Historic LA Walking Tour

Inside the Biltmore Hotel.  Spanish Renaissance.  Absolutely beautiful.

My friend Cynthia and I decided to take a walking tour of historic LA.  The tour took approx. 2 hours and it was very informative and interesting.  Our guide, Ron, was born in LA and his family has been living in LA since the early 1900's.  He had old photographs of the various locations we were at back in 1900s of property his family owned in the Pershing Square area which was the location of the tour we were taking.  The only problem was his voice was not very loud when you mixed in the outside noise and the various buses he had to compete with.  Everytime we would stop, we all had to scoot in close to hear what he had to say.  Forget about asking a question, he could not hear you at all!  You would practically have to yell and stand on his good side for him to hear you.   It just wasn't worth the effort.

Check in with Ron...

Janie: "Its a nice day today"

Ron: "Chile today, hot tamale"  hee hee, we all giggle

Cynthia:  "Hey, my dad used to say that"

End of tour...

Cynthia, "Thanks for the tour, it was really good, we enjoyed it"

Ron:"Yes, it was a nice day, chile today, not tamale!"

Cynthia: "Hey,. my dad used to say that"

Janie to Cynthia:  "Deja Vu"

This is the inside of the Edison Bldg. on 5th street across from the Library and the Biltmore.  It is beautiful inside and has great architecture outside.  Very European.  It is a hidden treasure!

This is Angels flight.  I had no idea what it was.  I thought it was going to be a factory where they made the clothes worn in the disco era of the 70's.  It is actually the shortest railway in existance.  It is kind of like a funicular.  It is currently closed.  The car lost traction and smashed someone to death at the bottom.  They fixed it, but have not reopened.

This is the Bradbury Bldg. One of the oldest in L.A.  Used in alot of films, Bladerunner to name one.  Different and rich in texture and ambiance.

After the tour, we went to Graumann's Chinese Theatre.  I had never been there before and I have to admit, I received a small thrill looking at all the footprints and handprints of the stars.  John Wayne had small feet.  Judy Garland and miniature feet.  R2D2 and C3PO also had there footprints there.  I looked for Marilyn Monroe and couldn't find her.  Only after I got home did I find out that she doesn't have her footprints there.  I was shocked!

We then went by the infamous PINKS hotdog stand.  As we drove up, we saw the line stretched around the building.  I immediately said, we don't have to go (it was my idea), but we weren't starving and Cynthia was game so we waited 50 minutes in the line.  IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!  The food was so good!  We split a Martha Stewart Dog (onions, tomatoes, relish, bacon, sauerkraut and sour cream - really?  DELICIOUS!!!!) and a Chicago Polish Dog.  I capped my lunch off with a refreshing Strawberry Crush.  It brought back memories of my childhood. We weren't starving when we started, but by the time we got our food, we were!  It was a great day out.  For more pictures of our trip click on the icon on the right.

Alyssa takes in the Wine Country

Alyssa and Greg spent the weekend with Barbara and Floyd (Greg's parents) in the Wine Country.  They visited the Kendall Jackson winery and took a train ride which included a nice dinner along with the beautiful scenery.  It was too quick for Alyssa.  After delays getting out of the airport, they arrived in San Francisco at midnight Friday.  They had Sat. and Sun to see the sights and had to leave Sun afternoon.  More delays at the airport going home.  Welcome to traveling!

The Kendall Jackson Winery

Floyd and Barbara Ricks (Greg's parents)

The train

Alyssa and Greg

Terra Cotta Warriors

China's First Emperor, the boy king who united the country in 221 bc and began construction of the first great wall, was not only obsessed with building but a fanatic about death.  His name was Qin and he was paranoid and would kill at the drop of a hat.  He would build a standing army of over 7000 to enforce his rule over the afterlife.  He assigned over 700,000 workers to build this army of life size soldiers with minute detail and individuality.  They came complete with weapons, horses and chariots.

I was in London and I saw that the exhibit was coming to the Natural History Museum.  I was bummed because I wouldn't be able to see it.  Then I read in a magazine that it was already at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, so we all went.  It was very interesting.  It is the largest exhibit outside of China, but still only 11 or so warriors.  I think it would be so impressive to see them all lined up like they were intended to be viewed.  On Fridays the exhibit is free from 4:00 on. 

She's BAAAACK.....from Cancun

Katie went to Cancun last week with her girlfriends, Kendall and Ali.  (They were accompanied by Kendall's parents.)  They stayed at the very posh Cancun Palace, an all enclusive resort.  They went horseback riding on the beach and swimming with the dolphins.  They got out just as a big tropical storm was heading in.  Katie had fun every day and danced all night.  She had a fab-u-lous time!!!  They each changed their names during the trip.  Katie was Summer from the OC, Kendall was Kendra from the Girl Next Door and Ali was Blair from Gossip Girl. She didn't take very many pictures, but I'm assured Ali did and she is going to share them with us, for now here are a couple:

Katie and Ali prepare to swim with the dolphins

Dinner at a Tappan restaurant

Laying out

A Whole New Batch of Art

Whenever we go on vacation, Bob is our photographer. He has to lug the camera around and it gets in the way and it is annoying, but the end result is beautiful pictures.  He likes to take scenic pictures, where I like to have a picture with someone I love in it, so he takes both.  When we were on our cruise in the Mediterranean, he took pictures of old doors (along with many, many other things, we had over 1000 pictures from that trip).  We had the doors blown up, framed, and mounted on the wall. We grouped all them together like a sort of collage.  "We have a whole new batch of art" to quote Bob.  I think they really capture the flavor and atmosphere of their countries. Unfortunately, we could not blow up all of them because they loose part of the picture when they change size.  So we ended up with 6 that kept the original picture that was taken.

Pisa, Italy.  One of my favorites.

Florence, Italy.  My other favorite, this one could not be enlarged.

Italy

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey.  This is a hookah bar.

Rhodes, Greece.  This little store was built into the castle wall.  It was built by the Crusaders.

Rhodes, Greece

Italy

Italy

Sorrento, Italy

Mamma Mia! -The Movie

All I have to say is YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!  I loved it.  I had a smile on my face throughout the movie and my foot never stopped tapping!  It was hilarious, the music was good and the story was entertaining.  I know I will see it again and again.  I wanted to see it, but had a long day sightseeing and was feeling tired. I'm so glad I went, I really enjoyed it. I'm going to take my whole family.  All the big Abba hits are in it.  They fit the story line completely.  You hear Dancing Queen, Waterloo, Super Trooper, I have a Dream,TheWinner Takes It All, etc. Cynthia, I'm making you the CD now.  This makes me want to see the play all the more now.

North South All Star Game

Katie and Kendall getting ready for the game

Dancing "Release" during the half time

Katie's high school cheer team was picked to cheer at the North-South All-Star Game July 11th.  It was a nice night and it was fun to be back at the football field.  I am going to miss it next year.  Katie cheered for the South team which included Trabuco, Santa Margarita, Edison, Pacifica, Mission, El Toro and Foothill High Schools.  They unfortunately lost in the last minute of the game.  It is going to be on ESPN sometime, don't ask me, I don't know when.