On Monday morning, we shared a short stack of banana and walnut pancakes washed down with organic fair trade coffee for breakfast in the River Inn Restaurant before getting back on the road.
Our first stop was Partington Cove at the end of an unmarked dirt track leading from a locked gate on a hairpin bend in the road making it hard for us to find. We walked down the steep track and through a tunnel to the hidden cove which was purportedly used for smuggling redwood after logging was banned. The water was ice mint blue and there was kelp growing up from the sea bottom. We were hot and sweaty by the time we climbed back up to the car.
From here it was only a short drive to the Julia Pfeiffer Burns Park where we walked along a track overlooking the sea to get a view of the McWay Falls falling 80 feet directly onto the beach. The tiny bay was beautifully framed by the rock wall curling out into the sea crowned by a clump of cypresses. The water and sunlight looked perfect for a swim but there was no way down to the beach. Thousands of seagulls were flying in to drink at the foot of the waterfall. We walked around another track and saw a very well organised couple camping. On the way back we talked to a couple walking the other way who told us that it was very easy to see gray whales out at sea. Sure enough as soon as we looked hard we could see the spray as whales surfaced. We drove on along the winding coastal road stopping at numerous turnouts for vistas of cliffs, ocean swell, kelp forests, barking sea lions and flocks of seabirds.
We stopped at Ragged Point Inn for lunch and took some shots of hummingbirds feasting on flowering aloes as we waited. We spotted the Piedras Blancas lighthouse and stopped the car. We walked down to the beach which was covered by a seething mass of elephant seals. Males with huge noses had divided up the beach and females and their young were spread in between. The young were chirruping and harassing their mothers constantly for food. Every now and then a male would arrive on the beach and try to move out of the water. The closest male would raise himself up and if the newcomer didn’t flee he would race across the sand in a continuous wobbling motion to confront the intruder. Suzie had to drag Keith away as we wanted to see Hearst Castle today.
We drove up to the Visitor Centre, bought tickets for a tour and watched a short background film before it was time for our tour bus to leave. We drove five miles up a winding road to the castle on top of the mountain ridge. We started at the gardens and esplanade overlooking the sea and featuring classical statues in marble and bronze. We moved up a level and overlooked a massive swimming pool (the Neptune Pool) surrounded by Roman colonnades with genuine ancient columns. We moved on to Casa del Sol, an 18 room guest house facing the Pacific. Then we visited William Hurst’s private residence Casa Grande, where we saw the largest of 14 sitting rooms, the medieval dining room complete with tapestries, the morning room, the billiard room and the theatre where we watched a few home movies featuring the Hollywood stars who were invited to stay. The last stop was the indoor swimming pool underneath the tennis courts. It was a masterpiece in blue and gold Murano glass tiles with the walls and ceiling tiles reflecting off the pool surface. It was a Roman Emperor’s pool brought back to life. We boarded the bus and descended the mountain past the empty animal quarters where William Hearst had kept lions, polar bears and numerous other zoo animals. Apparently William Hearst indulged his fantasies to the point that despite his huge fortune he ended up $126 million in debt!
We drove out of the visitor car park and parked across the highway to walk out on the pier as sun set but it was really cold out there. We drove a few miles to San Simeon and checked into Silver Sands Motel where the helpful Carlos on reception mapped out a winery tour for tomorrow.
After breakfast on Tuesday, we checked out of the hotel. Then we headed towards Paso Robles on the winery route that Carlos had mapped out for us yesterday evening. As we drove north east (inland) on the Highway 46, we found ourselves back in Californian wine country. We saw beautiful rolling hills and valleys, majestic oaks, ranches, orchards and row upon row of vineyards with tasting rooms. Unfortunately most of the tastings only opened at 11.00 am, so we were too early for most of the wineries that Carlos had suggested. We saw turkeys, deer, squirrels and Texas Longhorn cattle on our way. We stopped at the Halter Ranch Vineyard and the Adelaida Cellars where we tried a series of really great red wines including a straight Mourvedre.
After a quick lunch stop, we got back on route to Los Angeles on Highway 101. We stopped at Los Olivos, a tiny town in the heart of Santa Barbara’s wine country. We walked up and down the main street which was lined with beautifully painted colonial buildings. Most of these contained wine shops offering wine tastings. We had another walk around at the nearby town of Santa Ynez, which was similar to Los Olivos, but on a slightly larger scale. It was only a few miles from Santa Ynez to Solvang, a town which was founded by Danish immigrants, with a strong Danish theme. We walked around town admiring the Danish architecture, Danish shop signs, windmills and the bright red and white Danish flags flying from most of the buildings. It was a little bit staged with Mexicans behind the counter in the Danish bakery and all the shops selling kitsch Danish wares. We had afternoon tea and cakes at the Solvang Bakery and then we got back into the car.
