Nice but Tiring Long Driving @ 53rd Day

As I said yesterday, I will introduce Venice a little!!

First, this is the beach.

It's different from Santa Monica beach, isn't it?

It was early morning (8:00), so there are less people and opening shops.

That's too bad...

I wanted to tell how nice Venice is, but I can't.

Well, I needed coffee as everyday custom.

This shops is small like a hiding place...

 
At 9:00, my long journey started.

Today's destination is San Francisco by using CA-1 and US-101 highway.

According to GPS, it takes 7 hours by car.

In the left, I can see blue ocean, and in the right mountain.

With window opening, I drove. Wind is very comfortable.

Malibu, here, is also nice beach spot.

However long I drove, long beaches last like forever.

I wander how many beaches are there in CA?

When I drove a little far way from coast line, next I saw is huge farm in Oxnard.

Here, Santa Barbara, I took a rest and walk around the downtown.

This place is a resort area.

White houses, orange roof...

 Like Andalusia in Spain. I thought the same thing as I heard.

Well, let's have a lunch in Santa Barbara.

I ate hamburger as usual, but this is good taste, different from fast food!!

After Santa Barbara, the highway is in mountains.

After I passed through Santa Maria, I met Pacific again!

This is not a beach but nice place to take a rest.

Gradually, I didn't want to drive any more...

Since this morning, I had driven for almost 5 hours.

In 7:00 I arrived at San Jose.

I was looking forward to go sightseeing here because this is famous worldwide.

But my expectation was destroyed when I saw poor town...

There are nothing but buildings...

This is the place for business, not for sightseeing.

I understood....

From San Jose, I drove 1 hour more.

Finally I got at San Francisco~~

It was almost 9:00...

I was exhausted...

Over 430miles (700km), over 8 hours driving...


Thinking about this drive, CA has wide variety of landscape from good nature to good city.

I recognize CA is very nice state again.

Variety of Common and Fancy in LA @ 52nd Day

Yesterday I failed to reach Hollywood sign...

I felt something like chagrin...

I was supposed to go another place, but I retried!!

I can't come back without seeing Hollywood sign closely.

Well, Of course I chose "Hollywood sign" way.

If I had chosen the other way, I would have gone this horse house.

We can go to the top with riding on a horse.

Sometimes I saw horse waste...

I might have step on that...

Later, the only thing is to walk and walk...

I did the same as yesterday

The difference is whether I walked right way or not.

Yes, I noticed I had walked wrong way yesterday.

 Finally I reached to the sign!!

It was much bigger than my thought.

As think usually, it must be big to be seen from the city.


The view is extremely good because of the top (of course) and my sense of achievement!

I asked a guy to take a picture!

 

After descendent, I drove to the West.

What I saw is gorgeous houses in Beverly Hills.

Many famous people have their big houses there.

Well sometimes I want to have a house like that, but I prefer useful house, not gorgeous.

Before that opinion, I might have no choice but common house.


I drove from Hollywood to this place!

U...C...L...A....

University of California, Los Angeles!!

In the public school, it's a top school...

Without any plan, I walked in the campas.

I just wanted to walk and feel atmosphere.

I felt something serious.

Oh, I found an interesting cafe named "cafe SYNAPSE."

I ordered small latte.

The taste is as usual....

The same thing that I experienced at the cafe in Harvard happen in this cafe.

Clerk : "Are you a student in this school?"

Takumi : "... N, No..."

I couldn't say yes because I can't be a UCLA student....



Next where I came is Santa Monica.

This is downtown Santa Monica.

It seems nice, but this street is full of fancy shops and restaurants.

I just saw outside and passed through...

Santa Monica is famous for its beach that is thought NO.1 beach in West Coast.

I can see blue sky, blue ocean, mountains in the left, downtown in the back and wide beach side.

I imagine people's activity in summer.

I want to come in the summer vacation~~ 

At that time, it is time of sunset.

Many people gathered to the pier.

I saw the sun settling in the horizon with birds instead of people.

How nice (!?) is it!!

 

At night I moved to Venice, which is next to Santa Monica.

There is a hostel that I stay tonight.

Actually, I prefer Venice to Santa Monica.

This is the place for commoner.

It doesn't have order and is a little dirty.

 However it's more interesting for me. Much more interesting!! Really. Yes.

 

I will walk around Venice tomorrow morning and update good pictures next blog.

You'll got to like Venice by my pictures!!

The Capital of Movie @ 51st Day

If I say movie, it must be this place.

