Donald's Vacation 2011 - Day 20

I awoke this morning somehow at 4.30am and left the hotel at 5.00am to get to the airport which is not all that far out of downtown Las Vegas. The security check too less time than I thought so I was afforded enough time to have breakfast before getting into another little aeroplane.

We arrived at Los Angeles ahead of time – even though we taxied for about 20 minutes before stopping somewhere away from the terminal. We had to wait until there was a gate ready for us.

I took the bus to Union Station and then the Red Line train to Hollywood and Highland and walked up to the hotel arriving at about 9.45am. There was a possibility that I might not have been able to check in so early, but no, everything was apples.

The room allocated was on the fourth floor, a smaller room than I had had previously on my 2003 visit to this famous Hollywood landmark – The Roosevelt. The room also looked a mite tired and on speaking later to the concierge I learned that there were new owners of the hotel and they had plans to do a complete renovation. I also enquired of the seat in the downstairs foyer that contained a statue of Charlie Chaplin – this had been donated to a charity a couple of years back.

At 10.45 I came out of the hotel to be greeted by a sunny and hot day with a temperature that must have been in the 90’s.. I was set to embark on a bit of an adventure. I had always wanted to go to the Getty Villa in Malibu – but had never been able to get there for one reason or another – today was to be it.

The first bus in my adventure came slightly earlier than the scheduled time and off we went for a three quarter of an hour drive before I got off at my pre-planned stop at the corner of Venice and Fairfax, miles away from anything and next to some sort of electrical sub-station.

I waited for some while on one corner for the next bus – but then found I was on the wrong corner. So after doing this correction I finally managed to make the connection and was off on leg two of the marathon journey.

Well, today being Saturday, everyone ion California had decided to go to the seaside at Venice and Malibu and so the traffic was an absolute nightmare. It took a long, long time to get to the Getty Villa. I think I arrived there at 1.00pm.

There is no pedestrian access up to the Villa, so I had to wait for them to come and pick me up in a “shuttle”,.

I don’t know who pays for the Villa, as there is no charge to get in – you do have to get a ticket prior to going – and there is no charge for the ‘shuttle’ service either?

Prior to tramping around the Villa, I was a bit puckish and decided to put on the chaff bag at the café. I had a lasagna and iced coffee and found the food reasonable to eat and reasonably priced.

The whole place is laid out in the style of a Roman villa as it would have been owned by a wealthy family some two thousand years ago. It is truly magnificent and well worth the visit. There is marble in evidence everywhere. The gardens have been laid out with a central square pond and are a beauty to behold.

I had a two hour wander around. There are rooms leading off the main hall and each is filled with exhibits of statuary, pottery, silver and gold dating back to antiquity.. All presumably priceless and fascinating to see. Some of the smaller objects were intricately worked and you wonder at the workmanship for such early times.

After a very enjoyable time it was time to retrace my steps – another ride in the ‘shuttle’ to the front gate, a very long wait for the first bus – which was overcrowded, an eternity spent in traffic getting to the place I had to get on the second bus, another long ride – and finally I was back at the hotel at 6.00pm.

I got a few provisions at the CVS pharmacy – which also is like a 4711 shop and went back to the hotel for an early night and a good sleep before tomorrow’s adventures at Universal Studios.