Tag: Traveling

Guest Post: The Best of Los Angeles for Free

Alyssa Bacon-Liu is a new wife, southern California native, and wannabe world changer who lives with her husband in Los Angeles. She is passionate about justice, equality, anything sparkly, and reusable shopping bags. She blogs about life, love, and the pursuit of all things beautiful at www.allthingsbeautifulblog.com. You can also find her on Twitter (@alyssabaconliu).

I am very vocal about the fact that I love living in Los Angeles. I know that big city life isn’t for everyone, but the City of Angeles has my heart. One of the best things about L.A. is that there is SO much to do and see. There is never a dull moment and you will rarely find yourself bored. Want to know the best part? You can experience the best of what this city has to offer and you can do it on a budget! I’m here to give you an inside look at how you can explore my favorite city in the world for practically free.

If you like architecture…

The historic Bunker Hill area of downtown Los Angeles has so much eye candy in such a relatively small area. First, you can make your way to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The architecture alone of this Catholic cathedral is worth checking out, but it also boasts a relaxing meditation garden, children’s garden, religious art, fountains and an open plaza where people can walk around or sit and talk. Next, head over to the Walt Disney Concert Hall which is home to the LA Philharmonic. The cool thing is that you can take free self-guided walking tours of the inside of the Hall when there isn’t a show going on. But even if that’s not your thing, you can just walk around the outside of the building and take in the awesome architecture. Finish your adventure at the California Plaza Water Court which is one of my absolute favorite places in downtown L.A. because of the beautiful skyscrapers and relaxing atmosphere.

If you like art…

The J. Paul Getty Museum is a must-visit for anyone in the Los Angeles area. The museum has an impressive collection of art and wonderful rotating exhibits. The grounds of the Getty are as stunning as the artwork inside. They have beautiful gardens to explore, plus an amazing view. Entry to the museum is free, but parking will cost you $15 so carpool with some buddies! You can also visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and get lost in the largest art museum on the West Coast! Their general admission usually comes with a price tag, but if you plan your trip right you can get in for free! Go on the second Tuesday of the month or go after 3 pm Monday through Friday if you are a resident of Los Angeles County and enjoy the expansive collection of art at no cost!

If you like the beach…

Los Angeles has so many beaches to choose from and any one of them is great for basking in the California sun and working on that tan. But I recommend Santa Monica because it has so much more than just the beach. When you’re done being a beach bum, you can do some serious window shopping at the Third Street Promenade. Towards the end of the day, make sure you head to the Santa Monica Pier for a breathtaking view of the sunset. An entire day full of fun with the ocean as your background, and it doesn’t have to cost you a thing!

If you like history…

The perfect place for history buffs is Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, nestled in the oldest district of Los Angeles. The area is a living history lesson and there is a lot to explore in this little gem. The three standouts are the Plaza, Olvera Street, and Avila Adobe. The Plaza is usually coming alive with live performances in Mexican music and dancing.  Olvera street is a bustling Mexican marketplace with colorful souvenirs and trinkets. Avila Adobe is the oldest residence still standing in the entire city of Los Angeles and it is well preserved for visitors. And if you can spare a few dollars, indulge in a delicious cinnamon churro. You won’t be disappointed!

If you like being a tourist…

If you want a quintessential Los Angeles experience, look no further than Griffith Observatory and Rodeo Drive. Griffith Observatory is a Los Angeles icon and landmark. Perched atop Mount Hollywood, it gives you great views of the greater L.A. area and the famed Hollywood sign. The grounds of the Observatory are great place to take pictures and take in the sights. And entrance to the Observatory is always free! I know that “Rodeo Drive” and “free” don’t seem like they belong in the same sentence. But fear not, my friend on a budget! Rodeo Drive is the infamous shopping playground for the ultra-rich and glamorous, but it is also a window shopper’s dream! The luxury stores on Rodeo Drive only stretch out over 3 palm tree lined blocks, making walking up and down the entire Drive very doable. Take your time and enjoy the scenery of Gucci, Armani, Versace, and Chanel…as well as some plastic surgery jobs gone wrong.

I hope this post inspires you to not only have fun, free adventures in my favorite city, but also inspires you to find the fabulous and free places to explore wherever you go.

