Visiting a friend who works in the office of a council member at LA City Hall last week (it was during the day, but the only good photo I have of the place is this one, shot at night, from an LA Times building balcony) when she asked, have you ever been to the Observation Deck?

The answer was "no", so we rode three elevators to get to the 26th floor, walked up some stairs, and then there we were, on the tippy top deck, a small, high square from which you get 360 degrees of the city.

The downtown high-rises (that's the LA Times building at the center bottom, from where the top photo was shot) kind of glittered.

And in each direction there were maps showing you some of what you're seeing:

There's the Hollywood sign:

And because of all this cold and windy weather (look -- Union Station!) my favorite view, of the San Gabriel Mountains, looked like this:

Let's get that building out of the way:

Ahhh...