tiffin unboxed

For jury duty, once I got used to the much more 'urban', faster pace of downtown, compared to where I live and work, several areas of respites came up all over the place.

After leaving the Walt Disney Concert Hall, from the Part 1 post, I've been taking different routes each day to walk the half mile or so between parking and the courthouse. 

This beautiful cast-bronze and granite sculpture by artist Jacques Lipchitz, called “Peace on Earth”, in the fountain at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (also part of the Los Angeles Music Center) was dedicated in 1969 as a pryer for peace in light of the Vietnam War.

The sparkly sidewalk slabs also glitter on a sunny day.

From that spot, you can get a good view of City Hall and the newly renovated fountain across the street at Grand Park, another urban oasis that popped up since my last jury duty term about 1 1/2 years ago. 

Strolling down Grand, this entrance to Grand Park LA, another urban oasis at the Civic Center, is flanked by the sculptural sign as well as 30 of these pink hearts, each making bold statements, asking questions and inviting people to state their ideas on the social networking sites.

The park contains another vibrant, restored Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain, right beside a Starbucks Coffee and incredibly clean public restrooms. Finding such modern and clean restrooms in a downtown city park really impressed me. 

Scattered throughout the park you will find planters with labeled, drought tolerant native plants.

Throughout various tiers of the park, these sturdy hot pink chairs and benches provide quite the pop of color that cannot go unnoticed.

Right outside the Courthouse on Tuesdays, and then across the street at City Hall on Thursdays, I was thrilled to find a bustling Farmers Market. Not too many restaurants are located within accessible distance to the court so it brings a much desired fresh component with many food choices.

Going towards the back of the Disney building, along Hope Street, I came across the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power headquarters at the John Ferraro building, with many water features such as this large reflecting pool above the garage. 

The pools, fountains and interior lights actually work as part of the building’s HVAC system to recycle cooling water. Knowing the 1965 building was green from those days is quite modern.

From the outside of the front lobby, one gets a nice tree framed view of the Walt Disney Concert Hall from behind.

Surrounding the buildings are interesting specimens of native plants and huge ancient granite boulders from the Alabama Hills in the Owens Valley, the source of a large portion of the water service to the City of Los Angeles.

Walking down Hope Street one day after jury duty to meet a friend who works in downtown, I got a nice view of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, in the Financial District of downtown. 

This L.A. iconic building, frequently portrayed in movies and TV, also was somewhere my family brought me as a child. Riding in the exterior glass elevators gave me quite the thrill in childhood and the building has not lost an ounce of style since then.

The fun thing about wandering by foot, vs. by car, is finding these charming scenes, such as this "Mermaid" carved sign on the side of a building.