Los Angeles, ‘City of Angels’, rose from the settlement of El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles in 1769. Neglected for many years, the Pueblo has now become part of an area of 42 acres preserved as a State Historical landmark.
In the centre of the square rises an old bandstand of the kind found in Latin American villages, around which the inhabitants usually promenade during summer evenings. The same traditions are maintained in this quiet area of Los Angeles, almost the only place free of traffic.
In complete contrast to the Pueblo is the modern Civic Centre. This complex of buildings is in a spacious area with parks and malls green with palms and evergreens. In it the city authorities have tried to create that focal point which the city lacks. The buildings are conventionally designed, according to the pattern of other civic centres in the United States, and a good deal of the city's cultural life revolves about them.
One end is dominated by the City Hall, which, until 1957, was the tallest building in the city, rising 32 stores and providing magnificent views on those rare smogless days.
Los Angeles' Chinatown lies to the north of the Pueblo and consists of a two-block area of Chinese buildings with large sloping roofs, covered with bright glazed tiles. Pagoda-like towers and colourful signs in Chinese characters advertise shops, restaurants and food markets.
This is the basis of much of the fanciful architecture of that home of fantasy, Hollywood, which in its film sets, its restaurants, palaces and even in the homes of the stars themselves presents a rich mixture of contrasting styles.
Sport is an important aspect of Los Angeles' life. Griffith Park is one of the largest city parks in the United States and on a fine weekend is used by over 50,000 people.
There are some museums and libraries, theatresand moviehouses, the Zoo in Los Angeles.
Leisure time of Los Angelenos is not only devoted to sporting activity. On any weekend the museums are full of people.
The Museum of Art, built in 1965, is one of the largest in the United States and is built over the pits in Hancock Park. It is an area where the bones of prehistoric creatures that died in the pits have been found and recreated in lifelike models. The Museum has some fine paintings and sculptures, including the dramatic Rodin statue of Balzac.
The Huntington Library has one of the largest collections of rare books and manuscripts in the world.
Los Angeles and its surroundings are rich in entertainment and attractions. Disneyland is one of them. Disneyland is situated 27 miles south of Los Angeles, at Anaheim. Of all the show places none is as famous as Disneyland. This superb kingdom of fantasy linked to technology was created about thirty years ago by Walt Disney. He wanted to make a world where the characters of his brilliant cartoons would have a three-dimensional reality. The park is divided into six themes and there is so much to see and do in each that no one would attempt to see all of them in one visit. For extended visits, there are hotels nearby. Turning back the time machine, Disneyland offers a trip to old Louisiana where the glamour of the old French city is ever-present and there is a haunted house full of ghosts, disembodied figures and other phantasmagoria ending with the gathering of the ghosts at a haunted ballroom where they eerily dance the night away. Naturally the future features in the Disney Kingdom, with rides through space, Moon visits and submarine voyages. More earthly adventures are lived out in the jungle boat-rides through swamps full of alligators, hippos and other animals, and on a hunt with lions and elephants. For some people, particularly for the young in heart, the most joyous section of Disneyland is the kingdom of Walt Disney's famous screen creations: Snow White, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland are all brought to life here.
Hollywood is a small community established in the beginning of the century whose aim was to provide housing for the farmers and other folk who were arriving in Los Angeles.
Time past, and the Hollywood myth had been created by a vast publicity machine and the movie-goers everywhere in the world were constantly reminded of everything that happened in the movie kingdom. The publicity made the stars' lives as familiar as that of the public's own families, and the places where they gathered became even more famous than the locations of historical events that have changed the history of the world.
Many years ago a tradition was established that the film stars left their hand and footprints in the concrete in front of the South Sea Island (Chinese) Mexican style movie house in Hollywood. The charm of the movie kingdom, renewed by Hollywood's new success as a television-film production centre, still brings millions of tourists to Hollywood.
Along Hollywood Boulevard bronze medallions commemorate the names of well-known actors of the radio and television as well as the films.
Farther west along the Boulevard is Highland Avenue, which leads to the Hollywood Bowl, the great amphitheater in the hills where the Los Angeles Philharmonic holds its summer concerts ‘under the stars’.
Near Highland Avenue is the Wax Museum where one can see the stars, from Shirley Temple to Marilyn Monroe, frozen in some characteristic pose, and examine some of the props used in famous movies. The Museum also shows wax figures of Presidents of the United States, though they attract less interest than the stars.
The Chinese Theater, built on the Boulevard, was a follow-up to the image of a Theban palace, and it is still a piece of splendid architectural keeping with the fantasy world of Hollywood.
Дата добавления: 2015-09-11; просмотров: 73 | Поможем написать вашу работу | Нарушение авторских прав |