Well that was spectacular…perhaps not spectacular in the
sense that my recent two-week, three-state US trip was ‘so inspiring, everything was OMG
WOW, America rules, I need to move over there asap and find fame,’ because
that’s probably the most ordinary response to the infamous American
destinations. No, what was more spectacular was our ability to origami so much
activity into a limited time, with several of us, a hench minibus that leaked length way over the conventional parking space limit, complete with two sandwich ends
of 8-hour-difference jetlag. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and still have
outstanding items I want to tick off my list, when I return. We moved hotel thrice (planned), which I recommend doing as it allows you to cover more area and be nearer various key places.
Las Vegas, first stop.
Vegas is best described as ‘bloody weird.’ It is undeniably heavy camera/Instagram porn, but in essence, is hard to digest in line with a sense of reality. By this I mean it is totally built for being a short-stay wonder in my opinion and not to sustain a lifestyle. Well unless of course you enjoy elongated periods of being disconnected from the elements a.k.a. hiding from heat, external oxygen and sunshine, breathing air con all hours of the day from when you sleep and dump to when you shop, riding cabs and forgetting the use of your legs, being mazed-in by slot machines in about 83% of buildings and buzz off the challenge of seeking a vegetable with any meal eaten, in order to friction the transformation from normal human being with comfortable BMI, to stagnant buffet junkie. It’s both marvellous and hideous in comparison to the ordinary and wonders of what I am used to in the UK, but definitely worth seeing (for no longer than three days I would say). I found it odd that a lot of the clubs were in hotels and the hotels were like mini-living centres- they had eeverryythingggg. It was as if planners never wanted you to leave interior space...? Saves cab fare though.
Vegas is best described as ‘bloody weird.’ It is undeniably heavy camera/Instagram porn, but in essence, is hard to digest in line with a sense of reality. By this I mean it is totally built for being a short-stay wonder in my opinion and not to sustain a lifestyle. Well unless of course you enjoy elongated periods of being disconnected from the elements a.k.a. hiding from heat, external oxygen and sunshine, breathing air con all hours of the day from when you sleep and dump to when you shop, riding cabs and forgetting the use of your legs, being mazed-in by slot machines in about 83% of buildings and buzz off the challenge of seeking a vegetable with any meal eaten, in order to friction the transformation from normal human being with comfortable BMI, to stagnant buffet junkie. It’s both marvellous and hideous in comparison to the ordinary and wonders of what I am used to in the UK, but definitely worth seeing (for no longer than three days I would say). I found it odd that a lot of the clubs were in hotels and the hotels were like mini-living centres- they had eeverryythingggg. It was as if planners never wanted you to leave interior space...? Saves cab fare though.
(Vegas pedestrian street view^)
(The Bellagio show^)
(Vegas main strip^)
HIGHLIGHT: The stratosphere tower ‘Big Shot’ ride, of 1149ft
and four G’s of force rocketing you into the air above the city. Cracking experience for a
divvy belly and even better for the undulant view. The golden erection of The
Trump hotel, was a great place to stay as it was void of any gambling, stale cigarette
odours and trashiness like many of the others. Another plus to Vegas is that
shuttle buses and trams are free and interconnect various hotels- even more great encouragement for guests to spend mullah. Added point to the the city planners.
(Peak of the BIG SHOT ride^)
(Views over the city from the Stratosphere below)
Grand Canyon by road in 3 hours to the Skywalk was our subsequent
destination, with the flat happy planes of US land spread ahead of us
throughout the driving duration- an abundance of desolate natural grounds with
the occasional sparse settlement sprouting out of nowhere. This was inspiring
to see, in contrast to building thick and fast in UK major cities. Life out
here was hot, dry and beige, with depth you can’t imagine as the end sight reward.
The Skywalk bridge was uber, shit-worthy because as much as I greatly bum
adventure and deal with thrill etc., heights that hang off an edge into an
empty, airy abyss don’t tickle my fancy too much. The Skywalk viewing platform
was glass- DO in fact, look down- not to mention that that day it rained, so we were nicely, but hastily shimmied off the attraction due to a high static weather
warning. Cute.
