Today I used Shanks’ pony for transportation in LA.
I haven’t really gotten out much in LA on my own yet. except for a couple of kilometres radius of our place. It really is a city built for driving. Suburbs are far more massive than they appear on the map and the grid layout can be quite deceptive.
I had hitched a ride with Gin, J and friend to the Trails cafe at the bottom of Griffith Park for lunch and then decided to leave them to continue on to the Griffith Observatory while I made my way towards where I had a test drive of a car. The Google Maps app on my phone made it look really close. I should have done the directions thingy to get a proper idea.
I ended up walking for about 45 minutes to where my friends who were helping me with the test drive were having lunch. I walked through Los Feliz and then the little enclaves Thai Town and Little Armenia that are peppered along Hollywood Boulevard. The diversity in between each block was quite remarkable. One block you would have fancy shops and neat footpaths, the next it would be more derelict and dirty and so on.
I didn’t meet many other pedestrians. I wasn’t the only one using Shanks’ pony (walking on my own two legs and yes, it a very grandfatherly kind of thing to say) but there certainly weren’t crowds waiting at the lights, except out front of the metro station.
So it is doable, but just don’t underestimate the distances and time it will take you.
a little cameo 