Ahh, LA, not Lance Armstrong, since he crashed out of the Tour of California yesterday, but Los Angeles. Yesterday, for the first time on this trip, I got the kind of sensations that I get the biggest kick out of while on holiday, that nervous energy you get when you're put in an unfamiliar situation or environment.
Anyone who knows me probably also knows that this is my 5th trip to California. My time in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area kind of lacked that bit of excitement, since for the most part everything up there is familiar to me. I can walk out of a subway station and know which way is north even if the city is surrounded by fog (which it normally is), but downtown LA is a different beast. The last time I ventured in to downtown Los Angeles was more than 8 years ago, and then, after making one wrong turn out of the subway, Karla and I literally wound up on LA's skid row, not the best place in the world to pull out your map (read: tourist billboard), so I was determined not to let that happen again.
My Journey down from the Bay Area started early in downtown Oakland, and like downtown LA, Oakland isn't well known for it's vibrant culture. It's not a scary place or anything, just from what I saw of it, there isn't anything particularly redeeming about it, which has me rethinking my travel plans to Yosemite in a few weeks, which would have me stay in Oakland overnight. Anyways, i was in Oakland to get the Coast Starlight train all the way to LA. All of the Train journey's I've done in the California up to this point had been nothing if not pleasant (my bus ride to Bakersfield in '07 to catch a connecting train doesn't count), the trains are usually sparsely occupied, so there's ample space, the seats and legroom are closer to business class on an aeroplane (even if it is a plane from 1993), and there is commonly power available in every row of seats to plug in a laptop to make the journey go by that little bit quicker. The Coast Starlight however, does not have power in the coach class cabins, which was a bit of a buzz kill, what's more, it begins it's journey in Seattle, 24 hours or so before it gets to Oakland, so imagine what the cabin of a jumbo jet looks like after it's made a flight across the Pacific, and you'd have a fair idea of what I was confronted with when I boarded the train. The train was also apparently pretty full, so I had been allocated a seat next to somebody, which also turned out to be the largest person on board, even by American standards.
Before anyone thinks I'm being judgmental, I'd just like to point out that my blog is as much for me to record my observations as it is for you to read them. I didn't necessarily have a problem with personal space, since the seats were plenty big enough, and I didn't have any problem with any odour (which considering the guy had been on a train for at least 12 hours was something he could even be congratulated on), what i did have a problem with was heat. There was an intense heat that radiated from this mans body that made me uncomfortable, it was similar to sitting next to a patio heater on a sunny afternoon, it just wasn't necessary. The man did suggest that there was a pair of seats a few rows further up the carriage that were allocated to a passenger, but he was spending all his time in the observation car (a carriage with lounge type seating that face the windows, and has windows in the roof as well), so I could move there if I wasn't comfortable, but I couldn't really get up and move seats, since I considered that to be a bit rude, so I stuck it out for a while, knowing that my fall back position was in fact to move to the observation car myself. I felt bad that my body language had obviously reflected I wasn't overly happy with the seating arrangement, so I did my best to be friendly, and accepted the situation. After about 20 minutes or so however, the man then suggested that if I didn't want to move a few rows up then he was going to instead, which erased my earlier guilt, since as it happens, he just didn't want to sit next to anybody. He was very polite about it and I was happy to move since I hadn't been on board long enough to get settled.
The train ride from the Bay Area to LA takes near enough to 12 hours, which sucks when you consider it takes a bit over an hour to fly, and even driving only 5 or 6 hours if you take the most direct route. What you don't get on the train that you do at airports or in cars is stress. There doesn't seem to be any hurry on board a train, so all there is to do is relax and take it all in. While the train lines tend to run through the more downtrodden parts of the towns it passes through, the Coast Starlight spends an a lot of time hugging the coastline or rattling through lush valleys. I found I didn't miss not having power to run my laptop for the entire journey, since I spent most of my time staring out the windows. As the day and train rolled on, the scenery kept getting better, and to the credit of the staff on board, the train got cleaner (Oakland had been the first stop after an overnight section of the journey from Seattle after all), so by the time I got off the train in LA, I was content with my choice to travel by rail rather than by air. My only recommendation to anyone thinking of making the same choice is I think it would be more enjoyable with someone to share it with (that way you don't run the risk of sitting next to anyone who you may not be comfortable with).
With the above ground section of the train ride over with, it was then on to the LA Metro to complete my rail travel for the day. Contrary to most opinions, LA can be navigated without a car, and they have put a lot of time and money back in to public transport, but since the state of California is pretty much broke, it's unfortunate that it won't continue to grow at the same rate it has since I was here in 2002. Getting off the subway and returning to street level I was promptly returned to the sensations I had back in 2002, since just like 8 years ago, once I got back above ground I had absolutely no idea where I was, which was kind of exhilarating. Much of downtown LA was only built to between 10 and 15 stories to minimize risk during the always prevalent earthquakes, which makes it difficult to find any landmark as a point of reference, and as I found out last night, it also makes it difficult for a GPS to get a lock on to any satellites. By the time my Garmin had a signal, i had found a map, oriented myself, and was headed to my hotel. For anyone intending to navigate their way downtown, my key pointers are the numbered streets run from east to west, and they are numbered from north to south. With that little tidbit you should only go in the wrong direction for one block before getting back on track.
Since I couldn't make it out to todays stage of the Tour of California, I instead headed to familiar territory in Hollywood. While some things are still the same, like the number of tourists, and in turn the wierdo's that they attract, like all those who take it upon themselves to dress up like a movie character and hang out in front of the Chinese Theatre. In-n-Out Burger on Sunset managed to be the first In-n-Out to ever screw up my order (I didn't want mustard on my burger, blechh) so I guess that was different, what was also different is the amount of new development around the Vine end of Hollywood, which had been neglected for a long time. Today marked the grand opening of a new Trader Joe's on Vine between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards, so I joined the fun by taking the opportunity to stock up on fruit an Clif Bars for the remainder of my stay in LA county.
[caption id="attachment_62" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Seriously, who else's star on the Walk of Fame did you think I'd find?"]
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Tomorrow I'll spend the day watching the Tour of California stage 7 time trial take over the streets around downtown LA. With a bit of luck I might get a VIP pass courtesy of V Australia, since I wasn't able to use the passes for stage 6 at Big Bear Lake that somebody who shall presently remain nameless managed to win for me. That will have to be a story for tomorrow.
