Nemo Finds Nemo in Los Angeles
MONDAY
Los Angeles is a city of vibrant neighborhoods, connected by busy thoroughfares and roaring freeways. I’m rarely afraid of earthquakes, but I trotted under L.A.’s mighty I-405 underpass not to be crushed if the roadway overhead decided to collapse. I have a birthday coming up next month, and I’ll feel much better if I’m able to celebrate than if I’m lying in a pulverized mass of concrete and steel.
Monday it seemed I was the only person on foot in the entire city. The previous day I wasn’t, because Sunday is market day in Hollywood. Ivar Street connects Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. A weekly produce market fills Ivar Street with color, sounds, and smells in an unpretentious neighborhood atmosphere very different from how the rest of the world envisions Hollywood.
Hollywood is a long way from our home in Tucson, Arizona. Sunset last Friday night yielded the final view we’ll have of the pyro-cumulus cloud billowing from the devastating Aspen Fire destroying old growth forests within our nearby Santa Catalina Mountains.
When Barbara and I departed from home in Tucson at dawn the next day, our green VW Beetle was packed full with clothing and sundries for the entire month of July.
Saturday’s 500-mile drive to Los Angeles was made sweet and swift by hours and hours full of MP3-encoded music (legal, of course) played from our poor person’s iPod, to be discussed at length in a future Nemo Memo (watch this space!).
We unloaded our suitcases at the home of L.A. friends Kurt and Sheila, then Kurt immediately took us on a gastronomic adventure to the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. Floor to ceiling and wall to wall, hundreds of exotic international cheeses presented an overwhelming array. Kurt put us at the mercy of Norbert, who selected four raw-milk (sheep and goat) cheeses from Europe.
Back in Kurt’s condo our taste buds exploded while we evaluated each cheese. Result :all are amazing, so when in Beverly Hills make your way to Norbert’s niche and you will be delighted. Warning: these are premium, expensive cheeses, so set a dollar limit on the sampler you request, and tell Norbert that “Kurt sent me.”
By Sunday mid-morning we had traversed the length and breadth of Hollywood’s Ivar Street market, and it was time to get $erious about fruit$ and vegetable$. Here’s Kurt hoisting a freshly-harvested sack of Valencia oranges.
In between every few market stalls is a street musician, or busker, wailing and strumming for loose change and dollar bills. The gentlemen with guitar was singing in Spanish to an admiring youngster, who refused to leave when his parents attempted to drag him away.
Barbara made instant friends with a fruit vendor who looked like a Portuguese version of Bill Clinton. Notice fingers grabbing sample tastes of peach and nectarine segments. If you have never eaten fresh, ripe, organic California stone fruit, your life is not yet complete.
A sextet performing bluegrass and authentic country music serenaded us at the far end of the Ivar Street market.
“Hey, Nemo” said Kurt, “can we stop in Amoeba Records for just ten minutes? I’ve never been inside, and I hear it’s pretty good.”
“Not a chance, Kurt!” I shouted, “because it takes at least an hour to find your way through the hundreds of thousands of recordings in dozens of categories.”
Kurt behaved himself, scouted out the massive retail music and video establishment, and departed promptly ten minutes later with a severely glazed expression. Amoeba is one of the world’s few remaining thriving independent music stores. Here’s a glimpse of one corner.
On our way to have lunch at a tiny Lebanese storefront restaurant, Barbara screamed, “Stop, Kurt. There’s Nemo!”
Sure enough, there I was on the marquee, as captured with Mr. AZ Nemo standing underneath.
Next day, on a walking tour of Venice Beach with Sheila, we all purchased clip-on sunglasses from Bohemian John, a clip-on expert. Meeting this guy and watching him size up you and your glasses is worth the entire price of admission.
Sheila and Barbara treated themselves to pedicures. What color to select for the finished products? How about “Beemo green,” to match our VW’s paint?
Heading north along scenic Pacific Coast Highway California Route 1, we observed sure-footed tourists getting cozy with crabs, urchins, sea stars, and sea lions at a pounding beach near Hearst Castle.
Did you ever doubt the world is round? I verified it with this photo, taken from the bluff above a beach near San Simeon.
The highlight of our final day on the coastal highway was a wildflower walk above the Big Sur coastline with Dannie, an old friend and recent arrival in this part of California.
Once we arrived in San Francisco we were invited up to a pool in Marin County by our Bay Area Nemo relatives. Barbara and Uncle Howard were caught in the act of total submission to Thursday’s New York Times crossword puzzle, spending a frustrating hour boiling in the hot tub before throwing in the towel.
A new trail extension of the walk above the Lands End bluffs in San Francisco’s northwest corner is open. This spur heads out to a scary promontory with a sensational view of Golden Gate Bridge and environs. Watch your step!
Thanks for coming along on this first week of our photo tour of California. I’ll have more to report and show you in a week or so.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.