Getty on Down

Thursday was our last day in the USA. Our plane left at 8.30pm so we had nearly a full day to fill in and aimed to make the most of it.

Trace had mentioned going to the Getty Museum which sounded good. Our Cabbie said it would be a 15 minute trip from our Hotel but it was closer to 30 mins by the time we got there - LA traffic can be really bad. The Getty Museum is in the hills of Santa Monica with views south from the beaches across to Downtown LA. The Museum was set up by oil billionaire J. P. Getty to show art and to also research into art preservation and much more. Originally the Museum was in his house and moved to its current location in 1997.

The Getty Museum is one of the richest museums in America and it is really sensational. The building was designed by a famous architect, Richard Meier. It is made from Travertine stone which is similar to limestone so it is a very light coloured building - rather glarey in the bright sun. There are 5 main exhibition pavillions as well as other buildings for their research and conservation work. Visitors park at the main gate and ride a 3 car automated tram up to the top of the hill to the museum.

As well as paintings they have antique furniture that can be traced back to various French and German Kings, photographs, and a sculpture garden. We only managed to get through 2 of the 5 pavillions and had a walk theough their fantastic garden. One famous painting was Van Gogh Irises which Alan Bond bought for $54 million in 1987.

One of the best things about this Museum is that it is totally free. Which is good because there is so much you would need more than 1 day to see all of it.

After walking around the grounds we headed back to West Hollywood for a bite of lunch and some final shopping before the van came to take us to the airport.Read more