We drove into Santa Barbara just as it became dark and after looking at a few places, settled on a room at the Oasis Inn. After a short rest, we headed downtown for dinner. We drove to the wharf and after a quick look around, settled on the Harbor Restaurant which was offering a $20 meal special with a million dollar view. To our surprise, the meal was really good and afterwards we drove back to the motel along State Street which seemed to be the city’s main drag and collapsed into bed.
On Wednesday morning we headed south on Highway 101 for Los Angeles. It was a beautiful morning and as we drove out of Santa Barbara along the coast, we could see the oilrigs and islands off shore. At Camarillo, the halfway point, we stopped at a couple of shopping centres and did some shopping. We finally got to try halibut for lunch at the Lure Fish House in the shopping centre complex. It was very much like sole or flounder and was very delicious. After another hour of shopping, we got back in the car and drove towards Los Angeles. At this point we noticed that the highways were now five lanes each way and there was a marked increase in traffic even though it was mid-afternoon.
We drove to the Holiday Inn Hotel near the airport, checked in and had a rest before heading out again. We did some research on Yelp and found a Japanese ramen place nearby at Santa Monica. We found Santouka Ramen in a food court with three other Japanese restaurants opposite the Mitsuwa Japanese supermarket in a small shopping centre. Keith ordered a special pork miso ramen and Suzie ordered the spicy version. The ramen came with fishcake, bamboo shoots, spring onions, cloud ear fungus and slices of melt in your mouth fatty pork (pork cheeks) in a salty rich pork broth. It was incredibly delicious!
After dinner we drove to Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, where Keith spent a couple of hours searching for some elusive DVDs and Suzie bought a Jazz CD.
After breakfast on Thursday we headed out into the bright LA sunshine. We drove to the Getty Center which was free with $15 for parking. We caught an electric tram up the hill and watched a quick orientation film. John Paul Getty was an oil baron who left $700 million in trust for the museum. The execution of his will was delayed by litigation for several years after his death, however by the time it was distributed the amount had grown to $3 billion.
The centre was built over fifteen years on top of a hill overlooking LA. There were North, South, West and East buildings with multiple levels. The day was perfect so the view was stunning. Planes were taking off from LAX in the distance over the bay which was like beaten gold in the sun. Directly in front was the Highway 101 with multiple lanes of traffic in both directions. To the left was a patch of skyscrapers in Downtown LA and further out another cluster of skyscrapers which may have been Hollywood. The exclusive hillside suburb of Bel Air was just behind the centre. The centre was built from huge blocks of Carrara travertine – the same material used to build the Colosseum in Rome. The rough cream blocks looked stunning in the sunlight.
We went on a garden tour of the central garden which started with an amphora shaped hollow in the wall opposite a spring which sent water down a hillside channel into a circular pool fifty metres below. A row of trees was planted alongside the channel which was surfaced with millions of small stones. Inside the pool was a maze composed of three different coloured azaleas clipped into hedges in concentric rings. Around the outside of the pool had been planted gardens of different shrubs and flowers. Due to the warmth and recent rains many plants were in flower.
After the garden tour we headed to the beautiful cafe overlooking the gardens for a chicken salad and taco salad which were healthy and delicious. We headed upstairs where the art was housed and joined an guided tour with the theme of “East meets West”. We started with the Adoration of the Magi by Andrea Mantegna depicting a king presenting his gift in a porcelain cup (an item of value from the East). Then we saw a still life of lemons, oranges and pomegranate in a Ming Dynasty porcelain bowl by Jacob van Hulsdonck. There was a banquet piece by Pieter Claesz contrasting an exotic Venetian wine glass with a plain European wine glass. We saw a pastel of Marcel-Quentin de la Tour by Gabriel Bernard De Rieux with porcelain vases in the background. Then we saw Irises by Vincent van Gogh with very linear leaves influenced by Japanese woodblock prints. We moved downstairs to see a photographic exhibition by an Englishman called Felice Beato who had taken photos in the Crimean War, First Indian uprising, and the First Opium War in China.
After the tour we went back through all the galleries enjoying the amazing art that money had bought. Like the Spanish who had used some of the South American wealth to purchase art now on display in the Prado, so the wealth of America had been used to purchase many European and world masterpieces. We had seen this at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Hearst Castle and here at the Getty Centre. There was an excellent painting of “Animals entering the Ark” by Peter Brueghel the Elder, “Waiting” by Edgar Degas showing ballerinas in Paris, an El Greco of Christ, and many great Rembrandts including a miniature portrait of a rabbi. There were also works by van Dyck, Titian and Monet. We could have stayed longer but called it a day at 3.30 pm. We drove to the fashion district of Downtown but it was a ninety block district which was a bit overwhelming. We walked around a bit but it seemed to be a lot of cheap retailers, wholesalers, tailors and they were all closing at 5.00 pm.
