Gina & Vicki Visit the
Getty
All you culturephiles out there surely have heard and read about, if not
visited, the Getty Museum in LA. In April a visit from my friend Vickie
afforded a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the museum and grounds en femme
and let me say is this the way to view art!
Vickie arrived at mid-Friday after flying en femme from her home and off we
went ASAP. (Artist lingo for pronto.) It was a glorious sunny day and we
were thrilled as we took the tram up to the museum and rose to the heights
from which we could see LA to our left and the ocean to our right. Once
there it was hard to select from the cornucopia of things to see in the
time available in but a few hours. We settled on the Greek and Roman
sculpture first (after all how can one quarrel with all those beautiful bod
ies), then into the Impressionist collection (a Monet "haystack," Van
Gogh's "Irises" and more) and so on. Eventually we made our way into the
garden where we couldn't resist firing off a few self-centered pics.
(Smile.)
Some of you may not know that the Getty is both a museum and a center for teaching and the restoration/preservation of art around the world. For me the building itself also is a true work of art by itself. Constructed of Travertine marble on a tall point high above West LA/Westwood it gleams in the sunlight and offers the most magnificent of views. If you are lucky enough to be in one of the after hours VIP receptions when the sunsets to the west the romantic quality rivals that of Hawaii. (OK a bit of hyperbole but you get the point.)
Then off for a wonderful dinner at Orsini's in West LA where the aficionado and maitre' de, Igor (great name don't you think?), catered to our every wish and desire (well almost every one). Aperitif, then appetizers (I had the carpaccio), then pasta carbonara followed by the most wonderful fish (I had sea bass and Vickie had the snapper filleted ever so expertly by Igor). All of a sudden we realized that it was near 11 and the party night was slipping away so into my chariot and off to the Queen Mary in LA. There we ran into a number of friends/acquaintances, including friends Laurie and Melissa, who have been victimized at one time or another by having to accompany me on one of my party binge nights. Also happened to catch the GirlTalk Magazine monthly party at the QM so an especially interesting mix of people. Danced the night away yet again and Vickie was especially lovely don't you think? Finally in the wee hours we decided enough was enough and off we went.
