I have a confession to make. I’ve lived in Los Angeles practically my entire life and though I have visited downtown on occasion, I never saw much of the beauty in it as I should have, that is until I saw 500 Days of Summer.  Unconsciously, that was probably the inspiration of our little downtown adventure. We could have taken the metro to another locale, but downtown Los Angeles, with all its grittiness, history  and renewed interest seemed like the perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon, and being someone who loves old, good, things, Clifton’s Cafeteria was just the right place to start.

I know what you might be thinking. Why would you go to eat there? Clifton’s it seems, doesn’t have the best reputation concerning their food. I’ll tell you why I went  – because you don’t go to Clifton’s because you’re hungry and in need of some elitist four-course meals to savor your appetite. You go there for the atmosphere, the people, the kitschy-coolness of it all and if you can’t get past the taste of the food to see all that, well then I don’t know what to tell you. Go to a swanky restaurant on Sunset and call it a day.  Let’s move on to the green jello.

Yes there’s jello. Lot’s of it. This particular one above is a pear jello, but there were all sorts of flavors, including a “cheese jello” that looked a bit strange. Clifton’s also has bread pudding, fruit salad, tapioca – you name it, they got it. They’re also quite the creative bunch, as evidenced by the vegetable swan/duck below.

Beyond the desserts and salads, you find enchiladas and turkey breast and meat loaf and all the macaroni and cheese you can eat. Candy colored beverages, in flavors such as watermelon, mango and lemonade line the end of your journey as you make your way to the counter to pay. It’s only when you’ve gotten a handle on your food that you begin to notice the decor of Clifton’s.

It looks like the home of a hunter who decided he couldn’t fathom being away from the forest during off-season, so he did the next best thing: brought the wilderness into his home. There are moose heads and bass hanging in various places around the cafeteria, along with a fireplace and various objects on the wall – it’s like Elmer Fudd’s mothership, but that makes for a more interesting time and conversation.

After Clifton’s, it was time to wander around, hopefully do some shopping and waste time before we had to be back home. Because Los Angeles is so huge, you tend to forget what else it has to offer beyond the 10-mile radius you live in. It’s just waiting to be explored, there are so many interesting parts of this city that go unnoticed because someone happens to live in Santa Monica and it’s just too much hassle to drive beyond the 405, a sentiment that is probably echoed in the other direction by  your average Valley dweller.

The Orpheum Theatre above opened in 1926 and was a popular venue for the Marx Brothers, Judy Garland as well as Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. I mean, Ella Fitzgerald was in Los Angeles, in the same building, decades and decades ago – that just blows my mind.

The buildings below make up the famous Santee Alley, known for its fashion and furnshings you can score at affordable prices.

By the end of the day we were tired, but the 20 minute ride back home was calming, except for the girl who went on endlessly about how other people shouldn’t be blaming her for being more successful than them. I guess the cost of public transportation is annoying people, but you take what you can get.

More photos here.

Taking public transportation in Los Angeles is an anomaly.  This 498.3 square mile city’s driving force is the car . Because of this, the metro is often ignored, under funded and unexplored. Beyond the concrete jungle that spans the entirety of L.A., there’s a rapid transit system that spans about 73 miles of rail and has five lines: Blue, Red, Green, Gold and Purple.

Though a rail system is synonymous with a major, metropolitan area, the people of Los Angeles had this crazy idea in 1963 to close down all streetcar lines in favor of using cars on the freeway system. This action, as you can guess, helped created one of the most traffic-congested cities in the country. in the 80s, a measure was passed for a half-cent sales tax increase to rebuild the metro and light rail lines, with the Blue Line opening in 1990, with subsequent lines opening later. Amazingly, the Red and Purple lines averaged a weekday ridership of 153,928 by June 2008, making it the ninth busiest rapid system in the U.S.

Having always been fascinated by the metro system in other cities I’ve visited like New York and London, and since I seem to spend quite a majority of my waking time in the car, taking the L.A metro had been on my mind for a while and this Sunday, the opportunity presented itself. With a True Blood episode to catch at night, we set off to downtown in the afternoon, starting off at the Lake Ave. stop in Pasadena.

Let’s talk about the ticketing system of the Los Angeles metro system: it works on an honor system. AN HONOR SYSTEM, meaning, there are no turnstiles, no little machines you insert your ticket in before you can get through, no regulation. Basically, THEY TRUST US. Big mistake. Huge mistake. We  could have not bought tickets and have managed to get home and back on a free trip, in fact we saw many people that did just that.

Ticket barriers are coming, however it is estimated that the Metro loses 5.5 million a year because of this method.

The trains were really clean, with cushion seats and the most eclectic bunch of people you could have imagined, accurately reflecting all sectors of L.A. One of the major reasons I’ve always loved public transportation is because you can feel the heart beat of the city within its system – everyone with somewhere to be, someone to meet or something to see, everyone with one specific aim, shared by their mutual journey. It’s a lovely feeling, one that this city severely lacks. In L.A., everyone is a lone soldier, in their own car, after their own priorities – we even lack the proper patience for pedestrians.

After taking the Gold Line, we arrived in Union Station, opened in 1939 and known as the “Last of the Great Railway Stations” built in the U.S.

It’s a lovely place that makes you feel transported to the 40s. Serene and quiet, the most you hear there are the footsteps of travelers hurrying by with their families or luggage to get from one place to the next.

When we finally arrived in downtown, the sign below was the first thing that caught my eye. I wish all newsstands, however many there are left anyway, looked like that.

The blue building on the left is the Eastern Columbia Building. Opened in 1930, the Art Deco building housed clothing and furniture stores until it turned into condominiums that opened in 2006.

Our first order of business was Clifton’s Cafeteria, another Los Angeles landmark, that was recently in line to be sold, due to declining profits. Part deux of the exploration of a different side of Los Angeles coming tomorrow.