CLASSIC TRIP: England, Ireland, Belgium 2005 - Part 1
Aftermath of Bombing
Picture courtesy of Wikimedia
Francis Tyers under CC BY-SA 3.0 license
Just about 16 years ago...on July 6, 2005...the IOC met in Singapore to award the 2012 Olympics to the chosen city. We were in London that day and there were a lot of celebrations...then the next day, the world turned on its head. Read on to see what happened when we were in London, July 2005...
It was to be a memorable time to be in the city.
Our airline for the LAX to Heathrow portion this time was American Airlines. The service was good and the seats were wider and more comfortable than the last trip we took on Virgin Atlantic. For us, comfort and adequate service beat out Virgin's amenities which include better service, better food, and vastly better entertainment enroute.
Our hotel for this first leg of the trip was Jury's Inn in Chelsea…just a couple of miles west of the heart of London. Jury's Inn is part of the Jurys Doyle chain, an Irish company that has hotels throughout the British Isles. It is in a very quiet area that is being built up on top of the old gas works. It's a quick bus ride to the shops and pubs of Chelsea and the accessible Fullham-Broadway Underground station which provides quick links to the rest of the city.
The room featured a double bed with a fold out sofabed that would sleep three adults in comfort. Air conditioning, cable TV, radio rounded out the standard amenities. The room was large by European standards (about the size of an average budget U.S. motel room), well laid out, and featured a very large bathroom with a roll-in shower. Our cost was £59 per night (about $80 US)
A bus ride to the Fulham-Broadway tube station. A ride on the district line to Westminster station. A ride on the Jubilee line to the Kilburn station. Finally, another bus ride to Abbey Road.
Londoner's may be sad that the old Roadmaster double-deckers are being retired, but wheelchair users aren't. The new replacements…double-decker, articulated, or smaller regular buses…are wonderfully accessible. A ramp deploys from the back door and a space is reserved.
This round-a-bout journey is what it takes to get a wheelchair from our hotel in Chelsea (Jury's Inn) to the Beatles studio located at 3 Abbey Road, a ways north of Hyde Park.
Our first stop on this trip is to recreate the picture in the crosswalk that graces the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road album. We take notice of the studio in the smallish, neat white building just to the north of the crosswalk and read the grafitti on the wall in front and the road sign across the street.
Mainly a spot to take pictures, there is not a whole lot more to do here so we walk towards Lord's Cricket Ground nearby. Tours are being given but at this time the sky opens up and a heavy, cold rain begins to fall.
We decide it's time to take this journey indoors.
I hail a taxi and we head over to Harrod's.
The famous department store is huge – get a map at the information counter near the northeastern entrance. Five floors of expensive clothes, appliances, furniture and more. The food hall is impressively expansive, drool inducing, and expensive. The seating, along counters, is unfortunately not friendly to the wheelchair user. It is a little telling that the most crowded counter was the Krispy Kreme stall.
The rest of the store's departments are housed in smaller rooms. They were having a big sale that day. I remember as we passed through the women's clothing department a rack of blouses that were 50% off. I checked the price of a random blouse. It had indeed been priced at half off. The original price of 800 pounds ($1,416) was now 400 ($708).
Luckily, there is not a charge to go in and look.
It's Wednesday, July 6th. We're at Covent Garden passing time until the matinee performance of the Producer's starts up the street.
A limbo dancer is entertaining the crowds for tips when a group of fighter jets roar low overhead. It is at his precise moment, thousands of miles away in Singapore, that the International Olympic Committee announces that London has been awarded the summer Olympic games for 2012. The jets, streaming red, white, and blue smoke are part of the celebration taking place a few blocks away at Trafalgar Square.
It is a joyous moment.
We go on to see our play. The wheelchair seating is excellent, twelve rows back from the stage. The staff at the theatre is also excellent and one usher is assigned to us to take care of all our needs such as getting to the restroom and even bringing drinks in. The play itself is quite good and funny. Ticket prices, as they always are in London, are a bargain compared to Broadway. Less than $100 for all three tickets.
