Escape to the Getty Center Museum

Malibu Trekker @ thecityedition.com ----- Post #7 - June 9, 2010

Escape to the Getty Center Museum

Most tourists visiting the SoCal area drop hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on entrance fees to theme parks, just to waiting in long lines (in the hot sun) in order to access the rides and other attractions. Here's a word of advice -- you don't need to submit yourself to that kind of abuse. Just do what the locals here do. Visit the Getty Museum for free.

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Parking entrance on Sepulveda Blvd. The bus stops at this corner, then you walk underneath the 405 Freeway and onto the property. There's an elevator and stairs to take you up to the tram, which is free to ride.

Sure, you have to pay eight bucks to park your car, but you can avoid even that expense by taking the 762 Rapid Bus. It picks up at Wilshire and Westwood near UCLA, a central spot on the westside that's served by several Santa Monica buses, as well as dowtown L.A. routes. Of course, the 762 Rapid Bus is not the most comfortable ride, mind you. It banks along a ton of curves, accelerates up Sepulveda, and rattles every bone in your body, including your teeth. That's because ther are no shock absorbers on municipal buses anymore - let alone cushioned seats - despite the millions and millions of dollars collected in fares each year. It's downright criminal, but of course, we're talking about Los Angeles here, so maybe I should just move on. (You could maybe try the ride standing -- my strategy post two root canals.) The rapid bus takes about 20 minutes to reach the Getty from UCLA and stops right at the entrance pictured above left.

Once you're on the property, go upstairs and board the tram (photo above right). This is a far more civilized example of public transportation, lasting four minutes as you climb a steep grade to the sprawling estate perched on a hillside. On a clear day, the vistas along these rails are pretty breathtaking, so be sure to have your camera at the ready.

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Now, before I get any more gushy about the wonders of the Getty, I should counter-balance this commentary with a few salient points about the Getty family itself. The late J. Paul Getty was of course the notorious oil tycoon whose company was bought by Texaco in 1986 for $10 billion. These days, it's the son Gordon Getty who plays influential power broker from his urban digs in San Franciso. Oddly enough, Gordon's political turf is the Democratic Party, even though his trust administrator, William Newsom, is a conservative Republican. Yes, that's Mayor Gavin Newsom's father. Suffice to say that in the same manner billionaire stock broker George Soros has got most of the progressive movement eating out of his dirty little hands, Gordon Getty has the likes of Speaker Nancy "impeachment-is-off-the-table" Pelosi, Willie Brown, Dianne Feinstein and many other notables eating out of his.

(For more political intrigue, check out my article about Newsom -- now running for lieutenant governor -- and another about Speaker Pelosi in TheCityEdition.com.)

But let's leave those dark plumes behind us. The Getty Center is a sterling testament to the power of philanthropy in both preserving and promoting the advancement of culture. Or, to put it in more practical terms, if you're like me and can't afford more than one trip to the Louvre in a lifetime, you'll be delighted to learn that here on the west coast, we have our own little vault of treasures to draw upon in time of need.

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All the photos you see, incidentally, were taken last Autumn. I can't imagine a more pleasant place to spend a leisure day in the off-season. For one thing, the gentle sea breeze in Southern California is a sweet caress compared to that fog-laden in San Francisco. At the Getty, even in the summer the sun doesn't beat down on your head; it just warms and invigorates you. Sure, the heat may occasionally get a little intense, but there's plenty of shade between the buildings and under the trees in the courtyard. Check out the wysteria vines growing on the columns in the photo above right. The caretakers here have thought of everything. The esthetic makes me think back to the mythical Golden Age -- you know, Atlantis, Athens in its heyday, Egypt -- places like that.

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Essentially, the Getty Center is the Yosemite of metropolitan California. Everywhere you turn you find a stunning backdrop and the scent of a palace garden. There's sleek, towering stonework... narrow paths winding along waterways... unusual flora... and tourists from all over the world absorbing it all with bemused awe.

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Well, now that you've seen the outside of the place, let's step inside the buildings.

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