We’re used to the commuter life here in LA and it’s hard to imagine a life without cars.  But believe it or not, we do have a public transportation system. When gasoline hit over $4 a gallon, some of us learned to carpool and even take the bus or metro rail (http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/maps/default.htm).  In tiny Pasadena, we have the Gold Line which has some interesting stops: the Mission stop in South Pasadena for the Thursday Farmers Market where I found yummy vegetarian tamales, the Southwest Museum (http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/southwest/) and Heritage Square (http://www.heritagesquare.org/index.htm) stops for history buffs, and the Chinatown stop for the fun brunches. Finally the rail dead ends at Union Station, which is where I take you today.

 

 

You know you are in LA because as soon as you step inside, there are signs that the interior is available for filming. 

 

I love the many Art Deco details found here–and all around LA actually.  But the lights dangling from the rafters and the arches in the doors and windows are my favorites:

 

Typical of the architecture, there are garden patios to cleverly take advantage of the climate:

 

On the other side is the grandest post office annex I’ve ever seen:

 

If you’ve worked up an appetite touring the station but opt out of eating at one of several dining choices in there, walk down the block a bit to Philippe’s (http://www.philippes.com/), which is a landmark in downtown LA for having been around for over 100 years. I can’t comment on the meaty French Dipped sandwiches but it’s definitely fun to visit this joint at least once just to soak in the history. A century in LA is like an eon anywhere else.

 

What else is there to do once you leave Union Station? Chinatown is to the right, Little Tokyo is toward the left, and straight ahead…that’s where we’ll go tomorrow: