Photos taken over the weekend... Life is pretty much getting back to normal, after (during the tail end of?) COVID...
Saturday, 3.19.2022. An excursion into Hollywood, all by public transportation, which I haven't taken in LA since before the whole COVID mess.
"Our" Metro station in South Pasadena.
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The hills are still green.
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Union Station, among my favorite buildings in Los Angeles.
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I often think of this song as I walk through Union Station...
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...or this one.
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Love this place. Great architecture.
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This has to be one of the best dining/drinking spaces in LA. And it's at a train station, hehe.
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Beer.
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I like the parrots.
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Eating Cobb salad and drinking beer at Union Station.
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More parrots.
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As you can tell, I really love this space.
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They were setting up for some kind of event or something. Usually this is a nice courtyard to walk through.
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Onward on our journey...
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Midwestern tourists. We could tell by their accents, though we weren't sure which state. They also pronounced "Wilshire" funny---we in LA say "Wil-shurr." They were saying "Wil-shire," the 2nd syllable rhyming with "tire."
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They got off at the stop before ours.
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We decided to have cocktails at a rooftop bar, so we were put on the waiting list, and waited in the lobby...
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"Empty chairs at empty tables..."
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What was supposed to be a 20-25 minute wait ended up being about 40 minutes, but we didn't mind. Then, it was up the elevator to the roof.
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We sat at a corner of the bar and ended up getting... kinda drunk. But it was ok. And, the people-watching was kind of fun. And funny. Some interesting people. As more people started arriving, they got more plasticky-looking.
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My first sangria.
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I was trying to get a pic of the Hollywood sign from where I was sitting, but I was getting kinda buzzed, so I just said "fuck it" and took the picture anyway.
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This one took a number of selfies of herself.
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My 2nd caipirinha.
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The clouds started rolling in, and it started getting slightly chilly and breezy...
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Is 2004 back with the aviators?
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We figured we'd walk off our drunkenness for a bit. This is where we went, Mama Shelter. The staff are all very nice.
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This particular parking lot usually has trailers, satellite and microwave trucks, when it's that time of year...
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...Yup, it's the Oscars again. They are setting up for the Academy Awards, which will be held on March 27th.
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This is the limo drop-off point for the Oscars. It's not all snazzed up yet of course.
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We thought we'd have dinner here, a restaurant we hadn't been too in a long time...
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We sat outside, though.
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Salami, olives, and cheese for an appetizer.
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White sangria.
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Clam and garlic pizza.
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Back on the Metro.
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Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. Now the walk back home.
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Sunday, 3.20.2022.
Went to UCLA for...
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...the Nowruz/Persian New Year Festival. Happy Nowruz!
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A Haft-sin. Here's a Wikipedia article about it:
Haft-sin
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Time to eat. We decided to continue the Persian New Year theme. Being that UCLA is near Little Tehran, that's where we decided to eat...
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Kookoo sabzi.
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Kashk bademjan.
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Dolmeh with masto' khiar.
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Persian ice cream. I had Arabica coffee on top with saffron pistachio underneath.
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The ice cream shop had its own Haft-sin.
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The restaurant we went to.
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Happy Nowruz!
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Interestingly enough, on our drive home, we saw this spare tire cover that reminded us of that evil eye thingy.
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