California: Day Six (Our Anniversary!)

On our sixth day, which also happened to be our anniversary, we decided to sleep in. When we finally got up and going, we agreed that we both really wanted to go to The Getty Center. The Getty Center is a state-of=the art building that features art throughout the ages. It was featured recently on Project Runway, which we both LOVE to watch, so it was a real treat to go together.


Mark and I are nerds and we both have the best time going to museums. In fact, Mark wants to be a curator after he retires. As a teacher, I could spend hours in museums and be content as ever. The Getty is free admission, but you have to pay parking. I've come to discover that parking is how all of L.A. makes their money. You HAVE to park, so they get you there. After the $15 (yeah, that's right) parking pass, you take a small train up the side of the mountain to actually get to the museum buildings.



The architecture and sculptures of The Getty

The fountains outside the buildings


View of the cactus garden and the city


Just some really cool trees

Besides having remarkable architecture, breathtaking views of the city, and amazing furnishings gathered from over the years, there was an outstanding amount of artwork. All of the artwork is on the second level of every building with skylights so that the art can be seen in natural light as it was meant to be seen. We saw paintings from Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Rousseau, and my favorite, Monet. It was a wonderful day and a fantastic way to spend our anniversary!


Vexed Man

French bed featured on Project Runway

(I loved all of the light blue and gold in all of the French furnishings)

Rousseau painting

Irises by Van Gogh

Monet

(I recreated this painting in art class in high school)

That evening, we went to Cha Cha Chicken, a caribbean restaurant (another favorite), in Santa Monica with Ticean and Amy. It was delicious like all of our other meals! Then we went to the Promenade (outdoor mall that takes up blocks) to see the different acts in the streets, window browse, and get some Pinkberry frozen yogurt. Yum!!!