[The Man I Love] and I took another walk following the route laid out by Charles Fleming in his book, "Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles". This is Walk #1, La Loma Road in West Pasadena.
Unlike the previous walks in Hollywood, Silver Lake or Castellammare, these neighborhoods didn't hold the sense of history for me. They were simply pleasant neighborhoods with beautiful gardens and nice views. We walked up shady La Loma Road, turned off on a small side street, and found the first staircase.
At the top, we crossed the street and found another flight, up again.The day was autumn-breezey, the sun a wintery glow, and the sky filled with clouds that scudded by, now white, now grey and threatening. Wind blew dried leaves along the pavement, and ripe fruit and berries hung on trees.
This house had a pomegranate tree that bore huge ripe fruit.Another autumn thing we noticed right away about this neighborhood was that many residents seemed to be college football fans.
In L.A., there's a fierce rivalry between two home schools, UCLA and USC. Everywhere we went in this neighborhood we saw flags. Both teams play at the Rose Bowl, not far from this neighborhood.
Go Bruins!
Go Trojans!
This house flew flags for both teams.There weren't as many stairs as in some of the other walks we'd taken, but the streets themselves were steep and winding.
Along the way, we were treated to glimpses of stunning views.
Like this vista of the Valley, the mountains, and the 118 freeway, from a landing on a staircase.
This pretty home at the crest of one hill has a beautiful territorial view.
Many of the homes had beautiful gardens.
The winter camellias are starting to bloom here.The route took us back to La Loma Road, and we headed back towards the starting point. Along La Loma we encountered this cheerful garden:
Complete with Santas!It was the perfect end to a great walk.
2 comments:
These posts are making me want to seek out some of those stairways! It may not be particularly historic, but it looks like a lovely neighborhood.
I'd never seen a pomegranate tree before, so thank you for that picture. Your stairway posts are fascinating, and I think I'd like to live in a neighborhood like that.
My house would probably fly opposing flags, too, but they'd be for the UW and WSU. :)
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