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|
 | The first thing you notice at the
Getty is the architecture. The buildings were designed by Richard
Meier. Lynda likes the contrast between the square
blocks of porcelain coated aluminum tiles used for the building sides and
the rough hewn travertine blocks used as walls and frames. The travertine
is also used as smooth blocks to line the floor and stairs of the open
areas. photo courtesy of: www.getty.edu
|
| Sixty thousand tons of travertine stone were
brought from a quarry in Italy to build the Getty. The same quarry
that was used by Romans to make their sculptures and buildings! The Getty Center sits high up near Sepulveda
pass and looks down on Santa Monica and UCLA. |
 | Here is King Wai at sunset, in the
central courtyard at the Getty Center. The buildings are designed so that their shapes and contours play with the light from the sun at different times of the day to form shifting shadows and reflections. As well, the interior of the buildings were designed to make use of sunlight to illuminate the galleries. This allows us to view the paintings in natural light, as they were seen by the original (electricity deficient) artists. |
| Venice Beach is a place that we took our out-of-town visitor Pam when she was here. Venice is a bizarre place. Its kinda a place where the riffraff slash hippies of society hang out, along with the tourist that like to watch the riffraff and buy T-shirts. |
| Venice Beach basically consists
of a really long sidewalk that has businesses, coffee shops, streeperformers,
and artists. Oh and don't forget the T-shirt shops and Tattoo parlors. A separate path exists for rollerbladers and cyclists. |  |  |
 | The sidewalk attract street performers
and artists. You can spend hours walking up and down just watching the performers or browsing the artwork. photo courtesy of PhilipGreenspun |
 | We stopped at this bar/restaurant
with Pam after we had spent some time walking up and down the Venice Beach.
The eating area is outside the building, on the sidewalk, with a canvass
tarp covering the roof and sides. (I think this is quite interesting, that in warmer climates, food service businesses do not need to own/rent as much area if they can just serve their food on the sidewalk.) We had just escaped a rain storm, so we were
thankful for the cover. The food was good and the sunshine emerged
in time for this picture at the end of our meal and the resumption of our
walk. |
 From
Los Angeles, it is possible to take a three day cruise to Mexico. My mom
and I did this together. |
 Unfortunately, we left our husbands behind. This is what they looked like from the ship, on the pier, in the rain, seeing us off. Not too happy!!!!!! |  Maybe they felt better when they saw the tiny rooms we had to stay in. (But I doubt it). |
| Our first stop was Catalina Island. Catalina is one of a chain of five islands off the coast of Los Angeles. It is the only Island that has a small town and it treated as a holiday destination. |
 | A short 30 minute boat
ride on the "Catalina Express" will get you to the island. The first thing you notice as you approach the
island is this building. It is called the Casino. It was built
in the 20's (?) as an entertainment center. Tours of the Casino are
a popular thing to do on the island.
|
 | On Catalina Island
there are many things to do. You can shop, eat at a restaurant, take
a bus tour of the island, do water sports, or take a glass bottom boat
tour. Beware, food and hotel prices
are very expensive!! Tour prices are so-so!
|
 | This is a view of the harbor.
The town of Avalon is on the left with the Casino on the right.
|
 | Here is one example of some of the
grand houses on this island.
|
 | Catalina also has a great deal of
hiking available. This cairn is at the end of one of these hikes.
It was built for one of the Wrigley sons. The Wrigley family (yes
of the chewing gum fame) owned a great house on Catalina Island and
lived here for many years.
|
 Our
last stop was Mexico. |
 We
visited a market with interesting bartering going on, and beautiful wares.
Mom bought me some mexican pottery. |
 Here
is a pretty spice stand. |
homeAll pictures copyrighted by Lynda Lo-Hill 2001,
unless otherwise credited.
Reproduction of pictures by permission only at
lyndalo@pacbell.net
