Los angeles: where the car is king and my feet are crying
los angeles. man, what can i even say about this place? it's massive, it's spread out, and honestly, it's been exhausting trying to see even a fraction of it. i've been here for what feels like forever, and i still feel like i've barely scratched the surface.
i just checked and it's...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. the weather's actually pretty decent-around 18 degrees celsius, feels like 16.74. low humidity which is a relief because that sticky mess is the worst. but it's getting down to 15.85 at night, so maybe bring a jacket unless you're one of those people who claims they never get cold (we all know you're lying).
the city is just...big. like, 472 square miles big. it's impossible to see anything without a car, which is kind of a pain because traffic here is no joke. i spent like three hours yesterday just trying to get across town. but hey, that's part of the la experience, right?
someone told me that la was founded back in 1781 by settlers from sonora and sinaloa. can you imagine? it feels like it's been here forever, but relatively speaking, it's still pretty young. the city didn't really start booming until the 20th century, which is crazy when you think about it now.
if you get bored, beverly hills, pasadena, and long beach are just a short drive away. actually, there are like 90 other incorporated cities in la county alone. it's basically a bunch of different towns mashed together under one big umbrella.
the beaches here are pretty cool-santa monica pier, venice's muscle beach, malibu's shorelines. and don't forget the la brea tar pits! someone told me they found like 3.5 million ice age fossils there, including saber-toothed cats and a mummified baby mammoth. how wild is that?
the city has over 100 museums and 225 theaters, so there's definitely no shortage of things to do culturally. and the food? my god. you can basically eat something from any country in the world without leaving the city.
la is home to about 3.9 million people, making it the second-most populous city in the us. and get this-no majority population here. people from more than 140 countries speak 224 different languages. that's insane.
the entertainment industry is huge here, obviously. it leads the world in tv production, video games, and recorded music. but there's more to la than just hollywood. it's also a major player in international trade, aerospace, and technology. in fact, someone told me it's the birthplace of the internet-ucla sent the first internet transmission back in 1969.
speaking of technology, it's home to spacex, nasa's jet propulsion lab, and boeing. and the ports here process more than 40 percent of us import-export goods. so yeah, it's not just about movies and celebrities.
the lifestyle here is definitely car-centric. people drive everywhere, which is frustrating but understandable given how spread out everything is. single-family homes are the dream here, and everyone seems to prefer a more laid-back, informal vibe.
i'm not gonna lie, i'm pretty exhausted from all this exploring. but there's something about la that keeps you coming back. maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the diversity, maybe it's just the sheer scale of it all. whatever it is, it's definitely worth experiencing at least once, even if your feet might disagree.
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