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How NYT Travel Spent Its 36-Hour Winter Vacation In DtLA
Photo by Joey Maloney (Used with permission)
Photo by Joey Maloney (Used with permission)
A story called 36 Hours in Downtown Los Angeles ran this week in the New York Times 'Travel' section naming DtLA as a self-contained destination for people who otherwise might not be interested in the sprawl and scale of Los Angeles in total.
"New York-like in its density and mishmash, the long-blighted center has become an accessible, pedestrian-friendly destination in recent years; Angelenos walk around en masse, using their actual legs. The immense L.A. Live entertainment complex is largely responsible for this comeback, but the studiously vintage bars and imaginative restaurants that seem to open every other day are also part of the revival," says The New York Times.
A how, what, when, where and why chronology of to-dos puts visitors on the path of the Downtown Art Walk, Chung King Road, and the "Tokyo-ish Nokia Plaza." Food lovers are encouraged to devour bacon-wrapped matzo balls and other "hybrid concoctions" that have been "criminally neglected until now" at Gorbals, and teases with tales of Nickel Diner's maple bacon doughnut, "meat-centric comfort food" at the Lazy Ox and dim sum at Empress Pavilion.
For shopping it's a trip to the Fashion District for discount designs and an adventure through Santee Alley "where cheap meets weird in a thoroughly Los Angeles way," as well as a tip for a personalized, three-hour shopping tour, notes the NYT. After that, it's a picnic atop Walt Disney Concert Hall, a jaunt through the MOCA, and then time to take in a show at The Redcat, The Mayan or The Smell.
Need a drink after all that walking? NYT turned to the "old-timey new bars that exploit the wonderful history of old Los Angeles," like the Varnish, Edison, Crocker Club and Seven Grand (with La Cita thrown in for contrasting measure) before retiring to lux accommodations at the suggested JW Marriot, Ritz-Carlton or Hotel Figueroa.
What would your 36-hour tour through downtown include?
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