We have found that for matinees, you really don't need to plan that far in advance except for the most popular shows, early in their runs. I called upon arrival in London and easily reserved three tickets to this show which I picked up at Will Call. Previous trips I have used e-mail from the states, which turned out not to be really necessary. You may want to call direct a couple of weeks ahead of time if you want to go on a traditionally busy time such as Friday or Saturday night.
After the play, we start hitting pubs and celebrate the culmination of the years long struggle to get the Olympics with London's locals. We end the evening at the Bar Room Bar on King's Road having pizza and shooting pool with the regulars.
This is the day we are to go see the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. While getting ready, Tim notes that the BBC is reporting an explosion in the Liverpool Street Underground station. BBC is reporting that it was caused by an eletrical surge.
All cleaned up, we catch a bus to Fulham-Broadway to start our day. Not having had any breakfast and noticing that there is a Starbuck's in the station, we strong-coffee starved Americans decide to have some coffee and muffins to start our day.
At the counter, the server asks if I want it for here or to take away. Not really thinking about it, I say it's for here and our coffee comes in ceramic mugs. My wife, not too pleased with this, asks why I didn't take it to go so we could just take it with us on the train. I don't really have an answer and we take a few minutes to drink our coffee before leaving.
After we finish, we head over to the station nearby down the hall. The worker there is closing the gate over the front of the station and putting a sign up outside that says "Entire Underground closed due to security alert."
The crowds gather outside and I keep hearing more talk about the electrical surge. We go out front and try to catch a bus into London but no driver will let us on. Frankly, I'm starting to get a little PO'd at this but calmer heads prevail and we head back to the hotel where maybe we can catch a water taxi.
Since we're there, we decide to stop at our room and go to the bathroom before continuing on. Tim turns on the TV and there is the bright red banner on the BBC with a large and frightening caption: "TERRORISTS BOMB THE UNDERGROUND"
Much like US crisis reporting, many rumors abound while facts are being gathered. First, it's an explosion near King's Cross. Then it's six explosions throughout London. Soon it's up to seven. There is a rumor that a bus has just been blown apart. At least two people are "reported" dead with many injured. Now it's up to four dead.
Within the hour, London's police chief is on the air saying that everybody needs to just stay where they are…do not travel at all. All Underground and bus service has been halted.
Of course, now we know that four bombs went off that day. Three in the Underground and one in a bus killing 56 and injuring hundreds more.
While it was probably planned to coincide with the G8 summit taking place at the same time, it was sheer coincidence that Rudy Guilani just happened to be eating breakfast about a block away from one of the explosion sites.
For us, most of the day is spent in the hotel bar where a big screen is set up on the BBC and the stranded guests watch the horrible news. Later that evening, local bus service in Chelsea is running again so we're able to go about a half-mile into town to have a pub dinner.
Trapped on the Underground
Adam Stacey under CC BY 2.5 license
Although stuck at the hotel and the surrounding are for the day and having our trip to Greenwich cancelled, we are very thankful that we took a few extra minutes before boarding the train. I would hate to think of trying to evacuate the Underground at non-accessible station or, even worse, through a tunnel.
It was a sad day but the locals put up a good front, were still friendly (although understandably miffed at the perpatrators), and the hotel staff very understanding. Besides the direct victims, those who got the worst of it were the thousands of London workers who had to walk many miles home that night.
The rallying cry throughout the city today is get back to what your're doing. Don't let them shut us down. London is open, come and enjoy. This is what you can do to support us.
