Urban Exploration

This is my friend Caitlin, she doesn't like having her picture taken, but I insist on doing it anyway... mostly while she's talking, so it's not super-weird nor posed. Anyway, we were hanging out last week and got onto the topic of urban exploration -- going into the city, finding buildings you're not supposed to go into, and then go. We both had wanted to do it, she had had some prior experience in Barcelona, so we deemed today, Wednesday, as our urban exploration excursion day.

The first thing we noticed upon meeting at the Hollywood/Vine Metro was this sign, dictating all of the things that could garner a fine on our underground subway system. Most of these seem reasonable enough... but, c'mon! "Chewing gum"? And "Loud Talking"? Ridiculous.

Then we found this mysterious bit of someone's life lying on the platform... and when we went into the train itself, immediately found another piece of someone else's life. This one reading: "Check inn. Arclight courtyard area. lee trimball. right side close aisle" *shrug*

We arrived downtown, a whole other world, a place pretty unfamiliar to both of us, but moreso to me. A place ripe with adventure.

The first place she takes me to is this crazy market where they have everything from fresh vegetables to fast food to Chinese massage to... as you see here, pig's head. There were also pig's hooves, but this picture is so much more satisfyingly shocking. Sort of. I guess it just looks like a hunk a' meat, but be assured, it is a PIG'S HEAD. Ew!

Then Caitlin walked into an entire herd of obstinate, stubborn, unimpressed pigeons. I think maybe four of the greasy little bastards took flight.

After wandering a little while and scoring some fabric I needed for a new project I'm working on, we settled on this hotel as our possible target. The Hotel Rosslyn, also known as the Million Dollar Hotel.

We circled the building to find that the only way in is through a big steel gate. I got a little nervous, watching from a dozen feet away or so, when three pretty tough looking, gang-memberish kind of guys walked in, and the security guard, who was very well armed and armored, closed the door behind them. It seemed like an adventure we were, perhaps, ill-prepared for. So, reluctantly (Caitlin really wanted to get in here), we headed to our next target...

The Alexandria Hotel. Now, getting in here was easy, the doors were wide open and led straight into the lobby area. It seemed promising and somewhat welcoming at first, there was a gift shop to our immediate right, and the front of an old restaurant smiled at us as we approached the center of the lobby. There were some nice couches, a formidable front desk, stairs, and an elevator. However...

...there was this sign, and a bunch of others, mostly handwritten, making a pretty big deal about non-guests not being on the premises. In fact, as soon as I took this picture, the security guard told me that I couldn't even take pictures of the hotel and asked me to delete the picture (after pressing a bunch of buttons and doing some nonsense, I had convinced him that I had done so), I asked him a couple questions as to why, but all I could get out of him was that the hotel was under "court order", and there had been some troubles. I dunno, but it's probably better we didn't go up into this ghetto tenement either.

Oh! Then there was some policia craziness at this "Chinese Teriyaki Sandwich ... Ice-Cream Pizza Hamburger" shop. 2 police cars, 1 ambulance, 1 firetruck, and a gaggle of bicycle cops. I still don't know what happened, saw them load what looked like a homeless guy into the ambulance.

Next, we stumbled across this bookstore that reminded me of the beginning of "The Neverending Story." There was some incredibly cool things in this store, including this poster of great import...

I don't know exactly what this means, but I think it could mean that if you know the name of a CIA operative, you should keep your mouth shut... Karl?

Then we walked by this strange decorative metal door outside the Central Library. It reads as follows: "A hole is to dig. A book is to look at." The only thing we were able to guess was that maybe this was quoted in an era when people used the verb "to dig" to describe something they truly enjoyed. I dunno... theories anyone?

The first thing we saw inside the Central Library. Classy!

After a relaxing lunch at the library cafe, we decided to check out the library a little. This was, by far, the coolest thing -- the elevator is tiled with old dewey decimal system cards. And the cards you see on the far right are actually attached to the wall of the elevator shaft; going up has never been this visually stimulating. Without a window looking over the city, that is.

It was getting late in the afternoon, and we still hadn't done any true exploring... so Caitlin suggested this rickety looking building. It's all offices, and it's on the edge of Pershing Square, not in the midst of the freaking ghetto like our previous two choices.

Like master spies, we slip past the security and get onto the elevator with no real trouble. Caitlin immediately presses the button for the 14th floor. The roof is our goal. We get to the top floor and walk around with no trouble. C finds the floor plan, and we head towards the roof access point. Drat! A staircase with a chain across it... we circle back and find a small hallway that leads to a window. An open window. An open window which leads to a fire escape. An open window which leads to a fire escape which has access to the roof.

After debating our next move for a few beats, I step out onto the escape. What's the worst that could happen? Right?

A short climb up a rusty ladder takes us to our goal... the roof. It's at this point that Caitlin informs me that she has trouble with heights. The view is pretty sweet. After she gets her bearings, C stands and snaps a few pictures herself. I remember being worried that a cop down in Pershing Square may see us and think we're going to jump. Of course this doesn't happen.

We allow ourselves a few minutes of excitement, taking pictures, checking out the view, then we scramble back down the ladder and into the building. On the elevator ride back down, there's an old man in with us... I'm pretty sure he knows we were up to something. C and I don't say a word to each other until we get out onto the street. When we do, we both admit to feeling slightly euphoric... adrenalized.

This minor victory worn like war medals, we consider heading to the really sketchy part of town. However, the sun is setting, the shops are closing, and perhaps it's time we realize that we are just two white kids wandering where maybe we shouldn't. We head back to the Metro...

...where we see this guy. He is awesome. He's singing songs during rush hour on the Metro to keep the people from stabbing each other. He's also wearing a "retired" MTA badge with a picture of someone who doesn't really look like him. And he's got some incredibly impressive whistling capabilities.

We return to Hollywood, decide to cap off our urban experience by going to see "Hustle and Flow", which I found to be a pretty terrific movie, then I walked Caitlin home and returned to Sunset to eat at the World's Craziest Jack In The Box.

So there it is, my first urban exploration experience. Hopefully there will be more to come -- who wants to go?