THIS City of Angels is way too big for my taste and definitely for comfort. If it weren't for friends, I do not think I would go past the two blocks off their home to tour this city. No car means no way you can get around. Forget the bus, it's going to eat up your whole day just waiting for one.
It seems that getting from one spot to another in this metropolis means driving through the freeway in high speed. An hour is not a long drive -- an hour at a hundred kph. Go figure.
Restlessness and haste, these seem to be the common traits they have and you acquire if you decide to be an "angel". Take me back to the third world, I prefer my laid back life.
Should you find yourself in L.A. and be hosted, your itinerary should be made way ahead of your arrival. Friends need to file for leave unless you want to drive yourself around. Totally not advisable for a first timer like me.
God sent me two angels and they are named Antonietta and Vincent, both of Asian descent and highly efficient haloed beings. They have plans. Plans that included a visit to heaven on Earth -- the museum.
It was time to calm this tourist's nerves after days of hectic and frenzied drives around this huge city.
And serenity came? When we entered the grounds of the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, home to a vast collection of European paintings, drawings, sculpture, manuscripts, decorative arts, and European and American photographs from the Middle Ages to the present. With an estimated yearly visitors of 1.3 million, this art house makes it one of the most visited museum in the United States.
The museum, a part of the J. Getty Trust program, seeks to further the knowledge of the visual arts by way of developing its collection, preserving and exhibiting artworks of the highest quality.
They ensure that they are accessed and reached by a wide range of audience through their regular exhibitions, educational programs, publications and even the internet.
Food for the soul, that's what art is about. In a city as busy as Los Angeles, this is one spot one can seek the pleasures of serenity, commune with nature and enjoy art at a pace far slower that the pace the city life has embedded in its citizens.
I guess, this is why angel Antonietta didn't mind coming back as often as she can in this place. Nature's grand design complements man's creativity. It is a peaceful respite you deserve, it's heaven on Earth.
Art sparked life in me. Rejuvenated, I am ready to explore more of tinseltown.