CAMPING in MT. BALDY

This weekend had been all about camping and trekking. Emily, Sheila, Tina, Daniel and I went to the Mt. Baldy area. Mt. Baldy proper name is Mt. San Antonio. It is a 10,000+ ft (i.e. 3,000+ meters) mountain just south of LA. Never been here before. So it is all new for all of us. Campground was really nice ...We saw also this wonderful and colourful butterfly in the area of our tent ...... and as it happens 99% of the time here in US, there is always the BBQ area, but no showers what's so ever ...The proper hike will be on Sunday. We will attempt the Mt. Baldy summit, but as a warm up we did a 3 hour light hike today, around 5,000ft. We did it in the afternoon, so it was pretty warm, but it was fun. Here some pictures ...... after that a gourmet dinner provided by our two English Angels (AKA Daniel & Emily) we had an early bed time. The earlier we get into the trail on Sunday morning, the better it is.

CLEANING THE BEACH

I love the yellow color, so when I saw this truck on the beach this morning I coudn't refrain myself and I took this picture ...The summer is here and even if Hermosa never really gets supercrowded, next week we will have 4th of July. That is the single day when even Hermosa gets invaded and I guess the major wants to be sure that the beach is clean. But you don't want to see the beach on the 5th. A mess. I am happy that I won't be here for the 4th of July this year. I won't miss it. Everything ends up in mountains of trash.

WHERE PEOPLE STILL DREAM

As European it is difficult, sometimes, to let understans my friends back home why I like to live here in US. This is definitely not the perfect country, but still it has something very rare. The people here is still dreaming. Small and big dreams. And everybody try to live their dreams. This is what all this country is about. A silly example? This car was parked in my street today ...Not sure what the owner does, or who even built it. But when I saw it, it simply lifted my mood. I know that behind this car there was a dream, not sure if it did go somewhere and the Skooby's hot dog chain works. But these guys really drem!

SVEN and the ASHTRAY

Sven is Leif brother. He has been our guest for a couple of weeks here in Hermosa. And he is a great guy. But I think I will remember him not just for that. I will remember him for the ashtray that he managed to fill day after day after day. Yes, Sven is a smoker. And here he is today, his last day, at breakfast in the porch with his coffee and cigarette ...I lived with people smoking, my dad was used to smoke, my mom is smoking, my brother was used to smoke, Leif himself was used to smoke as well. But I think this is the ultimate ashtray. Not sure now who will clean it ... :)

BIRDS

I took this picture today while I was walking here in Hermosa. I think these are pelicans. Yes, twelve wonderful pelicans. It is pretty common to see them in this type of formation, but so far I had never been fast enough to capture them in a picture ...... I look at them and I know that I love them. I love them for their freedom. They can fly wherever they want. Something human beings where used to do before some of us decided to build nations, borders, passports and all the rest ... such a shame that human beings are not allowed to travel in their planet, such a shame! BTW, if you like birds and you are curious to know where they are flying, I suggest you to watch a wonderful movie / documentary called "Winged Migration" ... really wonderful!

LONGEST DAYS

I love these days. The longest days of the year, here in the north hemisphere. I love them because we have so much light, and so many things that I can do in the sun. Sunrise is way too early for me to take any picture of it, but sunset is as late as 8.15PM here in LA. And I can see it. Today the sun was setting over the Santa Monica Mountains ...... before I came here to LA, and I enjoyed these wonderful sunsets over the Ocean, I never realized that the sun is setting in different points depending on the season. I thought it was always setting just there, exactly West, there is always something to learn ... :) ... and I also learned that there is nothing like living in a place where the horizon is not covered with buildings, but it is free, like it should be ...

MIND WHERE YOU SEAT

Mind where you seat at the restaurant! Mind where I seat? Mmmm ... why should I? I got the hint, but I didn't really understand it. But when I seat (after checking that there was no thick in the chair) and I saw the table, I realized that something was strange. We were in a Japanese restaurant in Santa Monica for Mae's birthday. And the table was also the cook's stove. Pretty funny to see, and for a change you see if the cook is using funny ingredients for your food ...... but if you seat where I seated, exactly in the direction where the wind coming from the door was blowing ... the steam and the smell is what you will remember about the dinner ... :) BTW, food was good and tasty, and my T-Shirt and jeans as well ... :)

SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS

Not sure if you will ever visit LA. But here is a tip in case you will do it. Drive all Mulholland Drive and enjoy the beauty of the Santa Monica Mountains. A real wilderness blessing just half hour from that crazy mix of freeways, concrete, houses that is LA. Tina & I did it during the weekend. Here a section of the Mulholland Drive ...... and we went trekking to the Circle X. Not sure why it is called like this. Probably because it start at the Circle X Ranch ...... but please, don't ask me why the ranch is called like that ... :D About the Santa Monica Mountains. They are really beautiful. The elevation is not really challenging, but still there is enough to walk and relax ...... so if you are visiting LA and I won't be here guiding you, don't miss the Santa Monica Mountains. I am sure, you will love them. Promised.

