The Bradbury building! Yay! In my search for quaint, character filled architecture in LA, the Bradbury stands out. Built just before 1900, it is a gorgeous brick building. I remember the first time seeing it and going oooooo.

OK, it doesn't hold a candle to York Minster, but still. For LA it is quite historical and colorful. It's on Broadway, which is a main street that runs near downtown LA. There are numerous older buildings along Broadway, including a large number of old movie theaters from the 1930s. Broadway is also massively busy. Driving on it is a challenge that took me by surprise.

I had read that the building was closed to the public. You can get in to a lobby, but that's it so I didn't expect to get in. But when we walked by the door was open and tons of people were going in and out (you can see the open door in the bottom photo).

So, I went in.

Now, as I went in, I have to say there were a couple of people that seemed to want to stop me, they tried to talk with me but I just did my usual-- I barreled in like I was just one of the crowd. It worked. I got in and meandered around the gorgeous place. It felt a lot like I was in a film noir set from an old Bogart movie.

Later, as I left, it became clear the building had been opened to a specific set of people for a special event. I had unwittingly crashed a party.

That's the best way to do anything you aren't supposed to do. Unwittingly.