LA Story

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Day 92- Monday

Yesterday we flew from Colarado to LA where we were met by Connie's sister (No 6!), Cathy and her two lovely daughters, Sophia and Anna. They live south of the airport, about 30 minutes in good traffic, right near the beach ( broadly speaking , Redondo beach) . The girls, like the rest of the family are heavily into sport and , most interestingly what is known here as "Junior Lifeguards" or nippers/ surfclub in Australia. They trained, qualified and did surf patrol during the summer vacation. But they don't seem to have a Sunday morning program of weekly competitions.

We had a lovely time driving and walking around the district. Overalll the feel is similar to Sydney. Lots of California bungalows, eucalypts but of course some real mansions with water views.

Day 93- Monday

Today we went to the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, near Malibu. I had booked the tickets weeks ago online, having failed to get any last time I was in California. I was really delighted that Cathy had not been there, although she actually works as an Art Consultant , selecting and hanging works for both corporate and domestic clients. So the three of us had a wonderful visit. Getty reconstructed a Villa from near Pompeii and uses it to display his magnificent collection of antiquities.

Then, for dinner, we took the whole family to a local, favourite Mexican restaurant. On Tueday we are going to the Getty centre ( where I have been before) and would gladly go many times. Unfortunately the traffic here is a problem, and the lack of public transport an even bigger one. It is just about impossible to do anything or go anywhere without a car. And driving here would be horrific. So it means that we are dependent on our hosts.Which , of course is not the way one wants to be. Poor Cathy is dropping us at the Getty at 10 on the way to a client. Then we will take a taxi to the airport. She will meet us there.
Then this pm I am back to NY for my last week.

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