Sun, Fun and Priceless Treasures in LA

Wednesday, my last day. I set my sights on the Getty Museum. Checking out of the hotel and putting my bags in storage I took the bus north along Sepulveda to Westwood where I stopped for breakfast/lunch before taking another bus to the Getty.

This time I was there to see the art. I managed to see the paintings and the Irving Penn, Small trades photography exhibition. The paintings were mostly from medieval and reneisance with a few examples from the later artists impresionist like Van Gough (Irises no less) and Degas. J Paul Getty seemed to dislike modern art. The photography exhibition just made me smile for some reason. just plain portraits of working class people who do crappy jobs. But mostly they appeared very proud. I recommend a visit to the Getty to see the photographs alone.

Having taken in some art I made my way back down to the bus stop and when the bus came back to Westwood. Here I had an argument with a man on the street who "didn't want any money" but said that by talking to me he could "help people". My stance was that I didn't have the time, really, I didn't. It ended up with him telling me it is no wonder I spend my Saturday nights alone. Thanks buddy. Eventually after stopping at an ATM to extract some final US dollars I was on a bus heading towards Santa Monica.

The idea behind going to Santa Monica was that it seemed a logical location to find a store selling Paul Frank stuff. I was looking for a birthday present for someone, a T shirt I had seen in San Francisco. Do you think I could find a shop selling Paul Frank? No. I ended up conceding defeat after finding the local shopping mall was under renovation.

I had an interesting dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. The same Wolfgang Puck who I seem to recall opened a restaurant at crown in Melbourne that closed down not long after opening. The food was actually pretty good, although it is hard to go wrong with Spag Bol. The Caesar Salad was a bit weird though, no fetta. My last meal was washed down with a Heineken, my safety beer in the US. Sitting on the outdoor balcony above the street was quite pleasant, but I needed to make tracks.

An hour bus ride back to my hotel at LAX followed. It was interesting note at one of several car yards that used Mercedes are quite plentiful and cheap. You could get a 2003 C class for $12000. Back at the hotel I made a phone call home and then collected my luggage.