Eurotrip: Part 2 (Bruges and Brussels)

Days 3 and 4: Bruges and Brussels

Bruges. All I knew about Bruges before we decided to visit it was that my mother LOVED it in 1984. So we rented the Colin Farrell movie, In Bruges (not recommended). The film kind of gave us a taste of what to expect, at least as far as what the city looks like, however our trip was not in the dead of winter nor did it involve hit men.

Once we found our rental house I sneaked in (before the luggage was dragged in to spoil the first impression) to snap some photos of it because listen–it was CUTE! Below I’ve got a teaser, but I’ll put up the whole tour in a separate post.

The upside to renting a vacation house and staying in the same spot for a few days is that each day the foreign city becomes more and more familiar. That, and you can make just as big of a mess as you would at home, without feeling guilty that housekeeping would come in the next morning and silently judge you for leaving your dirty clothes in a heap on the floor. But I digress.

Architecture like this is a surefire way to know that you are in Bruges. The roofs sloping to the sides and not to the front/back, combined with the cute stair-stepped effect, creates such a quaint look! When we were there, the city was packed, and I mean PACKED with tourists. This detracted from the quaintness, but only by like 1%. So I still totally recommend this city for a weekend visit for anyone planning a Eurotrip of their own, at any time of the year.

On Saturday morning, in a normally empty square (‘t Zand) there is a market including fish, meat, pastries, bread, olives (above), eggs, cheese, etc. Also sold are clothes, socks, toys… basically, the sky is the limit. I have seen markets like this before and didn’t fall for the “cheap” poorly made clothing items but was fascinated by the food offered. Doug in particular was struck by the “buy-your-meat-in-the-street” aspect (having grown up in a family meat retail business). This market shoud not to be confused with the Markt, another square nestled deeper in the city, where a reportedly more charming and tourist-friendly market is held on Wednesdays (we were not in Bruges on Wednesday to confirm or deny this).

Saturday we walked along a tourist-packed shopping street and got some lace, for which Bruges is famous. My mother got a piece to go with the one she had purchased back in 1984. For lunch we all got waffles from a food truck parked in the Markt. Mine was good, but Doug’s had ice cream and was better. I snagged some of his ice cream for mine, gobbled it down and watched him struggle with his rapidly-melting mess. I laughed (but then provided him with a wet wipe). After lunch we took a boat tour: I highly recommend getting the full tourist experience by taking a canal tour. We were really impressed by our guide, a college-aged student who rattled off facts in Flemish, French, and English; My dad was lucky enough to sit in the front of the boat near him and got bonus “insider info” mentioned to him in between the scripted tidbits.

The city has four towers–many old European cities have more than one cathedral or tall building, but the handy thing about Bruges is that all of them were built in drastically different styles, making it really easy to use them for triangulation–it’s a lot harder to get lost this way! The one above was especially unique, in my opinion (it also stands out to me since it was featured in In Bruges). Unfortunately, we were unable to climb to the top for a view of the city, since we arrived too late in the day.

Exploring the city by bike would have been amazing! Instead, I snapped a photo of this one… I love the competing color and texture of red brick and gray cobblestones.

Sunday, which was Father’s Day, my mom had a paper to write for grad school so we absconded with my dad and visited Brussels. I am glad that we visited Brussels, especially the famous Grand Place (below) but I’m VERY happy we decided to make it a day trip and stay in Bruges. My overall impression of Brussels was that it was dirty. The Grand Place was breathtaking, though. Three sides of the square (it would have been four, but one large building was undergoing renovation/restoration) were ornately decorated and gold-leafed. It was hard to pick out the most gorgeous building–it was hard even knowing where to look. I would have loved to see this square in its glory days a few hundred years ago, or during August when they make a “carpet” for the inner section of the square with flowers in intricate designs!

We walked down a street lined with restaurants all offering the exact same thing: a three-course meal for €12,50. We chose a restaurant… Actually, the host dragged us in off the street with his smooth-talking ways. When we sat down at the pre-set table, our plates were dirty and we were having second thoughts. The plates turned out to be just for show, as the table was cleared when we placed our order and when the food finally came out, everything seemed clean. A note, however: Remember how I mentioned the “restaurants” were all offering the same thing? Well, our food didn’t come from the back of the restaurant (where we assumed the kitchen was) but from a different shopfront on the street. It seems as if all the food for the restaurants surrounding us was from the same place. We don’t know the facts, but this is what it seemed like. Anyway, the salad and entree were good and dessert consisted of another Belgian waffle (not as good as the one from Saturday).

