California Dreamin': First Few Hours

Well, I'm here. Beverly Hills. 

Tried calling for an Uber ride for the first time in my life, but it felt unnecessarily complicated to find the specific place where they would pick me up. Before long, I scrapped that and simply took a standard taxi instead. The taxi driver, as it turns out, was from Azerbaijan. We talked about his country, which he seemed to enjoy. I enjoyed listening to him talk about his country. We also talked about other countries and places to visit. At one point, he pointed out that we were passing Fox Studios, in Century City.

Shortly, we reached the Beverly Hills Marriot, the hotel I was staying at. I checked in, and had the option of either taking a room with a double bed, or waiting an hour or more for one with a king-sized bed. Not seeing it as much of an inconvenience, I opted for the room with the double, not wanting to do still more sitting around and waiting, being by this point tired and travel-weary. Plus, this room had a view of downtown Los Angeles in the distance, which sounded good to me. As it turns out, I also had a view (albeit distantly) of the famed Hollywood sign.

Good stuff. 

After going in my room and doing some unpacking - and also taking pictures of both downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign - I decided to go out, maybe find someplace to eat. So I walked along what I believe was, if memory serves correctly, Beverly Avenue. It felt good to be out on these sunny California streets, taking in the atmosphere and seeing the sites. 

Below are some of the pictures which I took and thought worth sharing:

A view of the infamous Los Angeles traffic on the highway:

Fox Studios in Century City (seen from the taxi):

This was the view from the hotel room, On top, downtown Los Angeles. On the bottom more or less at center, and to the left of the wall (did not try to crop this picture, or anything) is the Hollywood sign.

Walking around in Beverly Hills:

One of the most fascinating aspects of visiting someplace which is quite different climatically from anywhere I have ever lived, are the different kinds of plants and vegetation. Thought it was worth taking a picture or two: