Back in LA

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Geo: 33.9767, -118.46

We had an uneventful road trip back to LA on Friday. Stopped at a couple of knitting and quilting shops and at a golf shop where we made several purchases. Then a quiet night at home with Erin and Peter, with some delivered pizzas, salads and pasta.

Saturday we had a great brunch at The Ivy - a swish restaurant in West Hollywood that is frequented by celebrities and passing tourist buses. Very nice, see pics. Then we drove on to Malibu and visited the Getty Villa - Getty's 1950s home that he converted in the '70s to a museum for his antiquities art collection.

Next we drove to the Malibu Canyon Park which has many walking trails and also includes a ranch that was owned by Fox pictures. Many westerns and M*A*S*H episodes were filmed there. After a very slow drive home in heavy traffic, in the evening we went out to see "The Big Short" at the cinema. The film was about some people who predicted the US mortgage crash in 2008 and made massive profits by betting against the booming market. It was interesting and informative but not too entertaining. It highlighted the criminal practices and cover-ups of the time.

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Photos

Inside The Ivy
More staff than I had seen in a restaurant, all in pink shirts, floral ties and white pants. The restrooms had full-time attendants who went in after each customer to wipe the surfaces down and ensure it was ship-shape for the next user.

Outdoor seating
It quickly filled up later in the morning.

Lovely food and presentation
The roses were in a vase behind Erin's fruit gimlet cocktail.

Getty Villa
The villa was modelled after a famous villa in Herculaneum that was covered in the Vesuvius eruption of AD79.

From the 4077th helipad
The country road (Crags Rd) ended at a fence and we walked in the last 1.5km to the filming site. On the way in we passed Malibu Lake that was very picturesque and rustic - you wouldn't pick that we were only an hour out of LA.

M*A*S*H signpost
At last, the weather's warmed up!