Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Griffith Park


 Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,310 acres (1,740 ha) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. It is the second-largest city park in California, after Mission Trails Preserve in San Diego, and the tenth largest municipally owned park in the United States. It has also been referred to as the Central Park of Los Angeles, but it is much larger and with a much more untamed, rugged character than its New York City counterpart.


The 9-hole Roosevelt Golf Course, two 18-hole golf courses, a baseball field, athletic fields, along with several basketball and tennis courts are on the grounds. The park also has a swimming pool which is open during the summer months.
With its wide variety of scenes and nearby proximity to Hollywood and Burbank, many different production crews found new ways and angles to film the same spots and make them look different. One would be hard pressed to find a spot in Griffith Park which has not been filmed or taped.


The Griffith Observatory sits atop the southern slope of Mount Hollywood. It was featured prominently in the 1955 classic Rebel Without a Cause. A bronze bust of the film's star James Dean is on the grounds just outside the dome. Other movies filmed here include The Terminator and The Rocketeer. The area of the park around the Observatory also appears as a location in the role-playing video game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, which is set in Los Angeles. All  places in this park were filmed in various films like:  "Future's End",  "River Road Tunnel", " Who Framed Roger Rabbit " and many others. 


The Grove


The Grove in Los Angeles is a boutique outdoor shopping mall located across the street from the famous Los Angeles Farmer's Market.  As you enter the shopping mall, you can get an overview by hopping on a unique, double decker tram ride that moves on a track back and forth through the shopping center. This ride (which is free) is a fun way to see what's in store for your day of shopping and dining. Built on an historic undercarriage from a 1950’s Boston street car, it travels the ¼ mile track between The Grove and The Farmers Market in 6 minutes.


Every 30 minutes the dancing fountain comes alive with songs and a water show in which the water dances in rhythmic patterns to the tunes of famouse singers. A 30-foot-long ellipse of 32 pulsing water jets and an inner ring with eight arching and swaying columns of water join together to create a water dance that reaches heights of 60 feet.




Another feature of the shopping mall attraction is The Spirit of Los Angeles, a commissioned work by sculptor De L’Esprie. The statue stands 18 feet high atop a 22 foot hand limestone column and includes a bronze statue of a male and a female angel soaring skyward.
There, in the Grove, you can find everything what you want and need.



The Getty Center


The Getty Center's estimated 1.3 million visitors annually make it one of the most visited museums in the United States. The collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum on display at the Getty Center  includes "pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs".

The museum building consists of a three-level base building that is closed to the public and provides staff workspace and storage areas. Five public, two-story towers on the base are called the North, East, South, West and the Exhibitions Pavilions. The Exhibitions Pavilion acts as the temporary residence for traveling art collections and the Foundation's artwork for which the permanent pavilions have no room. The permanent collection is displayed throughout the other four pavilions chronologically: the north houses the oldest art while the west houses the newest.

The 134,000-square-foot (12,400 m2) Central Garden at the Getty Center is the work of artist Robert Irwin. Planning for the garden began in 1992, construction started in 1996, and the garden was completed in December 1997.
The Getty Research Institute (GRI) is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts." Among other holdings, GRI's research library contains over 900,000 volumes of books, periodicals, and auction catalogs; special collections; and two million photographs of art and architecture.


From the hill where the Getty Center sits, visitors can enjoy views of  Los Angeles, Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel Mountains Inspired by the interplay of setting and view, architect Richard Meier sought to design the new complex so that it highlights both nature and culture, creating a synchronistic, organic whole.

Olvera Street




Olvera Street is  the oldest part of Downtown Los Angeles, California, and is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. Many Latinos refer to it as "La Placita Olvera." Circa 1911 it was described as Sonora Town.
Having started as a short lane, Wine Street, it was extended and renamed in honor of Agustín Olvera, a prominent local judge, in 1877. There are 27 historic buildings lining Olvera Street, including the Avila Adobe, the Pelanconi House and the Sepulveda House. In 1930, it was converted to a colorful Mexican marketplace. It is also the setting for Mexican-style music and dancing and holiday celebrations, such as Cinco de Mayo.











The Plaza-Olvera Street site was designated as a California State Historic Landmark in 1953.


In the midst of Downtown industrialization, Olvera Street is a quaint, colorized, and non-confrontational environment. Olvera Street is successful in depicting the quaintness of Mexican culture.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of 468.67 square miles , and is located in Southern California. Often known by its initials LA.  Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States, the Los Angeles area itself is the most diverse metropolitan area in the United States. The city's inhabitants are referred to as ""Angelenos".




Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood.
Los Angeles is the name of Spanish origin that means "city of angels". Los Angeles is a world center of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology, and education. It is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. Los Angeles has been ranked the third richest city and fifth most powerful and influential city in the world, behind only New York City in the United States.



Pacific Park




It located on the world famous Santa Monica Pier. Pacific Park is the family place to play! It's the West Coast's only amusement park located on a pier. Millions of visitors each year enjoy all the rides, games and fun you'd expect from one of Southern California's Leading attractions. 














There are a total of twelve rides in Pacific Park, including a Ferris wheel that provides a view of the Pacific Ocean and a roller coaster that circles the majority of the park. The park also includes various attractions including a miniature golf course.