The weather was great, and I had been wanting to visit Angel’s Knoll, home of the bench on which Tom and Summer sit in (500) Days of Summer. Enter our quick tour of Downtown Los Angeles Landmarks.
Yes, our first stop was Angel’s Knoll. THE bench even has a plaque on the back indicating its the one used in the (500) Days of Summer movie!
The famous Angel’s Flight is not far from Angel’s Knoll. Across the street is the Grand Central Market. On the walk from Angel’s Knoll to Angel’s Flight, there was a little taco stand. Reycel and I were hungry for a snack, so we bought some food from there. We didn’t realize we were so close to Grand Central Market! We should have just bought food there. Oh, well.
I was so hungry, I started eating my burrito while crossing the street to get to Grand Central Market.
Continuing our trek through Downtown Los Angeles, we spotted many art installations in front of buildings.
We arrived at the Richard J. Riordan Central Library. I love the quote at the top of the building: “Books alone are liberal and free. They give to all who ask. They emancipate all who serve them faithfully.”
Across the street from the Central Library is Bunker Hill. We decided to go up the elevator and check out the buildings at the top.
The view from the balcony of the Citibank building looks pretty cool. I love how you can see all the architecture that makes up Downtown Los Angeles – both new and old.
I tried to be happy with the sun shining above me, but I just ended up making an angry face. ;]
We tried to go to the MOCA store, but it was unfortunately closed. I was very sad – we had just missed it by five minutes! The MOCA store on Grand Avenue closes at 6:30PM on Saturdays and Sundays.
It is very interesting what people consider art these days. Pictured above is an art installation just outside the MOCA store. Pictured on my face is what I thought of this particular art piece.
Just down the street from MOCA on Grand Avenue is the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I have never been inside this building, but I do hope to see a concert there someday soon.
Not pictured but part of our LA trek is Pershing Square and other random buildings we found along the way.
We finished up our Downtown Los Angeles trek pretty quickly and decided to head on over to Little Tokyo and see what the crowds were up to for the Art in the Streets preview night. We’ll have to visit Downtown L.A. again soon and do a more detailed tour of all the landmarks, most definitely!
The wall of the Geffen Contemporary featured street art by Blade. Outside of the museum, people were setting up another art installation. I have no idea who the artist is, but the slogan, “Desire. Obtain. Cherish.,” is pretty cool. There were free stickers too. I dig the giant spilled ice cream cone.
BeiBei was busy during the day and did not join our downtown trek. However, she did join us for dinner at Jazz Cat! She and I had been craving Jazz Cat/some type of shabu shabu all week!
I cannot wait to see the Art in the Streets exhibit. I regret not joining as a KCRW member so I could have had access to the preview night. I also want to plan another more-detailed Downtown Los Angeles trip. It’s all a matter of time, really, and unfortunately, free time is what I am lacking. Perhaps this L.A. trip will be postponed until the summer time, but Art in the Streets will definitely be happening in the latter part of May.
