Santa Barbara - Getty Museums and the Theater

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Birds of Paradise brighten our living room.

Early in the past week, our dog walk took us up into the hills of Santa Barbara.  Starting at the old mission, we passed the ruins of a grist mill and a well from the mission's early days and climbed up, up into a neighborhood of grand homes with stunning views. We ended up in a small park high above the city with sweeping views of the entire city and the Channel Islands sparkling in the Pacific under the morning sun.

City, Ocean, Island

The walk was the latest gem uncovered by The Queen of Finding Things (aka The Queen of Getting Things Done).  Whether you are seeking your misplaced keys, the grocery list you had a minute ago,  the glass of wine you just set down or something more substantial - an interesting hike or an obscure theater with an interesting play, she is again your Guide par Excellence.

The Queen of Finding Things

We were on our bikes again early in the week for a trip to Montecito, home of numerous movie stars and celebrities (none of whom answered their doorbell when we rang).   So we walked the beach and thumbed our noses at them.  On our return, we cycled on a residential street parallel to "The 101," the main north-south route along the coast.  For about a mile or so, we outpaced the freeway traffic as we cycled at a leisurely pace.

On another day, we discovered a local beach, where we lazed about for a while, reading under the warm sun, listening to the surf, and munching on fruit, French bread and cheese.  Carol went off to walk the beach.  When she was gone, I looked up from my reading to see something of considerable size moving steadily along the coast a hundred or so yards offshore.  I couldn't make out what it was, but I thought, "A whale!  I've finally seen a whale!"  (Over several visits to the California coast in whale migration season in recent years, Carol and I seemed to be the only people who haven't spotted a whale.)  Still, I wasn't sure.  Something just didn't look right.  A young mother with a child in a stroller walked by and, looking for a verification of my find, I asked her if we were seeing a whale.  She stared for several seconds and then said, "That's a guy on a paddle board.  I can see his feet."  The heartbreak of aging eyes and unruly imagination!  I think he's a whale, and she can distinguish his feet!

We ended our beach holiday with a drink at the bar, after the whale sighting.

Life's a Beach!

On Valentine's Day we walked Rowdie early and were on the road for an all-day adventure at the musuems founded by J. Paul Getty, the Getty Villa in Malibu and the Getty Center in Los Angeles.  As we drove the last miles along the Pacific Coast Highway we were surprised to see a skywriter.  I don't think I've seen a skywriter since I was a boy, vacationing with my parents at the Jersey shore.  We watched him form the word HAPPY by the time we reached the Villa entrance. 

The Getty Villa in Malibu is an authentic recreation of a first century A.D. Roman villa.  Carol is taking an online class from Yale on Ancient Roman Architecture through Coursera.com.  She was thrilled with the experience of visiting the villa, since it complemented what she has been learning for the past weeks.  We took two excellent docent-led tours of the villa, one focused on the gardens and one focused on the architecture.

Center Courtyard, Getty Villa

Villa Columns

Villa Pool

Detail, Garden Mosaic, Getty Villa

 The Roman philosopher, Pliny the Elder,  died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August, 79 A.D.  His nephew and heir (and quite an interesting character himself), Pliny the Younger, was eighteen years old at the time of the eruption and watched it from miles away.  Twenty-five years later he wrote about what he saw.  He wrote that the smoke and ash billowing from the volcano created a cloud that resembled a stone pine, spreading as it grew new branches.

Torrey Pine, known to the ancient Romans as the Stone Pine

After lunch, we were off for the ten-mile drive on the twisting and turning Sunset Boulevard to the Getty Center.  It sits high on a hill, like a fortress, overlooking West Hollywood.  It's a huge complex, daunting in its size, but spectacular for the architecture of Richard Meier.

The Getty Center towers above the everlasting haze of Los Angeles.

I liked the Getty Museum for the architecture and the grounds alone.  We gave ourselves an hour, and I used mine well in the Center for Photographs, where I saw the intriguing photographs of Hiroshi Sugimoto and an exhibit of photography collected by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  Victoria was captivated by the new art form of photography and developed a passion for it.  Inspired by the exhibits I went out and worked on my own portfolio.

Welcoming Vision of The Getty Center, designed by architect Richard Meier

Exhibition Pavilion, J. Paul Getty Museum

West Pavilion: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings and Center for Photographs

Pool, Getty Museum

Stairway, Getty Museum

Stairway, Getty Museum

The week ended with the Queen of Finding Things finding an obscure theatrical performance in a downtown art gallery Saturday night.  How obscure?  Well, there were perhaps a dozen and a half folding chairs set up facing a small corner of the gallery where three actors performed without benefit of props.  Six of the chairs were occupied, four by friends or family of the actors, two by yours truly.  The play - "Art," by Yasmina Reza - was quite entertaining.

Theater Night