Of all the cities in the world I’ve never been to, I know Los Angeles best. No mystery as to why that is; a lifetime of movies and TV shot on these streets, often applying Hollywood glamour to otherwise unglamorous locales. The Los Angeles River and the bridges spanning it, for example.

I drove in from Las Vegas yesterday morning and checked into a hotel near LAX, enjoying what the local meteorologists call “July weather in October.” I met a friend who kindly agreed to give me a cinema-location-centric tour of the city. Stops included all the Blade Runner locations, Griffiths Observatory, Sunset Boulevard and, yes, that river and those bridges, where scenes from Drive, Grease and Terminator 2 were filmed, to mention but three quality features in the canon.

And I can recommend In-N-Out Burgers.

I’m not in a position to share photos right now, but upon my return to Canada, I’ll be doing that. Please check back.

In terms of first impressions, LA at night is glorious, a sprawling, wonderful city. I like the way the neighbourhoods are draped over the hills, the multi-lane freeways cutting through the valleys. The variety of culture, of food, is amazing. And I still have days of exploration ahead of me…