muse

Playing: Just Like Heaven-William Beckett
Reading: Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner (Deeply tragic, may reread it soon.)

 

My dad made reservations for my family to visit the Getty Villa after promising to take me because I had seen it on Bryanboy's blog.When my dad was in college, he would stay with his UCLA professor that lives nearby and hike up to it. Technically, it's free to go, since the Getty Foundation pays for it. All that's needed is a reservation. However, you still have to pay for parking, which came out to $15. That's not a bad price though, if you think about it as the cost for your tickets.

The Getty Villa actually serves pretty decent food at their cafe. I ordered the Portobello Caprese Sandwich, which came served with pesto aioli and freshly baked focaccia. It was really good, but after taking a bite or two of my dad's oxtail ragu, I wish I had ordered that instead. If you do go, you should definitely try out the food. It's not the typical, horrid museum food.

My favorite part about the Getty Villa was the large garden, which offered a spectacular view of the beach. The garden was perfectly taken care of and it really made me feel like I was back in Italy. Everything looked a tad too new for it to be truly Italy, but it was close enough. Next to this garden is an herb garden, which feels almost exactly like the Italian countryside.

Other than the fantastic design of the building and the beautiful gardens, the Getty Villa also has an extensive collection of Roman and Greek artifacts mostly relating back to the arts and the Greek gods. At most museums, I'm unable to see every exhibit before becoming overwhelmed. However, the Getty Villa was just small enough for me to see everything in under five hours without being so small that it's not worth driving out to. Fun fact that I learned from the Getty Villa: Museums were named in honor of the nine muses because museums are supposed to be areas, where the muses' presences can be felt. Interesting, right?