(Grand Canyon images below)
(Grand Canyon images below)
(The Skybridge, before the downpour^)
The most extreme part of the trip was our forecast 4.5hour-turned-7
hour-in-practice, road trip to Los Angeles, with a small collection of nuts and
only some bottled water between all of us over the 280 miles. After an hour of
driving there was a heavy storm with flood alerts throughout the only route interstate
15 journey, low blackened clouds, lightening and impacts of hail that crucified
our van (audibly, thankfully not visibly). On the other side though was fizzy
Hollywood, where we stayed near the hills!
(Sunset post-storm, driving^)
The LA area is laterally spread instead of the vertically
amassed east coast, home to the likes of NY and Chicago etc. As earthquake
haven it’s a must. Transport was a rather interesting one in this US west. As
an avid urbanist and an especially keen peruser of mobility, I was all over
LA’s movement habits and infrastructure. As everyone knows it’s all about the
car there; roads are vast, miles long, heat is tough and people don’t’ appear
to be as hyped about more active, self-autonomous mobility approaches in the US
as the UK. I don’t blame them wholly though, due to the sheer size of roads (albeit
very helpfully grid organised for tourist navigation * wink face/thumbs up *). I
like the calmness of LA, and downtown warmly tickled my heart the most due to its
culture, historic districts, such as fashion and jewellery that resembled the
Brixton domain and then the inner parts were cleaner, with more frequent
official and sparkly buildings reminding me of NY. A fave
spot was the rooftop bar at The Standard hotel. Other than its flavours of
preppy uni pool party, babe fest cringe, and peppered with social try-hards, it was a
good lively location with inoffensively tall views in comparison to Vegas
heights. It had a younger clientele base and other nearby clusters of nightlife. Aside from downtown, Hollywood and Sunset strip as well as Santa Monica’s more casual
coast were your alternative nightlife sources. It’s different to London where everything seems to be everywhere and you can hop on a tube or literally walk a few
metres down a road and hit up another pub/bar. Driving is thus less essential here.
(Hollywood Hills, view over the city^)
(Greystone Park and Mansion, grounds view^)
(The Perch, rooftop bar view^)
(The Standard, rooftop view below)
(Myself, my photo editing, @ The Perch, below)
(Near Universal City, room view, below)
All in all: shit loads of shopping malls and Ralph
supermarkets (which by the way ARE THE MOST FUN GROCERY SHOPPING YOU CAN EVER
HAVE), a pleasant summer LA climate, THE best hip-hop radio station EVER –Power
105.1 (don’t miss), add in some quaint suburbia, dense parts of flashy money facades
and lambos at lights, dense parts of some African-looking areas that house some
scary soap opera-like characters you encounter on the 1 dollar bus journey to downtown, and a REALLY efficient city clean maintenance scheme in most parts, that you could eat your tea off the streets. There you have my trip synopsis, ending
in a 7.8/10 score. Yep I’m a hard cynic to crack and would need to finish my aims on a return trip for a score review.
All hail the one-dollar (70pence) bus ride though right!? Public
transport for the win, alongside how god-darn friendly Americans are! Gotta love
their smiley attitudes- I made more connections and got into more conversations with strangers than I do over a couple of weeks in London. On an end note I
would definitely go back to work and travel down west coast, doing less of the snap shot holiday things. And more importantly
to get a real taste of downtown LA that I found fascinating after only spending
a fraction of our time there, sad face.
Great things shown below, for starter check my insta for on-site postings, then this lot for the rest.
(Downtown LA street life, car park attendant^)
(Downtown LA street shot^)
(The Farmer's market, The Grove, below)
(Santa Monica beach, below)
(Santa Monica, inner city^)
Not forgetting to mention; the first day (on Rodeo Drive), I was stopped by a photographer who saw me snappin' away and enjoyed my accessories, thinking I was Australian during our introductions. We exchanged details for future endeavours :) This is one of the improv photo outcomes:
Finally you've reached the end...ha.
Stay tuned for my LA fashion shoots with my sister, here and primarily there > Liv In Fashion.
