streets of Greater Wilshire / Hancock Park, which is a truly beautiful neighborhood with quiet streets of stately homes.
March 15, 2022
Our son, Ben, lives in the Melrose Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles. It is a relatively small neighborhood just south of Hollywood. In the center of the neighborhood on a slight hill there is a historic preservation zone, where there are a number of beautiful old homes.
Bordering the historic district is a less affluent area of small apartment buildings and single family homes. It appeared to be mainly a hispanic neighborhood.
There were a number of small apartment complexes built around courtyards that often had beautiful landscaping.
There were also an abundance of heavily laden citrus trees in the neighborhood yards.
Apparently, G loves M.
On another beautiful sunny LA day, we celebrated having avoided the winter storm currently hitting Washington by heading out on a long walk. We started out walking along Melrose Avenue.
The Paramount Pictures studios take up several blocks along Melrose. We passed by their iconic gates.
Most of the extensive lots are hidden behind a beautiful long and high hedge.
Paramount seemed to be pushing Jane Campion’s, The Power of the Dog before the upcoming academy awards.
We then made our way down Larchmont Boulevard. If we had any doubts that we were in southern California we just had to look at the businesses in this strip mall that we passed. It included a meditation community, an acupuncture clinic, something called Integrative Health Systems, and the Staninger Institute, which apparently deals in Toxicogenomics and Bio Ethno Life Science Systems.
And then there was this house which asked us to Believe
One thing about California, the state has amazing farmers’ markets. We dropped by the Larchmont market and admired the produce.
We find LA, by and large, to be a not particularly attractive city. However, there are some beautiful neighborhoods. Case in point is Hancock Park which has some beautiful homes on treelined streets.
March 12, 2022
We have changed coasts but are continuing to enjoy art. Our son, Ben, took us down to SOLA Gallery in South Los Angeles for the closing of the ”On Black” exhibition, showcasing the art of local black artists.
We enjoyed the art, particularly the work of Showzart
And JosephBrandon Thomas
We also enjoyed meeting the curator of the event, Anefertiti Bowman.
A special treat was meeting with Ben’s good friend Crushow who is also a talented artist. He even painted the Aristocatts painting on the back of Mal’s denim jacket that was commissioned as a birthday gift from Ben.
Mal and Lauren