LA LA LAnd
The past 11 days were a whirlwind. We left on the 2nd to visit Robin's family for a few days. Then, to make matters crazier, my family (minus Chris, who we missed terribly) flew down to spend five days in Disneyland.
Robin's SoCal family is great. His aunt and uncle live in Torrance, along with his cousins. His grandfather and stepgrandmother live in Redondo Beach. At his aunt and uncle's home, we swam in the pool, ate delicious food and had a spectacular time. We took a trip to the Getty Villa, which was astounding. Hooray for rich people that share their wealth and art! There is no admission price, save the $8 to park your car. The Getty family purchased something like 60 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Malibu. If you've been to Malibu, you know that real estate is prime, so basically you have all these ginormous homes stacked on top of one another (except the filthy stinking rich who can afford more property). The Getty Villa is truly special, for there aren't homes surrounding it. You feel completely isolated and if you focus on the Cyprus trees and travertine enough, you just might feel like you're in Italy. The center focuses only on antiquities: sculptures, jewelry, furniture and anything besides painting in the Etruscan, Greek and Roman cultures. If you're in the area, you really need to spend the 2 hours it takes to walk through and visit the Getty Villa. Oh, and their restaurant is phenomenal. Wow. SO good and not too bad on the wallet.
On Tuesday, Robin and I got our first taste of some really well crafted California Pinot Noir! We had lunch in Redondo Beach with his grandparents and drank a luscious Babcock Pinot Noir. California Pinots I knew by reputation but had never actually tasted one that impressed me. That changed on Tuesday. They are so different from Oregon Pinot Noirs in that they're really jammy and packed full of earthiness. Contrast this to Oregon Pinot Noirs which are more delicate and certainly not as dark and you have two different styles of one varietal both of which are fantastic. I love Pinot Noir. Love. It.
On Wednesday, we bid adieu to his family but not after a trip to the South Coast Plaza, a humongous mall in Costa Mesa. This mall is freaking unbelievable. We didn't even scratch the surface of stores because all we wanted to do was hit up H&M, which we did with formidable success. H&M, for those that don't know, is like the IKEA of clothing stores. Totally cool stuff for totally inexpensive prices. I even got out of paying sales tax because I thought being from Oregon made me exempt from the 8%. Turns out it doesn't, but the manager in H&M didn't care and just subtracted the sales tax. The thing about H&M's is, however, that they only go into hugely dense populations. I'd be surprised if one goes to Portland. Maybe Seattle. While shopping in the South Coast Plaza, I was reminded how truly over-the-top some of those SoCal malls can be. Gucci, anyone? Fendi perhaps? Maybe some Christian Dior? Though I find fashion extremely interesting and artful (sometimes), I have no interest in being stared down by anorexic store clerks who know I have neither the desire nor the cash to buy their overpriced wares.
Then came Disneyland. Wednesday night saw us dining in Downtown Disney with my parents, and we were later joined by Bonnie and Bryan (Bonnie's bf) who drove all the way from Eugene. We had a delicious dinner at Tortilla Joe's, replete with yummy sangria. Then the marathon of Disney began. FIVE DAYS. Thursday through Monday were our Disney days and let me tell you, five days is too much for this little bunny. My legs were totally giving out on me by day 4 and my attitude showed it. Robin reminded me to check it and thank Jebus he did.
Disneyland and California Adventure are really fun and really out of this world. The rides are great, the shows are spectacular, and overall, one would be hard pressed not to have a good time. If anything else, watching the little kids scurry around could give you hours of entertainment. Of course, I don't know why one would pay $83 (price of ONE DAY admission in the park) to sit and watch little kids. Unless, of course, you're some kind of creep. Or a Republican senator.
Let me tell you, it's good to be back. SO GOOD. I don't mind LA for a time, but after day five, I start to hate it. It's really, truly disgusting there. The people have sticks up their asses all the time, trying to get anywhere is a huge pain, and the air quality, well let's just say there's a reason not too many plants can survive there. Sitting in my office, I'm happy to look out on a cloudy but green and lush day. I can breathe deep and not start to cough. Holy crap, I can drink the tap water! All in all, it was a great vacay, but I'm in no hurry to go back.
