In my past 3 years at USC, I have had the opportunity to explore all throughout LA and see so many different places! LA is truly an amazing place, and you can get it all – whether it be a Saturday at the beach, a morning hike in the Santa Monica Mountains, shopping at The Grove, or just being a foodie at the restaurants downtown! I have shared some of my favorite place in LA with you all below; please read on!
The Getty
I went here my freshman year; it was one of the first places I went with one of my student orgs. The Getty is a free art museum that has gorgeous grounds and landscaping. It also has an amazing view of the LA basin. A must-see for sure!
View of DTLA from The Getty
Gorgeous grounds of The Getty
Griffith Observatory
This was another place that I’ve been to early on (and often!) in my USC career. I’ve probably been to Griffith about 5 times total. Griffith is an observatory at the top of a large hill that has exhibits inside, and an awesome rotunda outside from which you get an amazing view of LA. I recommend going right before sunset, because then you get to see LA in detail in daylight, in addition to seeing the gorgeous city lights at night.
Griffith!
DTLA from Griffith
Santa Monica Beach
This is always a classic. I come here at least once a semester, if not more often. The Santa Monica beach is an awesome place to go; Third Street Promenade is just a few blocks away from the beach and has a bunch of awesome stores and shops! There is also the Santa Monica Pier, which has really fun attractions, and tons of photo-ops!
First time in months that I'm at Santa Monica without running 16+ miles! #relaxing #viterbilife pic.twitter.com/sCTG9b2dDr
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) April 20, 2013
Downtown LA
I ran downtown a lot last year when I was training for the marathon. It’s around 3 miles away from campus, and it’s always nice to get away from campus for a bit. Downtown is really nice and has a bunch of shopping and restaurants.
Dinner downtown and star gazing at Griffith Observatory. #ViterbiLife pic.twitter.com/5tJAYKQoYY
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) April 14, 2013
(500) Days of Summer bench!
So if you guys are Zooey Deschanel fans, you hopefully have seen (500) Days of Summer! The famous bench that makes an appearance in one of the scenes is in our very own downtown LA! My friends and I made our way over there last year and took some photos with it. Very cool to have a piece of that so close to campus. So many times, you’ll see films being done all around LA, and oftentimes on our own campus!
Modeling the (500) Days of Summer Bench 🙂
Hollywood Hike
Such a classic – you absolutely have to make the traditional Hollywood Hike while you are in LA. The hike isn’t tough at all, and the view you get from it is so rewarding! When you reach the peak, on one side you get the LA Basin and on the other side you see The Valley. Gorgeous views.
I love LA. #hikeshikeshikes #nature #ViterbiPlus pic.twitter.com/1leZ60G4
— Cassandra Gabara (@CassGabara) September 3, 2012
Talk to you guys later!
Cassandra
