Los Angeles: The City of Angels

With a population just short of four million people, Los Angeles is the USA’s second most populous city. And the city that’s come to be known as ‘The City of Angels’ is a sprawling metropolis that is as fascinating as it is vast – Los Angeles is a city like no other.

Firstly, it’s important to set expectations. Los Angeles is a different kind of city to New York, and it doesn’t have the plethora of iconic edifices of its east coast counterpart, but LA is every bit as deserving of your attention as The Big Apple.

LA, of course, is the entertainment capital of the USA and, arguably, the world. And if New York has the Statue of Liberty to symbolise the city, then LA has the Hollywood sign, an inanimate icon that’s been plastered across Mount Lee in some form or another since 1923.

The sign’s rise to worldwide fame was somewhat of an accident, however. It was originally erected to advertise ‘Hollywoodland’, a housing development in the surrounding hills. With the advent of the cinema scene in LA, the sign came to symbolise the movie-making world capital, hence the sign was kept in place. The lettering was eventually shortened simply to ‘Hollywood’ in the 1940s, to reflect the name of the area rather than the name of the housing development.

Interestingly, the original ‘Hollywoodland’ sign was sold in 2005 for almost half a million dollars, a clear indication of the high esteem the sign is held in.

Flights to Los Angeles arrive from across the globe, but before you leave for this fantastic city, it’s probably worth remembering to pack your driving licence.

Los Angeles doesn’t have the same public transport system as, say, New York and having your own wheels will make your holiday in LA all the more enjoyable.

Of course, you don’t want to see the city from behind your steering wheel. Your first port of call should probably be an amble down Sunset Boulevard, where you can absorb the very distinctive LA buzz – you’ll feel that you’re entering something very special. There are many lounges and bars on the Boulevard and it’s simply a case of seeing which venue has something special happening on any given night.

To cater for the hippy in you, head over to the Laurel Canyon neighbourhood, which has a really bohemian feel – you’ll find a wonderful array of restaurants here and it is well worth spending an afternoon and evening wandering around this area.

And no visit to LA would be complete without a visit to Venice Beach, where you can watch amateur basketball games or shop for some retro clothes. It’s also here that you’ll find Muscle Beach – where bodybuilders bench-press on the beach.

This makes for a slightly surreal experience, but in many ways that is what LA is all about. Anything goes in this city – the weird, wonderful and downright wacky all get along in perfect harmony, and there really is no other city quite like Los Angeles.

Disclaimer: The information contained within this article is the opinion of the author and is intended purely for information and interest purposes only. It should not be used to make any decisions or take any actions. Any links are included for information purposes only.

Write by george t shirts