Hollywood!!

I also came such a place!!

I can see Hollywood sign from our hostel~~


The main street, Hollywood Boulevard, near the hostel is like this.

 

Street lights are like filming lights!!

On the way to main area, I stopped by a post office.

Here is Hollywood, so there are posters of famous actor stamp in the wall.

Next what I saw is real filming~~.

I was excited when I saw this!!

I took pictures across the road.

Woooowwwww~~~ 

I really thought I came to the movie city.

Later I found this sign...

I regret taking pictures just in front of the camera because I should have walked through as usual.

Due to my behavior, they might have to take again....


This is Hollywood Highland, which is used for Academy Award Ceremony.

Every star seems to walk this stairs to the Kodak Theater.

Next to Hollywood Highland, there is a Chinese Theater.

Lots of people were taking pictures.

But I don't know why this theater is so famous...

I don't know about Hollywood or movie so much...


Along this street, star's name is written in the tile called Walk of Fame.

Even the person who don't know movie so much (means I) found some star's name.

"Tom Hanks" I know, I know.

"Johnny Depp"

Oh, I caught him today using "modern phone", not compass.

"Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldin, Michael Collins

Are they movie stars?? But definitely they are stars.


Actually the city is too much for me.

There seem to be a lot of fum but I like calm, quiet place...


In the evening, I decided to go hiking!

I heard I can come close to Hollywood sign!!

After I got out of car near the mountain, I started to walk.

There is about 2 miles walk to the sign.

I walked through the path like this....

 ??

I couldn't go any more because of barricade.

From that point, it's about 200m to the sign...

 

At that point, I saw much green and the city.

And nice sunset.

And amazing night scenery of the city... (I couldn't take a good picture.)

Well, I really like this place rather than downtown.

The start of Caalifornia @ 50th Day

Today I went to National Park in the morning.

Here, Point Loma is the place Spanish sailor, Cabrillo, landed on current- California at the first time in 1542.

This park is located in West side of San Diego between Pacific Ocean and San Diego Bay.

From this point, I saw beautiful scenery of Bay area.

 

There is a monument about Cabrillo.

In the opposite side, it is Pacific.

I thought I might see Asia, but of course there is only big sea in front of me.

Actually I hadn't known about this place until my Korean friend, Yoni, told me.

Thank you Yoni~~

I was lucky to come here because the view is very nice!!

Without a car, I wouldn't have come here...


In the afternoon, I came Balboa Park again.

Yesterday I didn't walk around the park.

After I got a map in information center, I wandered around first.

I was surprised that there are 14 museums, a zoo, a performance theater, and some other cultural places in this park.

Compared to Washington DC, which has 18 museums and zoo, Balboa park is less bigger than DC mall, but still big attraction.


This is central area.

I could see the tower over there, which is the Museum of Man that I went yesterday.
 

♪ ～♪ ～♪ ～

Someone was playing an organ.

I hadn't seen organ outside of the hall.

I can hear organ melody in the nice weather and for free!!

This is Pacific nations area.

Many countries, not only Pacific countries but also some other countries, have a room to introduce their countries.

I entered house of Puerto Rico.

It is under the US, but the culture is completely different from the main land.

Now that it's time to get inside one of these museums.

I chose Mingei International Museum, which has a lot of people's art.

Today they have 2 fairs; musical instruments and blue arts.

I've been to Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) and I got a chance to see instruments all over the world.

They exhibit strings, drums, flutes, bells, musical boxes like this picture.

This marimba is made of wood, you know, but also animal intestine below the wood!!

In the blue arts corner, they explain how to dye into blue.

I hadn't thought about blue so much...

It's work-a lot, but amazing way.

They use grass called indigo.

In Japan, Ai-zome is the same way as using indigo.

Besides these exhibition, there are some good things in the museum.

Here is one example.

This is bench (in the rest area) made of all wood without any other material such as bolt.

Usually it cost several thousands dollars...

This table is made of advertisement paper.

It costs $200!?!?

How long does it take to make this??

I was admired bunch of skillful arts in this museum.

After coming back to Japan, I wanna try some of Japanese traditional arts!

I am a Japanese, but there are a lot of things that I don't know about Japan.


Well, it's time to come back to LA.

While driving, I thought this Balboa Park is full of knowledge of man.

I wish I had had such a great park near my house.


Different from the day I came to San Diego, it's very nice day.

I saw very nice sunset scene from the highway.

Tomorrow I will be in the capital of movie.

I'm looking forward to feel in the city.