Back on the Tube at Fulham Broadway
With that in mind, we took to the streets and underground and continued on. Today, we take the tube from Fulham Broadway to Wimbledon. This is actually one station beyond the famous tennis club but the closest accessible station. We are able to catch an accessible bus from the station wich drops us off immediately in front of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
There is a museum here with many tennis artifacts such as the Wimbledon trophy, shoes, rackets, clothes (all worn and autographed by such stars as Venus Williams and Boris Becker), plus representations of Wimbledon over the years. There is a well-stocked gift shop but the highlight is actually going downstairs to visit Centre Court, home to the Wimbledon tennis tournament finals.
Centre Court, Wimbledon
Wheelchair users are escorted by a security guard and are able to get right up to the edge of the grass. The Royal Box is pointed out. We were there just about a week or so after the tournament ended and noticed the worn spots of grass that were reminders of what had taken place here recently.
Back on the tube, we navigated back to Fulham Broadway where we catch another train to Kew Gardens. It's an accessible station here but on arrival, wheelchair users must take a two-block detour, cross a traffic bridge, and then continue on about three blocks to the gardens entrance. Upon departing, you do not have to make the two-block detour to the station.
Kew Gardens is a fantastic and large botanic park. It is a royal palace and the grounds seemingly go on forever. There are many highlights here and there is no way we can see them all.
Today, we concentrate on the large, glass hothouses which contain tropical plants from around the world. The day we were there came in the middle of an exhibit of original works by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. His works were extraordinary and were scattered around the grounds and mixed in with the plants in the greenhouses. Of particular interest were the large chandeliers hung in each of the greenhouses.
There is a nice cafeteria here where you can dine on pastas, sandwiches, fruit and wash them down with a glass of wine or a bottle of ale.
This is our last full day in London, tomorrow we move on. We have a dinner at the Rose, a local Chelsea pub, and call it a day.
...Stay tuned for Part 2 and the Emerald Isle.
Posted by Timmy Wheels at 4:30 AM No comments:
Labels: Abbey Road, accessible, attack, Beatles, Beer, bomb, England, Harrods, London, pub, terrorist, Theater, train, travel, wheelchair, Wheelchair Accessible, Wimbledon
Recipes for a Cheapskate: Poppin' Peppers
Too many things to do this weekend to really get the dirt under my fingernails but I did get to harvest my jalapeño plant.
As the peppers were starting to turn bright red, that signaled that the time had come.
I got 13 peppers, just enough to make into a side dish for this week's barbecue.
So what can I do? Make mini jalapeño poppers.
Easy in concept but the smaller size of these peppers make a bit hard to stuff.
Each pepper is sliced on one side, propped open, and stuffed with my homemade mixture of cream cheese, chopped serrano peppers, and bacon.
I wrap them up in foil, poke a few holes in the top, and then put on the grill with our burgers.
The finished product looks something like this.
Labels: barbecue, Chile, food, garden, gardener, gardening, heat, onion, pepper, plant, plants, recipe, vegetables
The Cocktail Hour - Tequila Sunrise
Lynt under CC-BY-SA license
The Tequila Sunrise is a very visual drink, the name coming from the effect of the red grenadine sitting on the bottom of the orange drink, giving it the illusion of a sunrise. It's a great change-of-pace beach drink when you get tired of the saltiness of your margarita or the heaviness of your pina colada. Being that it's full of orange juice, it's also a great source of vitamin C while you sitting in the sun (hey, gotta bring the positives!).
The problem I've had with this drink in the past is that the classic recipe...orange juice, tequila, and grenadine only...has left me with an aftertaste that can best be described as "children's aspirin" taste...the St. Joseph's effect. It tastes good, but that aftertaste is a bit annoying. Even at the great bars that dot the beaches of Mexico, I still had that taste. The recipe below is my adaption of the classic and uses pineapple and lime juice to eliminate that aftertaste.
