Monday 17th - Mexicana, Union Station & Grand Park

Monday evening we spent in the Mexican part of the city...... walking past the Government buildings and LAPD precinct to get to Olvera Street, near Union Station. The area we were in is definitely a less affluent area, with a lot of homeless people protecting their shopping trolleys of possessions.

Just before the Plaza by Olvera Street, we took a look around Our Lady Queen of the Angels Catholic Church. The church dates back to being founded from 1814 though 1822 and at one time was the only Catholic Church in L.A. Inside there was a hushed silence as people were praying and it looked like a service was about to start.

The central Plaza had a big bandstand, and as it was Christmas, it was filled with a large Nativity scene.

Olvera Street is a small Mexican street, with shops lining each side and market stalls running down the middle. It is really a tourist trap with loads of Mexican themed nik-naks for sale. Minty bought a couple of hand made fans, but in essence the stuff on sale was the same in each shop/stall and mass produced.

There are two restaurants in the street as well as small street food type places. We chose one restaurant and waited by the "Please wait to be seated" sign. A couple of the staff, including a lady who looked like she was running the show acknowledged us and said they would be with us soon. More than 5 minutes later we were still waiting, yet the place did not seem to be particularly busy. In the seating area outside, there was a group of about 12 people having their meals served up. When the second tray of food came out, the waiter balanced it on a nearby table... well, he did not balance it, and next thing it fell to the ground, with plates of food going with it and smashing on the floor. The lady in charge looked like she was going to cry, so we quietly sloped off and went across the street to  the El Paseo Inn.
Funny enough, we had eaten there the last time we were in LA.

The meal was OK, nothing special to write home about but the portions were huge! There were two ladies on the table next to us and we struck up a conversation. They mentioned that if we were not in a rush, in the next hour, Las Posadas was going to start, and that it is a daily parade up and down the street to celebrate Christmas.

We finished dinner before the hour was up and started to head back to the top of the street. A crowd had already started to gather and then the Mariachi Band came out of what is tagged as the oldest standing residence in Los Angeles, Avila Adobe and from the veranda, started to sing "Feliz Navidad", which just happens to be one of the Beeb's fave Christmas songs.

After they had finished Feliz Navidad, they left the safety of the veranda and, along with a few children dressed as angels and kings and a few adults, the candlelit procession of Los Posadas started to make its way down the street, singing all of the way.

Security staff kept the public back to make a clean path for the procession, and as they passed, the same public tagged on the end, resulting in a long tail of people, all joining in the celebrations and singing. The Beeb really got into it all, even though he does not speak (or sing in) Spanish!

At the end of the street, after a few prayers, the procession turned and made its way back up the other side.

It was really quite nice, and very festive.

After the parade we headed to Union Station, but were diverted a bit by the sight of a news van and a bit of a demonstration in the Plaza.
People had placards up and it was a story we knew nothing about but looked it up when we got back to the hotel - a young girl had died in Police custody after crossing the border from Mexico. Obviously, with this being the Mexican area, emotions were high.

Union Station had palm trees outside, all lit up with Christmas lights. Again we saw a lot of homeless around the area.
Some shots of the Station area.

Inside the station, it is quite art decor. There are huge armchair type seats that look like they have been there forever. They were all roped off though as only people with tickets for a train are allowed to use them.

The ceiling in Union Station

Oldy Worldy Ticket Office

Seating area - only for those with tickets for a train

We walked back to Spring Street and had a few beers in Claytons Public House, a bar we had passed on our wanderings during the day.

Our walk back to our hotel was through Grand Park, which had a lovely pink Christmas tree and a festival of lights.

All very pretty and quite magical.

You would not mess with this tree would you?

The Disney Concert Hall at night, all wrapped up in a Christmas Bow:

Back at the hotel we found ourselves in the bar (again!). This time we had a menu on the table and found out that the UK version of "lager" differs to the US version! Samuel Adams was not the only lager...... they did Bud, Heineken etc......we won't be fooled again LOL.