So yesterday, Berek and I decided we wanted to obtain a little bit of culture and fun, so we headed off to the Getty Center. It was a GORGEOUS day yesterday! The breeze was so cool and the sun was warm. It couldn't have been a better day for going out to the Getty.

Berek hates it, but I call the Getty Center the White City of Gondor because of the limestone and marble they used to build the building. In the bright sunlight it is magnificent like the Great City of Gondor. :) (I love you Sweetie!)

Anywho, we didn't have breakfast, so we decided to sit down and eat lunch outside the Getty. We each had a hot dog, but I got a bag of chips and an apple, while Berek got a small cup of popcorn. We were watching a little boy whose grandfather sat down with him, but the boy's father and grandmother were further away chatting. This little boy apparently decided he was going to run around and explore, only the grandfather wasn't paying any attention and lost track of him. Soon, when the grandmother and the father realized he (the boy) wasn't sitting with his grandfather, they panicked a little. But he was behind a group of people looking at the fabulous water sculpture/fountain they had. *sigh* Bad parent/grandparents!

So, Berek and I headed into the museum. First we saw some French antiquities and decor. They had this one tapestry that was absolutely fabulous! I loved it. So, I took a picture of it. (Anyone interested in the photos can let me know and I'll e-mail you the link to the webpage they're on.) All the antiquities were to die for. Then, we headed into an area where they had all sorts of statues and sculptures. Some were very biblical, and others not so much. My favorite however, is called the Bust of Winter. It's of a man in a hooded cloak. Ah, I can't even describe him. He's gorgeous! Not the man, but the sculpture! (Again, if you wish to see the picture, let me know.)

After that, we headed in to check out this 18th Century Motion Picture exhibit they had going on. It was rather interesting. This one artist essentially made one of those moving pictures that has a light for a background. I don't know what they're called, but you can see people selling them on street corners or at like the swap meet. It was absolutely brilliant! What the artist did was genius! He drew and painted on several different sheets of thin paper. He covered up the edges where the sheets met by using a very tall tree or sculpture. Then, he started off with a horse and carriage at the beginning of his 'story' and also a man in a boat who was pushing off. By the end of his 'story' you saw the horse and carriage leaving (thus giving the perspective of the person riding in the carriage.) and also of the man on the boat docking. We thought it was absolutely brilliant and the artwork was very beautiful!

After that exhibit, we allowed our eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight and headed down to the garden. What a magnificent place! The garden was full of life! Beautiful trees, bugs, and a great waterfall amidst a maze of hedges and a mote surrounding those hedges. I got very creative with the camera at that point because it was just cool! I got lots of pictures of Berek and I, but also of the great plant life. In fact, the purple flowers that are currently on as my background are from the garden. What you can't see is the little bee that I caught in the act of doing her daily business. :)

Actually, before the garden we saw an exhibit on photography. It was so interesting (so interesting I forgot. :D) Anyway, the photographs were essentially dissonance and harmony (that was the name of the exhibit). You saw beautiful pictures of trees, flowers or grass amidst the ruin of industrial development, or you would see the destruction of nature due to human development. Very sad, but very encouraging to see that somehow in some way, nature does prevail. Whether it's through grass or weeds popping up through the cracks in a sidewalk...nature does prevail. It was a great exhibit.

After the garden, we went to see the best exhibit ever! Tomorrow, that exhibit will be gone. It was the works of Gustav Courbet. What a brilliant painter! His works were simply amazing. The brush strokes involved with his paintings were absolutely stunning! He did landscapes and he knew them and did them well. Just a wonderful day!

In any case, tomorrow I go back to school and on Tuesday, I head back to work. In some ways, this is a good thing. In others, I feel like I've spent my entire vacation getting better...*sigh* Oh well...at least I had my week vacation.