Yesterday I met up with Ellen at Wurstküche, a trendy, minimalistic hot dog eatery in the artist district of downtown Los Angeles. We had originally made a date for tea, but somehow ended up at a sausage-and-beer place. It has some rather exotic flavors like rattlesnake and rabbit, along with the more traditional bratwursts.



The meal also made me very nostalgic for Top Dog, a hot dog "stand" in Berkeley. Because though a good smoked chicken apple is more readily available than it used to be, how can it beat the late night memories of political debates with the Top Dog guy as he handles both your hot dog and your money with his bare hands?

 

Afterwards, we walked around for a bit, the people seem to paint on every surface imaginable. Guess what's below:
  It's a dumpster. We eventually ended up at Little Tokyo for some cream puffs at Beard Papa.
I rarely visit downtown LA, it feels like parts of LA are worlds away because of traffic. But the very first place Tony and I lived in together was downtown LA. Downtown is a place that is convenient to everything but close to nothing. But it has it's own charms and I definitely miss it. It brought a lot of memories as I was driving through some of the places I walked through while living there.

Breakfast at the Pantry
 
Walt Disney Concert Hall

 

French dip sandwiches and pickled eggs at Philippes
 
The tomato basil empanada at the Farmer's market
 
But mostly I think I miss seeing all the skyscrapers and bright lights that characterized my imagination of Los Angeles growing up. Below is the view from my apartment "backyard." I took this picture one night after we were walking back from a modern rendition of the "Taming of the Shrew" at the Catheral of our Lady of the Angels (complete with a wii they somehow incorporated into the performance).

 

Bye downtown.