Hansen Cousins Day Three (Part II)

Monday, after visiting Michael Sant's mountain-top project, we drove down Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Monica where we joined the 10 and headed downtown. The last time I was in downtown LA was when we saw the Phantom of the Opera during our Ventura Taylor reunion. I was blown away by how wonderful the area is. It is vibrant, alive, exciting, well designed, and filled with wonderful public areas and pleasant gathering spaces. We started at the LA Public Library with its impressive old and new bits. We climbed Bunker Hill (on the escalator) and wandered through and past a number of places including Bank of America Plaza, Wells Fargo Center, MOCA, Angel's Flight, Disney Hall, the rest of the Music Center, City Hall, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the historic heart of LA at Olvera Street, and finally Union Station where I landed in LA as a 9 year old in 1955. We took the Metro back to the library and picked up the car. We opted to stay off the freeways and drove back to the hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. All the cousins met for dinner at Border Grill in Santa Monica.

 USBank Tower: tallest in LA

 LA Public Library

 Library rotunda

 New library atrium: cavernous and huge

 Bunker Hill steps (original location of Angels Flight)

 Bank of America Plaza

 Angels Flight terminus (19th century)

 New location of Angels Flight on east side of Bunker Hill

 View of USBank Tower from California Plaza and Water Court

 Walt Disney Concert Hall

 The work of Frank O. Gehry

 View across the Grand Park to City Hall

 Jacaranda trees in bloom on Temple Street across from the catheral

 Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

 Interior -- the figures on the walls far right are saints 

depicted in spectacular Belgian tapestries

 Iconic City Hall

  

 Paseo de la Raza in the original Pueblo de Los Ángeles

 Olvera Street in the Pueblo

 Los Angeles Union Station, 1939

 Waiting Hall

 Concourse to the trains

Union station is a major transportation hub and the terminus

of the red and purple lines of the LA Metro

This is such a great city! I am uber-impressed with Los Angeles' vibrant downtown. One of my favorites anywhere! 

There will be more, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.