Little Croatia

As the Port of Los Angeles developed in the 1930s, Croatians from the islands of Dalmatia immigrated to fish, and later work the port. You hear Croatian spoken on the street, which is unusual, since there are only a couple million Croatians in the world, but again, 30,000+ of them live in San Pedro! They were trying to tell me that San Pedro is the second largest Croatian city, outranked only by the capital Zagreb in Croatia.

How did I end up there? My friend invited me to Croatian independence day, then to her wedding party the next week. Two visits in a row! Independence day was interesting - a huge block party with food, dancing, and music on several blocked off blocks downtown.  It starts in the afternoon and runs late into the night. We ate no less than 3 lunches and two dinners, with a stream of snacks and wine between.    The big hits were roast lamb, cevapcici (Croatian spiced sausage), mostaccoli, sauerkraut, and endless sweets, cookies, and cakes.  Dancers in traditional costumes came from Croatian communities all over the US, singers, and musicians performed, and pretty much everyone danced, once sufficient red Dalmatian wine was consumed.   It's good to see several hundred smiling people eating, drinking and dancing the kolo in the streets at once!

I just had a few hours to look around, but I could tell it was the kind of place with plenty of things to be discovered. Check the pictures - after the wedding I climbed San Pedro Hill (amazing views of the harbor), stopped by the beach, headed out to the point and saw the Korean Friendship Bell, explored the Ft. McArthur abandoned missile site, and checked out the port operations.  Don't be scared away by all the petroleum tanks and cranes, it's actually not a bad place to spend the day.  One of the few spots in LA with much culture left.