FUND RAISING

Sometimes I even work. That's right. Not sure why I am writing it. Probably because more than a friend, checking my blog ask me if a part of travelling I was still working. Yes, I am still working. I took these pictures today. This is how your phone calls look like. Basically all your phone calls are transformed in electric signal, they go through colorful wired cables ...... are pasteurized, transformed in bits, mixed with other bits and routed to your friend / partner / lover / boss phone through these cabinets ...
... so what am I doing in all this? A way to see my work is that I need to make sure that all this works and that the other person understand what you are saying on the phone. 99.9% of the time I am doing it seating in an office in front of a computer. An other way to see it, is that I am having a fair exchange. I trade my knowledge, creativity, passion and most important my time for money. Money that I will try to spend travelling as much as I can. Yes basically with my work I am fund raising my Walk the Earth ... :) ... I think that is the best way to describe it ... :)

NIAGARA FALLS by NITE

Today in the evening I went to run in the Niagara falls State Park, because I was curious to see the Niagara Falls light show. So here they are, the Niagara falls by nite. Not sure, if you will like them, or if you prefer them natural ...... the funniest comment that I heard about it, was from a group of youngster. One of them came out saying "I have seen better light shows in Kansas City" ... :D

MIRRORED ROOM

I really like this picture. The more I look at it, the more I like it. I took it on Sunday at the Albright-Knox museum. Tina is in the "Mirrored Room", a 1966 work of Lucas Samaras. For a strange coincidence today I was reading in a book something about mirrors that made me think. Basically the writer was explaining that we, as human beings, have a natural need to understand who we are. So, since the ancient times, we built mirrors, and other tools. We look at us in the mirrors, and we discover our self. But if you think about it, the mirrors have lost their function. We are so used to see our face in the mirror that we don't question anymore what we see. It reminds me the stories of the WWII German concentration camps survivors, who after they have been liberated, look in mirrors and they don't recognize themselves anymore. I read it in books. And I heard the same story from my grandpa as well, who spent almost 3 years in a concentration/labor camp. It makes sense. Personally I have so many chances to look at myself in a mirror that I have lost the excitement to discover my face or myself when I am using it. Sad enough, I use it just to understand if I have to shave or to check if the shirt matches with the pants. I think we should rediscover the mirrors and our self. Or maybe all this is just BS. In that case I hope you will enjoy, at least, the picture ... :D

MODERN ART in BUFFALO

Albright-Knox. Sounds like the name of a Las Vegas boxing fight. But it is no. It is the name of the Buffalo Art Gallery. Apparently it is one of the best US collections of modern and contemporary art. Honestly I didn't know, before I read about it in my travel guide. So we went to visit it on Sunday. And we really like it. Probably not the best I have seen around. But still not bad. There are a lot of nice works. Nice portraits (the guy in the painting is the former Japanese Emperor Hirohito) ...... and other paintings which have definitely something to say. I guess, the interpretation is always the most interesting thing when you look at modern art You can read whatever you want. Everytime the painting is different ...If I have to can find something disappointing in the museum is definitely the structure itslef. I think the space organization of this museums is not the right one to expose the usual big pieces of modern and contemporary art. There are a lot of long corridors here. Nice to see, but good only for paintings ...But they managed to have some interesting pieces also here. They put them in the garden and on the walls of the stairs ...What else? I love modern art, even if I am not an expert at all. I think it gives so much to think. It releases a lot of positive energy, at least in me.

BUFFALO DOWNTOWN

A nice surprise. Buffalo, NY is not only the Niagara falls. Of course the Niagara falls are just great, amazing, almost unique. But there is something more than that. Downtown, for example, is not bad at all. During the weekend Tina & I got my old "USA Rough Guide" (not a Lonely Planet, for a change) and we wander around downtown like two lost but hopeful tourists and we found lots of buildings that deserved a tour. And we were not scared to walk around downtown. I am not really sure if it is true, but I read somewhere that Buffalo is one of the safest cities in US. For what I have seen, it can be true.

... amazing apartment and office buildings. I like very geometric architecture, and I loved these two buildings. Aren't they just so functional and elegant? I love them ...A very unique building in Buffalo downtown is the city hall. A very impressive building. Apparently it is the tallest City Hall in US and there is a gorgeous view from the top terrace. We visited it on Sunday and it was closed. So these are the only pics I can share with you, from the curb ...So my suggestion is. If you will go to visit the Niagara falls, don't miss a tour of Buffalo downtown.