Blogs from Los Angeles, California, United States, North America - page 267

Again we decided that we were not going to get ripped off by an official tour, so we made our own way to Disneyland. That was however a big mistake as there was a drivers strike and the Greyhound busses were not running. We managed to get there on the local buses, but it took a total of four hours with a lot of farting around down-town. It was a good job we hadn't planned on travelling over the States by bus, as that would have been knackered and we'd have been stuck in LA. Nightmare! Disneyland is not a place for nerve shattering rides. They tended to be very nice and very pretty with lots of moving characters and nice tunes. The place was clearly aimed at kids. There was one notable exception in the ... read more

It would be criminal to go to Los Angeles and not visit Hollywood and Universal Studies, so we booked ourselves on a tour. On the way, we stopped off to see the Hollywood sign up in the hills for some compulsory photos. Once high up, it was frightening how obvious the smog was, as it hung over the city below. Universal Studios has a huge public area with loads of things to see and do, but the most interesting part is a tram ride round all the various film sets. We saw the house from Psycho, the town square from Back to the Future (and the Dukes of Hazard), a burning house, a flood, the parting of the red sea and a lake with a frankly laughable excuse for Jaws. Apparently the real one was being ... read more

October 22, 1988 *City official name :Rancho Palos Verdes *Founded date : *Location :California State *Elavation :? ft (? m) *Area :Approximately ? square miles (? km²). *Facts :Palo Verde is a census-designated place (CDP) in Imperial County, California, United States. The population was 236 at the 2000 census. ... read more

July 10, 1988 *City official name :Los Angeles *Founded date : *Location :California State *Elavation :? ft (? m) *Area :Approximately ? square miles (? km²). *Facts :Los Angeles—often known simply as L.A. or informally as the City of Angels—is the largest city in the state of California and the second-largest in the United States. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 3.8 million. The city is the core cultural and economic center of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area with a population of 12.9 million. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850—five months before California achieved statehood—and is the county seat of Los Angeles County. The city has a global presence as a ce... read more

The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena is a well-known celebration of New Year's Day. Susan and I went to see the parade on New year's Day 1985. (It's the only time I have seen it in person.) It really is quite a spectacle, with themed flower-bedecked floats, marching bands, and costumed equestrian units.The Tournament of Roses and its parade began in 1890 as a way for citizens of the new city of Pasadena to show off Southern California and its mild Winter climate to the folks "Back East". Floats began as carriages decorated with flowers. Today, the self-propelled floral floats are elaborately decorated in an array of different blooms and plant ... read more