TEQUILA SUNRISE (1 drink)
2 oz. - tequila
2-3 oz. - orange juice
2-3 oz. - pineapple juice
spash of lime juice
splash of grenadine
Take a highball glass and fill 2/3 with crushed ice. Pour in the tequila. Fill about halfway to the top with orange juice. Pour in a splash of lime juice or squeeze half a fresh lime into the glass. Complete the fill of the glass with the pineapple juice. Stir the contents. Pour a splash of grenadine along one side...note - do not pour over the top of the drink...the grenadine is denser than the liquid in the glass and will soon sink to the bottom. Do not stir the drink, you want the grenadine on the bottom when you serve so you get the sunrise effect. Once you start drinking it, it will mix in but let your guests to the mixing or you'll just end up with a pink drink.
Labels: cocktail, drink, sunrise, tequila
CLASSIC TRIP: Las Vegas II, Nevada - 2002
We're going to wrap up the Las Vegas part of our salute to Nevada with this other trip to Sin City. This is also new to the blog and was taken about six months after our previous trip. Enjoy...
So we had a chance to stay at Mandalay Bay which has, by most accounts, Las Vegas' best pool. We arrived during the last week in July and were looking forward to staying at one of the city's premiere resorts...
Around 1:00pm, we pull into the valet parking area at Mandalay Bay. That in itself is quite a feat for first timers because it is very hard to find. There is a line of about five cars and a sign saying "sorry, lot full". A parking attendant comes along and asks us to roll down our window. He says it will be about five minutes and we'll be able to pull in.
True to his word, about five minutes later he's back, guiding us in. I tell him we have a ramp and to please put us somewhere I can deploy it. He says ok and proceeds to put us 2 feet from the car next to us with no room for the ramp. I then ignore him and pull forward to where I can open the ramp...I figure if he can ignore my request, I can ignore his. No one makes any kind of deal about this and we proceed to get out of the van.
About ten minutes later, a bellman comes up and takes our luggage and we go to registration to check in.
There is a HUGE crowd at the check in counters.
Here is the first place I see where Mandalay Bay could improve itself. There are around fifty check-in counters open. Instead of having one line and whoever is next in line go to the next open window (like an airport or a bank), they insist that each counter have its own line. Too bad if your counter person is very slow and you didn't get in the line with the fast person.
Check in goes very, very slow. An hour and fifteen minutes later we finally get up to the counter, get our keys, and go up to our room.
Our roomy ninth floor room is very nice. Two queen size beds and floor to window ceilings. A 27" TV in a amoire, his and hers closets, and a big bathroom. The bathroom has a tub and a separate shower. There are two sinks, all the toiletries you could ever want (plus more), and the toilet is in its own separate little room with a phone.
OK, so we call up the bell desk to get our luggage. Just a few minutes more and we'll be ready to hit the town....
Except that we have to wait another hour for our luggage! So, pulling into the valet, checking in, and getting our luggage....grand total, two and a half hours. Mind you, this is one of the more expensive hotels in Las Vegas.
After getting our luggage, we hop on the monorail and head over to the Tropicana. We just have barely enough time to grab a very quick bite for lunch and then settle down to watch the Rick Thomas Magic Show.
Tropicana Security escorts us around the backstage area where we can get to the accessible table seats in the Tiffany Theater. We get good seats at the middle aisle and it's a very good show.
The illusions range all the way from simple card tricks to making white tigers appear out of thin air. Sigfreid and Roy are not the only white tiger handlers in Vegas. In fact, Thomas makes a point of this fact that the white tiger is rare with only about 100 left in the world. He has one...and Sigfried and Roy have the rest.
There is no drink minimum at this show and regular price is $16.95. You can also win free or discounted tickets at the free pull slot machine in front of the casino. This fantastic show is really a bargain and one of the few shows in town you can be comfortable taking kids to.
After the show, we head back to our room to rest and refresh before heading out to see the evening's sights. That evening, we drive up to the Flamingo where we park and head out to the strip.
First, we have a decent dinner at the Flamingo's coffee shop and then cross the street to the Mirage where we take in their famous volcano show. It's pretty spectacular but short. It's not quite up to the spectacle that the fountains in front of the Bellagio are.
