Seasoned Metro Riders! May 27th 2009

We are now seasoned Metro riders. Throughout LA the is a Mertrolink that will pretty much take you any where in the city. Well we got on it today and went back to see everything we had seen a couple of night before with Jeff. It was great to see the city during the day time.

When you talk to people in LA they will tell you that they dont have a very good public transport system and that there is no underground section. We thought that was strange as we had looked online before leaving for LA and had seen which trains we needed to catch and where to get off etc. So we thought we would go and check it out anyway. The truth of the matter is there is a great public transport system, but no one wants to use it, they would rather drive everywhere.
We walked just down the road and found the Green Line Metro and bought our first ticket. The train arrived about 2mins later and runs every 10mins. On the Green Line from Redondo Beach there were not very many people aboard (I think thats because its a more affluent area), from there we travel along next to the freeway, beating everyone stuck in traffic, he he he. We get off the Green line and get onto the Blue line which runs in to the city. This line went through some of the roughest parts of LA and man that was an eye opener. Houses that in NZ would have been condemned are lived in by heaps of people. On this line there are heaps more people getting on and off but we still felt quite safe. No problem getting a seat or anything.

While riding the Metro I would recommend looking out the window (while holding your bag tight) and listening to the sounds around you. People from every nationality chatting away, often at the top of their voices. Its quite funny listening to what they are saying. Some were preaching, some discussing how the Lakers would get to the play offs, others talking in languages we could not understand, others were begging. It was very cool.

You have to keep an ear out for the stations so you dont miss your stop. That in itself can be quite challenging especially if the person mumbles their words and you can hardly understand them! We managed to make it to all our destinations in one piece, well educated, but in one piece.

We went everywhere in the city. From Union Station, which was beautiful and huge, to Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd, the Walk of Fame, Downtown LA and so much more.

Seeing the city during the day was a completely different experience. I would definitely recommend seeing it both during the day and then again at night if you ever get the chance.

Oh yeah, if you need to pee in downtown LA, be ready to pay 0.25c usd to get in the door! Or you could just use the sidewalk like some.

As mentioned in the first blog we went to a hotel called Bonaventure. We took photos of that during the day which are in our picassa album. I cant figure out how to give you all a link to that yet, so thats something to look forward to. That was the building which had the revolving restaurant on the roof.

Some more interesting facts:
You have to pay to use the toilets in downtown LA due to vandalism.
You can turn right at a red light as long as its safe.
You have to tip if you want a photo with the "stars" on Hollywood Blvd. (We found that out AFTER our first photo!)

So yeah that was our day time adventure to the city, I guess so much more happened, but its hard to remember it all. I had it all written up but the computer had a brain fart and now I cant find any of it! Never mind. Life goes on.

Love to you all, chat again soon.