Millennium Biltmore Hotel

After visiting Angel Knoll park I decided to drag my friend Maria to my next destination, the Biltmore Hotel. It's located in Downtown LA, just a few blocks away from Angel Knolls. I knew that the Biltmore was featured in a lot of tv shows and movies (Heartbreakers being one of them) and I was too excited to walk around this historical sight. Maria and I were walking through the historical hallway when one of the workers came up to us and asked if we wanted a private tour. I became so excited that I couldn't help squeal like a little girl yelling out yes to the guy. It turned out that he was as big of a nerd as me when it came to tours and historical landmarks. He couldn't help himself either and managed to take us into every major room.

The Biltmore is known for being an early home to the Academy Awards Ceremony. The Award show took place in one of the coolest rooms I've ever walked into, the Crystal Ballroom. At first the room was locked but our tour guide was nice enough to go through the back and open the door. The Crystal Ballroom blew my mind, #1 because it was enormous! #2 the architecture, and #3 because of the fact that the carpet mirrored the design on the ceiling. It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen.
The Biltmore has been around for 88 years and it has managed to keep that old hollywood feel to it. It's one of best places to check out in DTLA.

Angel Knoll

Angel Knoll is the famous park in Downtown LA which had been featured in many films (500 Days of Summer being one of them). This park is awesome if you work or live in DTLA because it's a great place to just hide. It's hidden in downtown, and once you sit on one of the park's many benches, you feel like you're in an oasis of relaxation.

This is also a great place to have a picnic, i've heard that it gets pretty packed on Valentine's Day, but any other day is a great day to have a picnic here.

Eaton Canyon

I recently made a list of hiking trails I have to try out and on that list was Eaton Canyon. My friend Arpa called me up and told me that she had to go on a hike with her class to Eaton Canyon so I took the opportunity to go on a hike and joined her class. 

Eaton Canyon park is in Pasadena just off Altadena. The trail took about an hour and a half, but we were walking pretty fast for most of the trail because we had arrived late and her classmates had left us behind. There are 4 or 5 different trails to try out and we did the trail to the waterfalls. Be sure to pack extra socks or to wear totally awesome Birkenstocks because YOUR FEET WILL GET WET! We had to pass through about 10 to 12 streams to get to our destinations and all of us managed to get at least one foot in the water. 

Arpa and Shoghak (shogh isn't that big of a fan of nature)

DTLA Art Walk

Downtown LA art walk is one of my favorite events of the month. It happens every second Thursday of the month and if you don't think that LA doesn't have much culture, then you HAVE TO check this event out. There are tones of food trucks everywhere and almost every building has an art gallery. If that isn't enough, then check out all the venders selling jewelry, art, t-shirts, etc.

These are just some of the things we did at the last Art Walk. The colorful pictures are of a 3-D art gallery... probably the coolest thing i've seen. The last one was inside the Alexandria Hotel in one of the rooms. 

Other things that we usually end up doing at art walk (besides looking at art) is hang out at the rap battle, and eat from almost every food truck. (TK Truck is one of my favorites). 

But be sure the check out this event, which only happens once a month.

http://www.downtownartwalk.com/

^check out the link to see what art galleries are open this time around. 

Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine

This gem is located off of PCH on Sunset Blvd. It's one of the most beautiful and quiet places I've ever been to. The grounds include a Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial, where a portion of Gandhi's ashes have been placed. It's the perfect place to just sit and relax. I went on a Wednesday and it was very empty. There was FREE parking and there is also street parking.