Next, we were going to head over to Treasure Island to see the pirate show. The crowds were just too thick and we couldn't get to within a block of the place, so we cancelled that one.
Instead, we head back across the street to the Venetian where gondolas ply the canals. Really, they just do circles around the pond out from and make laps of the one canal inside. At $15 per person, it just didn't look worth it to us (for a great gondola ride at a great price - free - see our Dining in Scottsdale report).
Inside the Venetian, I have to give high marks to their shopping area. It's beautiful....and this is coming from a typical guy who hates to shop and will go to great lengths to avoid a mall. The ceiling looks exactly like a daytime sky. The grand canal with its many bridges puts a very serene backdrop to the area, and the grand plaza with its many performers is an entertaining place to sip a cool and refreshing drink.
Back outside, there is a plaza between Bally's and the Imperial Palace with a Mardi Gras theme that offers free live entertainment in an outdoor theater. It's kinda cramped but it's still a fun place to waste some time.
The crowds on the strip have done their job at wearing us down, so we head back to our hotel at the southern end of the strip.
The next morning we order up some room service for breakfast and make a pleasant discovery. You see, last night we were walking by the coffee shop and notice a basic bacon & eggs breakfast was around twenty dollars. We figured for that price, we might as well order room service. So we order just a side order of eggs, a side order of bacon, and coffee for breakfast and found out that with room service, they throw in all the other stuff like fruit, toast, and hash browns anyway.
Although it turned out to still be expensive compared to many places, it was quite a bit less than the coffee shop downstairs and we had a spectacular view from our little table next to the big windows in our room.
Picture courtesy of Flickr
dcwriterdawn under CC BY-ND 3.0 license
Today, our plan is to spend the entire day at Mandalay Bay's gigantic pool area. At eleven acres, it is quite a sight. Access is strictly controlled to allow only hotel guests in. Everyone, down to the littlest child, must posses a room key to get inside. All are checked.
Inside, there is a huge sandy-beached wave pool with four foot waves suitable for body surfing. There are two smaller, traditional pools, a few hot tubs, and a lazy river.
We find some lounge chairs adjacent to the lazy river.
Tim has never been in a wave pool, so that's the first order of the day. We can get his wheelchair almost up to the edge, but from then on I have to carry him in. Since the pool is very shallow at the edge and very gradually deepens, it's quite a feat to get him to water deep enough to float in.
After bounding around the waves for about an hour, I manage to get him out and we make our way over to the lazy river. A hut rents tubes for the river but at a cost...$20 per day. You can trade back and forth between the tube or a floating lounge during the day at no extra cost (Only tubes are allowed in the lazy river but you can take the floating lounge into the regular pools. Neither one is allowed in the wave pool). Life jackets are free. You can also buy a tube ahead of time at Walgreens or a sporting goods store so you avoid the rental fee.
I help Tim into his tube, jump into mine and proceed to float around for the next few hours while my wife alternates with laying in the sun and occasional forays into the river. A cave with two waterfalls ensures that no part of you will stay dry in the lazy river.
Servers sporadically bring drinks to our lounges...very sporadically. I also found out that giving them a big tip does nothing to speed up their rounds! There's a couple of good restaurants here and we have lunch at the nearest one with hot dogs, burgers and salads.
The pool here is one of Vegas' great pools but I like the laid back party atmosphere of the Tropicana's pool better. I don't know if it's the correct term I'm looking for, but the crowd around the Mandalay Pool seems a little more uptight.
After our day in the water and sun, we head downtown to what is supposed to be one of the city's finest steak houses, The Ranch at Binion's Horseshoe.
On arrival, we make our way through the smoky casino to the restaurant elevator. Despite emphasizing we had a wheelchair upon making our reservation, no table is held for us. We end up being the only diners that do not have a table right up next to the top floor windows.
We order and soup is brought. I have to admit, the soup was delicious. Next the steaks. Supposedly dry-aged, USDA prime steaks from their own ranch, they were not near as tender or tasty as they should have been. The Ranch, far from being the best, was a major disappointment for us.
We go back to the hotel, pack up, and the next morning - after another round of room service - check out and go home.
Lesson learned: More does not mean better. As you can see in the main story above, the Tropicana at one third the price delivered twice as much fun and bang for the buck as the supposedly luxurious Mandalay Bay down the street.
The Fountains of Los Angeles
UPDATED - See Updated Content, following the Will Fountain below...
A couple of years ago, we were in a Midwest city that is renowned for its fountains. It's supposed to rival Rome with the number of fountains. Well, we were hard pressed to find any. Maybe one fountain working and a few more that weren't.
"We seem to have more in our desert city of L.A.," I thought to myself.
Well, it's time to put my money where my mouth is. I'm going to start a catalog of all the fountains that I can find downtown in this hot city. Come back from time to time as we'll be updating this list with new additions.
ARTHUR J. WILL MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN - I'll start with my favorite fountain in downtown. It's a grand fountain that crowns the appropriately named Grand Park. The Arthur Will Memorial Fountain (pictured at the top of this post).
Named after a 1950's era county administrative officer and built in 1966, the fountain recently got a big, expensive makeover as part of the building of Grand Park.
If you're adventurous, you can also kick off your shoes and wade around in this water play area next to the adjacent starbucks that was added to the fountain in that makeover.
UPDATE - FEBRUARY, 2014
Ranging a bit farther south than my usual walks, I came across a new park...Grand Hope Park...that featured a large water feature. This waterfall is part of that and can be seen near the park's entrance on Grand Avenue, just north of Olympic Boulevard and directly across from the Federal Reserve Bank.
Going the opposite direction, on the other side of the Hollywood Freeway at Sunset and Figueroa is a fairly bland strip mall but it does feature this nice looking fountain on the corner.
In between the above two fountains, you'll find a trio of condo buildings just south of Hope and 1st Street with a large plaza in between. That's where you'll find this round fountain.
On the east side of Figueroa Street, between Wilshire Boulevard and 7th Street, they're building an 1,100 foot hotel. Across the street, at the corner of Wilshire and Fig, you'll find this spare, twin tower fountain.
UPDATE - OCTOBER 11, 2013
Many local people around here can tell you about going to Chinatown when they were kids and throwing pennies into this "wishing well" fountain. It's still there, not quite as colorful as I remember.
There's also this other version across the street in the older part of Chinatown.
At the corner of 5th and Flower, this bright fountain graces the courtyard of the City National Bank plaza, formerly ARCO Plaza.
On top of Bunker Hill, between the Bank of America tower and the YMCA, there's a large park area with this huge sunken pond with four waterfalls flowing into it.
Over on Figueroa, this waterfall wall sits on the back wall of the Original Pantry restaurant.
UPDATE - JULY 27, 2013
CITY HALL - I was originally going to update this as defunct, but in the last couple of weeks, city workers have brought it back to life. The Flint fountain sits on the south lawn of the Los Angeles City Hall.
Made of marble, it's had a few hard knocks as protestors and celebrators that frequently congregate here (most recently, the Occupy LA movement) have visited much damage on this pretty water feature.
Happily, it is now flowing again and in pristine condition.
UNION STATION - Downtown L.A.'s transit hub is full of fountains. The one above is in the south patio where tables are set up. You can grab bite to eat at the adjacent cafeteria or one of the many food shops in the station and sit next to the colorful fountain.
There's also a nice koi pond a few feet away.
This large waterfall fountain is in the back of the station.
This unique water feature sits at the extreme northeast corner of the property at the corner of Chavez and Vignes Streets.
CENTRAL LIBRARY - Another great collection of water works, this is the largest. It's on the west side of the building facing Flower Street on the corner of 5th Street.
