Exploration: Berendo Stairs & Boobies

Los Angeles has a lot of hills, and as such, is a very climb-y place to live. Something I learned shortly after I moved here is that LA has a "stairs culture" - there are over 200 sets of stairs in the LA area! A lot of them are tucked away in the middle of neighborhoods, and you need a map to find them. A couple of weekends ago I finally got the chance to check out one of these illustrious and elusive staircases, when my friend Eliza asked a few friends to go for a walk with her up to the Griffith Observatory along one of her favorite routes, via the Berendo Stairs.

This particular walk consisted of sets of stairs broken up by streets; you'd get to the top of one set of steps and walk fifty (approximately; I'm REAL bad with distances) yards along a winding, quiet road until you hit the bottom of the next set, and so on. I haven't done a lot of exploring of the hills in Los Feliz, so this was an exciting jaunt for me. I love walking through hidden neighborhoods and gaping at the varied architecture, making little wish lists in my head for future abodes.

Someday I'd like to go on this walk again, at a slower pace and with all of my lenses, and take the time to capture all of the fun little details - the pretty colors in the gardens, the different materials and shapes, the cats in the windows, etc.

Can you see him?

Hey dude!

Eventually we reached the edge of the houses at the top of the hill and went through a gate to enter Griffith Park. Griffith Observatory loomed mysteriously in the distance. Just kidding. It was all very innocent and sunny. 

Captain Obvious side note: Kelly's arm (left) is not actually that large (as you can probably tell when you take a look at her right arm). Lens distortion, baby. She reminds me of the guy from the movie Lady in the Water in this picture, which I find humorous, so I'm leaving it up. Sorry Kel =]

After celebrating at the top and walking around the observatory for a bit, we headed back down the hill along a different route, to eat a delicious lunch at an adorable little outdoor cafe named Trails. Hint: if you ever go here, get a lavender shortbread cookie. Omnomnom.

We finished the walk off by meandering through the woods at the base of Griffith Park and then heading back to Eliza's.




It was fabulous.

Oh, and I should probably explain the boobies part: it was an all-girls walk (by choice - usually our annoying boyfriends tag along for everything we do, and we finally found a way to get rid of them), so we giggled and gossiped a lot and decided to call it a Boob Walk, just for funsies, because you know, girls just wanna have fun! That kind of thing. I only mentioned boobies in the title to entice you to read this post. And you fell for it, you know you did. Mwahaha. 

Learn more about the stairs of Los Angeles here, and happy climbing!