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PARKS
GRIFFITH PARK (2800 E Observatory Road; 323/664-1191), adjacent to Hollywood,
is L.A.'s answer to New York's Central Park. Located in the lovely and
rugged Los Feliz Hills, it's the ideal spot for a picnic or hike. The
parking lot of the Griffith Park Observatory and Planetarium (see Downtown)
is the preferred spot from which to scan the city's vast
landscape (smog permitting). Griffith Park's northern hills are criss
crossed with more than 250 miles of bridle paths; horses can be rented
from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center (480 Riverside Drive; 818/840-
8401), or the Bar S Stables (1850 Riverside Drive; 818/242-8443). One
of the dinner rides departing from SUNSET RANCH HOLLYWOOD STABLE (3400
N Beachwood Canyon Drive; 323/469-5450), sauntering through a section
of the park and concluding at the Mexican restaurant Viva Fresh in Burbank,
is a wonderful way to spend an evening.
SPANISH ROOTS AND CHICANO CULTURE
When Mexican philosopher Octavio Paz described Los Angeles, he wrote;
'At first 'sight, the visitor is surprised not only by the purity
of the sky and the ugliness of the dispersed and ostentatious buildings,
but also by the city's vaguely Mexican atmosphere, which cannot be
captured in words or concepts." Paz's perspective is not surprising,
since from its earliest days as a sleepy pueblo founded by Spanish
missionaries through its 20th-century explosion into bustling mega-metropolis,
the area has maintained a Latin American flavor distinct from that
of other American cities. While that unique flavor has always seasoned
the City of Angels with a subtle and spicy zest, after the World War
II the influx of Latin American immigrants swelled, the undercurrent
of Hispanic culture underwent a renaissance, and the Latin community
further evolved te uniquely Southern Californian culture. Mexican
and other Latino immigrants became lost between two worlds—not
blending completely into "white"
North American culture, yet simultaneously ostracized by their countrymen
for not being "real" Mexicans. Gradually, they came to embrace
both American and Latin cultures and to blend them together in a new
sensibility: Chicano Culture.
As Chicano labor movements grew more vocal and visible in the 1970s,
a sense of pride in their roots grew, and Chicanes (Americans born
of Mexican parents) began to develop their own styles of dress, of
speech, and of music—which frequently centered around such values
as the strong family ties typical of their homeland but also embraced
such Angeleno values as love of the automobile. These new styles blended
into a sub culture all its own, finally earning respect from both
Mexicans and Americans.
The emergence of Norteno and Banda music, both of which incorporate
elements of American country western and traditional Mexican music
styles, has signaled the Chicano
culture's emergence from the shadows. A huge success in Mexico, as
epitomized by the
late pop star Selena, these popular musical styles signaled the first
time that cultural trends
started by immigrants had trickled back home to alter the culture
of the homeland.
As you travel through Southern California, notice the exaggerated
sense of color to be found in Hispanic neighborhoods and throughout
the city. Hear the soft cadences of Spanish spoken in the streets,
smell the scents of Latin American cooking, and marvel at the wildly
decorated "low-rider" cars on the roads beside you. For
Los Angeles, once a sleepy Mexican town and now home to more than
seven million Latinos, has not for gotten its roots—it has only
modernized them. |
RUNYON CANYON PARK (2000 N Fuller Avenue, at the dead end;
213/485-5111) is something of a surprise to visitors and to Angelenos
alike. Once you're inside the iron gates, hiking up any of several serpen-
tine mountain trails that commence about 50 yards beyond, it's a dif-
ferent world. Coyote and rattler sightings are common, the silence is
soothing, the view from Inspiration Point at the summit is unparalleled,
and all this is just a few blocks north of frantic Sunset Boulevard. With
over 180 acres of grounds, a polo field, hiking trails, and ideal picnicking
spots, WILL ROGERS STATE HISTORIC PARK (1501 Will Rogers State
Park Road, off Sunset Boulevard; 310/454-8212) is an easy pastoral
escape at the cost of $6 per car. PALISADES PARK (Ocean Avenue between
Colorado Avenue and Adelaide Drive), a slim stretch of grass and palm
trees fronting the Pacific Ocean, is a prime spot for watching the sunset,
jogging, or taking in the sea air. The ethereal oasis known as the SELF.
REALIZATION LAKE SHRINE (17190 Sunset Boulevard, before Sunset
Boulevard dead-ends at the Pacific Ocean; 310/454-4114) hints that this
town does have a sense of spirituality. The Buddhist cosmopolitan
retreat, with its Zen lake, bridges, pastoral expanses, and meditators,
is
one of the city's most soothing and beautiful parks.
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