After a cup of Earl Grey tea in a nearby cafe, we decided to move on as Downtown LA felt a bit edgy and it was now dark. We drove out to the Grove shopping centre which was a beautiful shopping area with a two storey trolley car transporting shoppers around and a Farmer’s Market area with small stalls serving different foods. We walked around soaking up the ambience and then had an amazingly delicious dinner at Monsieur Marcel. We headed home fat and happy after another great day in LA – it really is another cosmopolitan city of the world but the traffic is definitely a drawback.
On Friday morning we drove to the Getty Villa. It was beautiful driving along the edge of the beach and looking over the water and up the hillside at mansions of the rich on the other side. It was the same deal as yesterday with free entry and $15 parking.
The villa had been built by JP Getty as a reproduction of the Villa dei Papiri buried on the slopes by the eruption of Vesuvius above Herculaneum. Getty wanted to give the public an idea of how a grand Roman villa might have looked and felt. It had a small amphitheatre at the front and then a series of rooms around courtyards. The first courtyard had a fountain, a pool and a ceiling with a rectangular hole in the centre over the pool to let light in. The second courtyard was larger and had a rectangular pool with small statues along the long sides. At one end of the courtyard was a doorway leading into a garden with a blue and green mosaic tiled fountain with scenes of Roman gods. The third courtyard was much larger again with roofed and colonnaded walkways around it and a twenty five metre slim rectangular pool with fountains and surrounded by gardens with carved benches on mosaic floors and sculptures of animals. The courtyard walls had amazing paintings of plants, animals, windows, doors and patterns. The column capitals were also painted.
There were more antiquities on the second floor and as we walked up the stairs we noticed that the balustrade was carved out of the marble wall! In the rooms upstairs and downstairs were collections of remarkable quality - ceramics, glass, coins, bronze and marble sculptures, paintings, mosaics, jewellery, sarcophagi, mummified remains etc. The collections were focused on Etruscan, Greek and Roman finds. Some items were on loan from other institutions such the Agrigento Kouros (athletic youth) from Sicily. It was an exquisite collection in its own right, but to see the collection in a Roman villa on a sunny day made it unforgettable. We finished at 2.00 pm and had lunch of Mediterranean platter and chicken salad in the cafe. The food was fabulous again and we left via the fruit and herb gardens of the villa feeling very happy.
We drove to Beverley Hills where we stopped and had cupcakes and tea from Sprinkles where there was a long queue. The cupcakes had a bit too much icing for our taste but the young females in the queue seemed to love them.
Then we drove to Hollywood and Keith grabbed a last couple of DVDs before we had dinner at Juicy Burger. It was probably the best burger we had had in the USA. Then we had a walk along Hollywood Boulevard. It was a bit tacky but varied from spots with wax museums and adult shops to stylish bars and theatres with paparazzi hanging around. As usual there were plenty of people begging and lots of dodgy looking down and out types hanging around and apparently doing nothing. We only arrived back at the hotel at 10.30 pm and with chores and repacking for tomorrow we went to bed late but hoping for a good last day in the city of angels.
On Saturday morning we woke up late and then packed up our bags for the last time. We checked out of the hotel and then drove to Chinatown where we had a cheap feed at the Yum Cha Cafe. We walked around Chinatown which was buzzing with Firecracker Festival. Then we drove to the Citadel Factory Outlet Centre with an impressive exterior with an ancient Assyrian theme.
We spent a couple of hours there before heading off to Santa Monica Beach. The traffic was terrible and we only arrived at Santa Monica just as the sun was going down. We walked along the boardwalk to Santa Monica Pier admiring the sunset and dodging the skate boarders and roller bladers.
We faced the LA traffic again and drove back to the Mitsuwa Complex with the Japanese food court where we had another ramen from Santouka Ramen and a tempura sashimi box for dinner. After dinner we drove to the airport and returned the car. Then we caught the shuttle to our terminal where we checked in and went through security with surprising ease. We went to the One World lounge where we had a martini to celebrate the end of our year on the road.
We used some frequent flyer points to upgrade ourselves to business class and had a lovely meal with some great Australian wine (Voyager Estate Shiraz and St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon) and a Glenlivet 12 year old single malt. It was a perfect end to our year away.
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