Queen Mary

There she is, the good old lady. The RMS Queen Mary is maybe the most interesting point of Long Island, actually I don't know many other, though.

 Maybe modern cruise ships are bigger or faster or more high-tech, but nothing compares to the glamour of this old ship. 

 Nowadays it serves as a museum and a hotel. The hallways are incredibly long, I guess it's difficult to find a specific room here. Unfortunately there wasn't any door open, I don't know how it looks inside a cabin.

Communication central. Some guy was actually using the devices there, maybe doing some maintenance work..

 Nice view of Long Beach from a deck chair.

 They filmed a casting for American Idol there, strange choice of a location for a teenager show..

 Captain's living room, seen through a glass wall. 

 The famous dining room for first class passengers.

Long Beach lifestyle...would buy a jet ski, too, if I was living there.

Malibu

Malibu is where the low hills hit the beautiful beaches, the houses have either beach access or a perfect view.

In November beaches are empty, besides the occasional movie set surrounded by equipment trucks and catering vehicles.  For a city guy it is such a strange sensation to wander along those perfect beaches for several miles, only meeting two or three other humans during two or three hours...

Destination of this beach walk was the famous Paradise Cove Beach Cafe...

...where I had this delicious Iced Seafood Sampler, the perfect meal for this location...

Outside, no surprise, there was another photo or film shooting under way...nice view, though ;-)

Back to "Downtown" Malibu, between the famous (they say so) Malibu Inn, where I had to pick up my number for the half marathon,...

..and the Malibu Pier, which claims to be famous, too.

Indeed famous is this surf spot next to the pier, where some of the most iconic surf heros spent part of their lifetime, like "Da Cat" Miki Dora.

Santa Monica

Down the coastline, following the bike trail....

..one eventually ends at the perfect beaches of Santa Monica. 

Santa Monica's landmark is the huge pier, a large amusement park, a crowded place.

Beachfront is similar to all the other beachfronts along the South-Cal coast, casual and sunny :-)

The city itself is quite nice with all these palm trees and the beach flair. Hotels, parks and shopping areas cater to the many tourists. They're coming not just from the beach side, the famous route 66 ends here as well.

Parking space is sufficient, as almost everywhere in the U.S.

So with all the typical sights around the typical food wasn't far either. The Harbor Grill on the S.M. pier looked quite fine and the burger was good. I had a fish taco as well, it wasn't so good, though.

One of the ubiquitious Bubba Gump chain restaurant is here, too. On all of my trips to the U.S. so far, one was in the vicinity every time, even on Times Square.

Beach folks...

Angels Flight (seen through a fisheye lens)

Angels Flight is an attraction of downtown L.A. Basically it is a small chain-driven (?) wagon which climbs up probably 100 meters. My impression is, that I actually could walk faster up the hill by foot, but why walk when you can pay and sit inside? The drive lasts about a minute and is as exciting as sitting on a park bench...no offense to the friendly people which operate it, though.
It goes up from Grand Central Market to Bunker Hill and the financial district.

 The track looks longer than it actually is, due to the fisheye lens.

 Most of the time spent in the car is needed for the payment procedure :-)

 First look at the financial district...not much happening here besides some business people wandering around and aiming for some lunch restaurants, corporate i.d.-card tucked to their shirts.

L.A. Grand Central Market

Downtown L.A. consists of several completely different areas. one of them is the historic core right next to the financial district. While the last one is clean and rather dull, the historic area is very lively.
One of the must-sees there is the Central Market, a lovely old hall with many stalls, mostly produce and Mexican and Asian food..and some seating for the lunching crowd.

 Had a Taco myself, was very good. It initiated an addiction to Mexican food which lasted almost two weeks...

L.A. Union Station

Union Station of L.A. is certainly one of the most famous and most good-looking train stations of the world and served as a movie location in several Hollywood movies like most recently in Dark Knight Rises.

I haven't made a picture of the front entrance -forgot it- but the backyard is beautiful for a station area. 

 Seating is first class: fine (artificial) leather armchairs.

 Building itself is nice as well, sort of Mexican style...as far as my judgement goes.