Subway ride to Pasadena

On Saturday I took the Subway to Pasadena. I really liked the subway- it was clean, easy to use, with lots of instructions over the intercom. I don't know when they built it but the stations are very new compared to places like Paris or Toronto, so it must be in the last decade or two.

I hope they extend it west soon- I got on the last stop on the Purple line, and it was still a ~45 minute walk from where I live, and I'm not that far west. It seems it would solve a lot of LA's traffic problems to have a subway that covers the west part of the city. I've read that the residents voted against one several times in the past! They want to keep their part of town inaccessible to outsiders, supposedly. That's not the official line, but probably is the real reason.

I transferred to the Gold line at Union Station. Union Station is as beautiful as every other station named Union in other cities, very elegant.

The Gold line runs above ground, so it was a very interesting ride. Of course, I hadn't brought my camera. I guess you'd call the Gold line a LRT, as it's not elevated except exiting downtown, and has many level crossings over roads, and runs down the middle of the road in one place. It has the right of way though, traffic is stopped either with a flashing "train" sign, or in the busier spots, arms (what do you call those things?) come down and block the road.

Pasadena is another leafy paradise. You can see the mountains, which are quite close there, at every intersection, with tree-lined streets and lovely architecture.

I have to go back out this way to write my NCLEX exam in a couple of weeks, so I'll try to remember the camera next time.