Up really early so Barb could drop me off at the train station and still get to work on time. 1/2 hour wait for next train to Union Station – Downtown Los Angeles.

First stop: City Hall which has featured in many movies and TV shows and used to be the tallest building in LA for 4 decades. Then I found the big post office which I have been meaning to find for days now, so I could send some post cards that I bought in Vegas but never got a chance to post.

Next stop the Los Angeles Times building and then the whole point of this downtown trip… The Walt Disney Concert Hall – a spectacular Frank Gehry designed building. From there I headed to the financial district to photograph the skyscrapers and the Westin Bonavenutre hotel: another building I have long wanted to photograph.

From there I walked through an area called the Jewelry District which was bizarre as there were many many jewellery shops all selling the same thing & they all looked the same. That led me to the Fashion District which was NOT very fashionable at all. It was kinda scary and a bit like something you see in a gangster movie. According to the guide book this is a great place for bargains – it wasn’t. Looked around for somewhere to eat and after seeing what looked like a couple of drug deals going down I took the safest option and went to Starbucks.

From there I walked rather quickly to Little Tokyo where I felt much safer and then the sun came out almost on cue! So I headed back to the Walt Disney concert hall coz I saw it shining in the sun, looking very photogenic indeed. It was in fact so photogenic I must have taken several hundred shots – I was totally in my element, photographing stunning architecture.

After about an hour I reluctantly dragged myself away from there and headed to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for a drink and a rest. Fully rested I headed for Chinatown but that was not very exciting so I headed over to El Pueblo, Olvera St which is a groovy little street of Mexican stalls, cafes and the oldest house in Los Angeles built in 1816.

From there I headed back to the train station to wait for my train back to Anaheim. My feet are killing me!