On The Road -- Again. Part IV

You New Yawkers know that our city is one helluva diverse meltin' pot, right? Well, say hello to Los Angeles which shares that greatness with our home town. There is a wonderful feel to this city with a blend of peoples from all over the planet. With a great and increasingly powerful Latino populace, the city just elected its first Latino mayor in many decades -- Antonio Villaraigosa. This was accomplished by unifying progressive forces, including strong labor support plus the Latino, Black and Jewish communities. Walking the streets, window shopping, strolling through various communities, gives you a strong and colorful impression of the varied composition of the Los Angeles population.

And like New York, there's a lot of character here. Bland it's not. But one big difference we observed (and liked a lot) was the behavior of drivers and their counterparts, pedestrians. Even though the city is overwhelmed and overflowing with cars, drivers are for the most part, well behaved. We heard no horns being blared constantly (or at all, for that matter) as soon as the light turned green. Put a foot in the street, or even appear to be getting ready to cross the street, and cars immediately come to a full stop and wait, patiently, for you to cross the street. Amazing, we thought. And why did that habit not take root in New York (even though, formally, the law is on the books) where you take your life in your hands when crossing the streets?

On the other hand, pedestrians are expected to behave properly also: Walk, Don't Walk signs are obeyed without exception. Jaywalking does not exist. And, if you're a transplanted New Yorker and forget, you'll be ticketed and the fine is heavy duty. But the system works and I'd love to know the statistics of car/pedestrian injuries and fatalities: L.A. vs. N.Y. I'd be very surprised if L.A. was not much lower than New York.


Unusual couple on Santa Monica's 3rd Street. L.A. has its share of characters.


L.A. - still star crazy - fans line up on Hollywood Boulevard to see Johnny Depp stick his hands in cement. (shot from my car - they couldn't believe I was shooting them and not Depp).

....

Visiting L.A. means visiting family. And there's lots of that there for me. Lots of cousins, a son, a niece, and so on. We were on our way to meet my cousin Muriel in Santa Monica for lunch. Stacey and I had some extra time and walked around the pedestrianized 3rd Street, lined with performing buskers and cute shops and cafes. Muriel drove up, we hopped into her car and heaed to the adjacent town of Venice for lunch at the Rose Cafe.

After lunch we followed her, via a beautiful street - Montana Avenue - to her bakery that her husband Ken runs with his brothers - the Belwood Bakery off of Barrington Avenue. Muriel stuffed several boxes with pastries and cake for our next family visit -- in the evening we'd visit our niece Lizzy and her boyfriend, Shawn in their grand new house up in the Hollywood hills.


My lovely cousin Muriel, packing some goodies for us at her bakery.


A 26 on Zagat - and rightfully so!


Hmmm, now what could this kid be eyeing here?

....

After the bakery, and of course, as always, it was late again, we made our way through horrible street traffic from Brentwood to Hollywood for a visit to Muriel's mom, Mildred. The trip should have been 15 minutes but it took us an hour, giving us just a few minutes to say hello and goodbye. Mildred was married to my father's first cousin (and close, boyhood friend), Maxie. Despite the short visit, Mildred was very happy to see us, contacts with her past and the family left behind in New York (she and Maxie left for L.A. in 1949).


Mildred Persh - at home on Fairfax Avenue.


Muriel, Stacey and me - visiting Mildred.

In my next post - we visit our niece, Lizzy Press and Shawn Hatosy in their new home, high up in the "hills." Don't miss it!