August 22, 2005

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  Friday as I filled up my 10 gallon sports car gas tank and had to fork over 30 bucks, my so far all time high, I pondered just how high these gas prices are going. I planned another photo expedition on Saturday, but as I mentioned last week in the News and Notes column, my L.A. trip was going to be a little different because I was going to park the car, and take the train and subway, and experience L.A. as I have experienced other big cities like San Francisco, New York, and Toronto, moving from area to area on public transportation.
  Now I’m certainly no stranger to L.A. public transportation. I took the bus to get to work from Manhattan Beach to Culver City in the 80s and from Lomita to Long Beach in the 90s. And I should say “busses” because each trip entailed two transfers, and I would spend up to three hours in “transportation.” We didn’t have the subway system then, or the Metro rail,  which actually came first, since the Long Beach Blue LIne was the first leg of our current rail system completed, in 1992. Now, you can go from Long Beach, to downtown, L.A., Hollywood and out to the Valley, and to Pasadena the other way. The price for a day pass is $3.00, roughly the price of a gallon of gas. So I took my camera bag and my $3.00, parked my car (all day for free) in one of the Long Beach park and ride structures, which in this case was a four story parking structure, and “took the train.”
  The Blue Line are six car long electric trains manufactured in 1989 in Japan. They have been on duty for a while now, and are about as “clean” as any large interurban transit trains, which means not very, and they are full of what might be called the lower classes of society, but having ridden rapid transit in the past, I kind of like getting down and dirty with the common folk who can’t afford to buy that L.A. necessity, the automobile. For many years, Cal Trans had decried the fact that not too many people took the trains, but on Sat.morning, the one I rode into downtown at about 11 a.m. in the morning was not overcrowded, but it was packed, with most seats filled.

  
  

  

  
  

  Here the train commands one of two turns it makes in downtown on the way to the 7th/Metro station, which is the juncture between the Blue Line and the Red Line, which is the actual subway which travels under downtown L.A. The blue line trains enter a tunnel not far from this turn, which passes Patriotic Hall.  (Actually, this photo was taken on the train back into Long Beach, on the outside rail. The train coming into downtown would be on the inside rail, but nobody is going to notice.)

  
  

  

  
  

  The station is underground, just like in Frisco or New York or Toronto, and nobody checks your ticket. Mostly, the “honor” system is used. Although there are engineers who drive the trains, there are no conductors, and no turnstiles at the stations. A one way ticket is $.45 and the $3.00 day pass just stays in your pocket as you go all around town. On the way back, some L.A. Sheriffs got on the train with their perp and his bicycle, and they did check tickets, but this seemed cursory, and only because they thought they spied someone else who had been cheating the system. I’m sure a lot of people do cheat, but for $3.00, this was the best bargain I’ve ever seen in the city

  
  

  

  
  

  My first photos were of Union Station,  which used to be the West Coast end of the Union Pacific railroad back in the 20s and 30s. Amtrack trains and the Metro Rail use the station now, and it is still quite a wonder to behold, in stucco and wood, with large chandeliers overhead, and lots of space. It would remind East Coasters of Grand Central, or the old Penn Union station, and takes the traveller back to another time.

  
  

  

  
  

  Of the many shots I took I like this one with the sundail the best. There are two colors of Hibiscus flowers lining the walkway leading to the station. Even in bustling downtown Los Angeles, there are some rather quiet and serene places, and this was one leading up to the busy Union Station. The neat thing about not having to worry about where my car was parked is that I could go “exploring” more bravely to find interesting shots.

  
  

  

  
  

  Right across the street is Olvera Street, and this is where I planned to have lunch, having just arrived in downtown. After taking lots of shots of Union Station, I crossed the street and walked around Olvera Street, which is advertised as “the oldest street in L.A.” but is really a tourist attraction that was built in the 20s on the old Pio Pico area. I hadn’t been to Olvera Street since second grade, and it hasn’t changed at all. Picture a Mexican outdoor mall. There are musicians, hawkers, stalls, restaurants, and lots of “local color”.

  
  

  

  
  

  My lunch, at the El Paseo restaurant, included the worlds’ largest Margarita. (Heck, I wasn’t driving anywhere.) It was 48 ounces, and packed a whallop. I had a nice combination meal, and engaged some of my fellow diners in conversation, as is my wont when alone on these photo expeditions. One diner was the patriarch of a family from Huntington Beach, and he was ‘vacationing’ in downtown L.A. for the weekend with his wife and kids. As I finished my meal, high on life and a 48 ounce Margarita, I felt as if I were vacationing too, and went back to the subway to get to my next destination and see what photos I could come up with.

  
  

  

  
  

  Leaving Olvera Street, I saw a couple of the Mariachi musicians taking a break, and I snapped their photo. This was taken really quickly, and is from across the street from where they were sititng, taken with the zoom. The guy on the left didn’t see me, although it looks as if he is smiling for the camera. This guy was just naturally happy, and  is lost in his musical interlude.

  
  

  

  
  

  I exited at the Civic Center station, and emerged into the city from a hole in the ground across from City Hall. I took a photo here of the Bunker Hill District with one of the cranes busy building what is going to be the Grand Ave. park and city space, which will include a high rise designed by Frank Gehry, who designed Disney Hall, which is right up the street next to the music center. The parking lot you see here will soon be gone, and there will be a green area with buildings on both sides that is supposed to evoke great public areas like in France. Pretty soon this area will be filled with cranes and construction.

  
  

  

  
  

  I snapped a lot of aritstic shots of Disney Hall, which looks like some god had wadded up a rather large piece of aluminum foil and lobbed it on the ground. This is one of the most distinctive buildings on the planet, and it’s beginning to grow on me. From this shot, it looks like the sides of the buidling are peeling up in the sun.

  
  

  

  
  

  Grand Central Market has been an L.A. staple since 1919. Inside a large concrete building that fills the complete block are many produce, meat, and food stands, markets, and specialty shops. There is still sawdust on the ground, and the atmosphere inside is of cacophanous clutter, but it’s really a bit of historical L.A. and attracts thousands of shoppers daily.
  

  
  

  

  
  

  I saw a little shop selling religious iconography and trinkets, and got some rather interesting reflective shots, including this one where it looks like death is crossing the street. I also got some neat shots inside the Bradbury Building across the street from here, and of the painting of Antony Quinn on the Victor Clothing Building. This is on Broadway street in downtown right after I walked out of the Grand Central Market.

  
  

  

  
  

  I’ve got more photos, and there is a link to the two webshots galleries in the previous post, which also includes a neat shot of some of the high rises with a fountain shooting water up in the air, in a difficult shot that also got my camera wet. This shot above was taken in Pershing Square, and is my most “artistic” of the shots taken there. I also got out to MacArthur Park (made famous by a song back in the late 60s) and took some shots of the lake. I spent about 5 and a half hours on the train and in downtown. If I had started earlier, I might have gone out to Pasadena or to the Valley the other way, but there are always other days, and for $3.00, slumming on the subway is really the best way to see L.A. (Nobody’s paying me for the plug, either.)  I’ll post a second “Photo Essay”  concerning this trip later in the week. It was truly one of my best photo expeditions so far, and I didn’t have to worry about my car, which was parked right where I left it in the park and ride. 
  

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  As Usual You can click on the photos to get the full size versions in another browser window, which is the best way to get the whole “picture” as it were.
  

  • 8:35 am
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