Am happily continuing my fabulous visit. After two days in San Simeon, Ellen dropped me off at sister Betty's in Santa Barbara and I stayed over at her place Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We met her friend for lunch, then repaired to Santa Barbara's small art museum. This is nothing like the Getty, but is very nice. We then saw "Up In The Air," the second time in a week for me, but I loved the movie, so was glad to go. Ate out several times--one of my favorite activities--and saw niece Carolyn and her family. Betty drove me back to my west coast home (at Ellen's) yesterday and E. and I immediately repaired to Pacific Palisades, about an hour away, to the Getty Villa. (We had invited Betty, but she had a lot to do, so declined.)
The Villa is very different from the huge Getty Center in L.A., but is enthralling in its own right. It contains Getty's antiquities collection and was built in the style of a Roman villa of early history. The buildings, the art, and the grounds are exquisite and even the amenities--for tours, they provide individual speakers, so you never miss what the guide is saying--are great. There are plenty of places to sit, the bathrooms are clean, the employees attentive, and what's more, the food is great. I had a Greek sandwich chicken wrap with a glass of delicious white wine and Ellen had grilled eggplant in panini, also very good. True, it's a bit pricey, but considering there's no charge to get in either Getty museum ($15 to park) and the great experience, it's well worth it.
Didn't get home until 7:00. Saw and spoke to Mike, Vivian, and Violet on Skype and ate our Trader Joe dinners--I had sushi--in front of the t.v. watching "L.A. Confidential."
Today, we decided to see "Avatar"; will have a review tomorrow.
WIDER: Here's "Bob In Pacifica" on the difference between dems and repubs:
"The political machinery is incapable of doing much more than fetching for their masters. 'Go get me more FISA powers. Give me a tax break. Bail us out. We need to send a billion in spare parts to Georgia. We need a trade agreement with Colombia. Send troops to support a regime over there.'
Now occasionally the Dems and Repubs will argue over how hard a boss can cane his employee, with the Repubs justifying hard whacks based on Biblical quotations and free market theories and the Dems will argue back with... not much. That's the difference, and the show would go on with or without Obama or any other specific personality on the stage."
Yep.