All in all, Brussels certainly was a change of pace from Bruges, but we were pleased to take the train (one hour each direction, €14,90 round trip, by the way) back to our “home” in quaint and peaceful Bruges.

And one more note: People in the north part of Belgium speak Flemish, and in the south part speak French. In planning your own trip, be sure to research both spellings of Bruges/Brugge and Brussels/Bruxelles. You’ll find more information this way!

You can catch part one here, and my next Eurotrip post will cover Paris! I’d like to do an overall wrap up of my impressions after that, so if you have any questions please feel free to ask! 

Eurotrip: Part 1 (Reims, Trier and Dinant)

Days 1 and 2: Flying in, Reims, Trier, and Dinant

The past couple of weeks I’ve been on blog-silence due to vacation! What a wonderful reason not to post–as opposed to laziness or worse–writer’s block! I took a vacation with Doug, my sister, Stephanie, and my parents!

Usually I’m great at sleeping on the plane. In the past I’ve taken a hefty snooze, and woken up in time to put on makeup and look stunning (okay, that might be an overstatement) when I step off the flight. I don’t know why, but this time I was unable to sleep so I was a bit cranky the first day or two of the trip. Sorry, family! My parents rented a car and after we got 5 suitcases and 5 people (!) to fit in a car about the same size as our Pontiac Vibe we hit the open road and headed towards Trier, Germany by way of Reims, France.

Reims would be the perfect French city to move to, IMO. I was met with a good mix of old and modern, the buildings were slightly more colorful than those in Paris, and many people spoke English but not too many–I wouldn’t be tempted to use it as a crutch the way it’s so easy to do in Paris, where the locals like to condescendingly answer my questions (posed in French) with an English reply. The size of the city was less intimidating, too.

The gorgeous cathedral where French kings were crowned.

My family tried their best to look like tourists. ;)

After a quick meal we hopped back in the car and made it to Germany in no time. Well, it felt like no time to me–I snoozed in the back seat with Stephanie and Doug. I am such an indecisive person. At first I wanted to be a renter my whole life and have people repair home problems for me, then I wanted to have a huge house with a huge fantasy-land backyard, and now I want to like in a cute row house like this one we saw in Germany:

How can you blame me, right?

Well, turns out our hotel wasn’t in Trier, but across the river in Trier-Zewen which was much smaller and MUCH less English-speaking. Or French-speaking for that matter. Ordering dinner was an adventure. Three of us played it safe and ordered “chicken.” We were surprised with an intact deep-fried half-chicken. Yowza. Doug and Stephanie ordered schnitzel, which contrary to my Sound of Music loving mind was not a pastry, or to those who dine at Weinerschnitzel, was not a hotdog. It was a huge breaded pork chop topped with red bell peppers (in Doug’s case) and mushrooms (in Stephanie’s case). The schnitzel was better than the chicken, in my opinion, but I’m not a pork fan so I don’t know if I could have eaten it all.

Our room was small but comfortable.

Trier itself claims the title of the oldest city in Germany and was very nice. It boasted an impressive cathedral (complete with ringing church bells, like you’d see in a movie) in a very different style than the one we’d seen the previous day:

And had some cute mideval-style architecture. When we got there the town was just waking up–most stores weren’t open and it was very quiet and sleepy.

After a bit of exploring in the drizzle, it began to pour so we high-tailed it back to the car and headed for Belgium. Since our time in Trier had been cut short by the downpour, we took a meandering path off our planned route to explore some smaller towns nestled up in the mountains of southern Belgium. We happed upon Dinant–which was so picturesque, built on the two banks of a river. In the past, it had been home to a castle but the castle had been burned down hundreds of years ago.

The foundations of the castle had become a fortress, and we took a sky tram up to the fortress where we were met with a mediocre collection of cannons and war memorabilia. They did have a cool old plane though, and the view from the top was killer–made the whole excursion worth it:

After a brief lunch we piled back into the car to make it to Bruges by the evening.

My next Eurotrip post will cover Bruges and Brussels, and my third will cover Paris! I’d like to do an overall wrap up of my impressions after that, so if you have any questions please feel free to ask!