Robin's SoCal family is great. His aunt and uncle live in Torrance, along with his cousins. His grandfather and stepgrandmother live in Redondo Beach. At his aunt and uncle's home, we swam in the pool, ate delicious food and had a spectacular time. We took a trip to the Getty Villa, which was astounding. Hooray for rich people that share their wealth and art! There is no admission price, save the $8 to park your car. The Getty family purchased something like 60 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Malibu. If you've been to Malibu, you know that real estate is prime, so basically you have all these ginormous homes stacked on top of one another (except the filthy stinking rich who can afford more property). The Getty Villa is truly special, for there aren't homes surrounding it. You feel completely isolated and if you focus on the Cyprus trees and travertine enough, you just might feel like you're in Italy. The center focuses only on antiquities: sculptures, jewelry, furniture and anything besides painting in the Etruscan, Greek and Roman cultures. If you're in the area, you really need to spend the 2 hours it takes to walk through and visit the Getty Villa. Oh, and their restaurant is phenomenal. Wow. SO good and not too bad on the wallet.
On Tuesday, Robin and I got our first taste of some really well crafted California Pinot Noir! We had lunch in Redondo Beach with his grandparents and drank a luscious Babcock Pinot Noir. California Pinots I knew by reputation but had never actually tasted one that impressed me. That changed on Tuesday. They are so different from Oregon Pinot Noirs in that they're really jammy and packed full of earthiness. Contrast this to Oregon Pinot Noirs which are more delicate and certainly not as dark and you have two different styles of one varietal both of which are fantastic. I love Pinot Noir. Love. It.
On Wednesday, we bid adieu to his family but not after a trip to the South Coast Plaza, a humongous mall in Costa Mesa. This mall is freaking unbelievable. We didn't even scratch the surface of stores because all we wanted to do was hit up H&M, which we did with formidable success. H&M, for those that don't know, is like the IKEA of clothing stores. Totally cool stuff for totally inexpensive prices. I even got out of paying sales tax because I thought being from Oregon made me exempt from the 8%. Turns out it doesn't, but the manager in H&M didn't care and just subtracted the sales tax. The thing about H&M's is, however, that they only go into hugely dense populations. I'd be surprised if one goes to Portland. Maybe Seattle. While shopping in the South Coast Plaza, I was reminded how truly over-the-top some of those SoCal malls can be. Gucci, anyone? Fendi perhaps? Maybe some Christian Dior? Though I find fashion extremely interesting and artful (sometimes), I have no interest in being stared down by anorexic store clerks who know I have neither the desire nor the cash to buy their overpriced wares.
Then came Disneyland. Wednesday night saw us dining in Downtown Disney with my parents, and we were later joined by Bonnie and Bryan (Bonnie's bf) who drove all the way from Eugene. We had a delicious dinner at Tortilla Joe's, replete with yummy sangria. Then the marathon of Disney began. FIVE DAYS. Thursday through Monday were our Disney days and let me tell you, five days is too much for this little bunny. My legs were totally giving out on me by day 4 and my attitude showed it. Robin reminded me to check it and thank Jebus he did.
Disneyland and California Adventure are really fun and really out of this world. The rides are great, the shows are spectacular, and overall, one would be hard pressed not to have a good time. If anything else, watching the little kids scurry around could give you hours of entertainment. Of course, I don't know why one would pay $83 (price of ONE DAY admission in the park) to sit and watch little kids. Unless, of course, you're some kind of creep. Or a Republican senator.
Let me tell you, it's good to be back. SO GOOD. I don't mind LA for a time, but after day five, I start to hate it. It's really, truly disgusting there. The people have sticks up their asses all the time, trying to get anywhere is a huge pain, and the air quality, well let's just say there's a reason not too many plants can survive there. Sitting in my office, I'm happy to look out on a cloudy but green and lush day. I can breathe deep and not start to cough. Holy crap, I can drink the tap water! All in all, it was a great vacay, but I'm in no hurry to go back.
posted by Infused Confusion at
3:24 PM
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