5th STREET STEPS - On the west side of the Library Tower (the nation's tallest office building west of the Mississippi), these steps provide a workout to climb up to the top of Bunker Hill. The little waterfall bisecting them has led to it being called "L.A.'s Spanish Steps."
WATERCOURT - At the top of Angel's Flight and Bunker Hill, the watercourt is all about H2O. There are many fountains here, large and small, including this shower-like waterfall in the quiet north court.
OLVERA STREET - Over at the city's birthplace is this 80-something year old fountain.
OLD PLAZA CHURCH - At the two century old church across from Olvera Street, this grotto waterfall makes for a meditative place to light a candle and say a prayer.
LAPD HEADQUARTERS - This understated waterfall marks the start of the terraced entranced gardens at the Police Headquarters on 1st Street, across from City Hall.
FEDERAL PLAZA - This fountain...and the attending artwork...has the distinction of being declared obscene by a federal judge. His ruling was overturned and the installation is still here for all to enjoy. Behind the Federal Building at 300 N. Los Angeles Street.
FORT MOORE (Defunct) - This fountain really made a statement. An 80 foot waterfall cascading over the hill to memorialize Mormon troops that built their garrison on top. Unfortunately, the city turned off the pump in the 1970's during a drought and it's been off ever since.
There is a plan to restore it but nothing has happened here, except for the occasional drug deal, for years.
WELLER COURT - This unnamed fountain in Weller Court, behind the Doubletree Hotel in Little Tokyo, sits in front of a monument to Astronaut Ellison Onizuka, who died in the Challenger explosion.
L.A. MALL - The mall has two fountains, one in each food court. This fountain sits in the south court...
...while this one pumps away in the north court. The mall sits underground and can be accessed from the plaza surrounding City Hall East, across the street from the main City Hall.
HALL OF RECORDS - One of the coolest fountains sits on Temple Street in front of the old Hall of Records building. It is very hard to capture in photos, but that is a relief map of all the water sources for the region. Each channel has a trickle of water running through it, eventually making its way to Southern California at the bottom before splashing into the large, reflecting pond resevoir.
OCHO GRILL - this small fountain sits in front of the restaurant on top of Bunker Hill on Grand Avenue.
MOCA - A pyramid of cascading water sits behind the plane wreck sculpture on the patio of the Museum of Contemporary Art.
This reflecting pool leads up to it.
THE MUSIC CENTER - Another very grand fountain is the dancing waters of the Music Center fountain.
There's no fence or barriers around it, feel free to play inside, get wet, and cool off.
DISNEY HALL - One of downtown's most stunning fountains is this Delft rose sitting behind the Disney Concert Hall. It's also very hidden. To find it, go to the extreme south or west edge of the property, climb two flights of stairs (there's an elevator at the west staircase for wheelchair users), and walk around to the garden behind the hall.
The water flows through the channels created by the rose's petals.
CITY HALL EAST (Defunct)- In the plaza between City Hall East and City Hall South lies this star shaped fountain that, in happier days, would shoot out a very cooling mist. It has been turned off for over a year now.
Here is what it looked like when it was operable.
JAPANESE VILLAGE PLAZA - This meditative trickle fountain lies in the heart of Little Tokyo's most popular shopping mall.
SPRING STREET PARK - Downtown's newest park, between 4th and 5th Streets, has a section that looks like someone ran into the fence and left it bent. Actually, it's the park's fountain.
Labels: accessible, California, fountain, Los Angeles, United States, wheelchair
CLASSIC TRIP: Las Vegas, Nevada - 2002
THE COCKTAIL HOUR - White Sangria
CLASSIC TRIP: On the way to Las Vegas - 2002
TRANSIT REPORT: San Francisco, California
Crowds and Chowds: San Francisco
THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Live! Canadian Whiskey Taste Off
Seeing San Francisco From the Other Side
Finishing Up In Plumas County
The Cocktail Hour: Quincy Pub Crawl
Walking History in Quincy, California