David and Kris's Blog: April 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Hansen Cousins Day Four

This morning we had breakfast at Denny's with Hank and Colette before going to the Getty Center. This was our first visit and we found the buildings and setting most impressive with beautiful views of Los Angeles below. The museum, however, is very difficult to navigate with separate buildings and floors connected only by elevators. Navigation is not intuitive and we felt like we missed some of the art. I was right back in the classroom with all the French rooms, furniture, and decorative arts. After a brief rest back at the hotel, we gathered at the Gainsborough house prior to driving to Venice Beach for an incredible dinner at Gjelina.

View of the neighboring church and UCLA Medical Center

from our room

The cousins gathered before the adventures of the day

Kris ascending the most beautifully engineered stairs I've ever used

The Getty entry rotunda

Richard Meier designed the Getty

Getty loved France and collected French rooms and furnishings

This quirky Baroque Boulle cabinet is a favorite

A fine rococo room

A must-have piece for your TV room

Knock knock. Who's there? UCLA. UCLA who?

You see LA when there is no smog

This reminded us of our bathroom

This garden was created as a permanent piece of art

Love those California Poppies

A beautiful day, on the warmish side

A water feature connects the buildings to the garden

The museum is reached by tram

Miraculously, traffic was moving on the 405

Beginning and end of the line

Entry, Gainsborough home

Dining

Master bedroom

Visiting in the living room

Looking at Grandma's photo album

Venice Beach

Gjelina

KBT and DAT

Opa and Annie

Another fun day. Only one day left and then we will be home. That's all for now.

OXO

Hansen Cousins Day Three (Part II)

Monday, after visiting Michael Sant's mountain-top project, we drove down Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Monica where we joined the 10 and headed downtown. The last time I was in downtown LA was when we saw the Phantom of the Opera during our Ventura Taylor reunion. I was blown away by how wonderful the area is. It is vibrant, alive, exciting, well designed, and filled with wonderful public areas and pleasant gathering spaces. We started at the LA Public Library with its impressive old and new bits. We climbed Bunker Hill (on the escalator) and wandered through and past a number of places including Bank of America Plaza, Wells Fargo Center, MOCA, Angel's Flight, Disney Hall, the rest of the Music Center, City Hall, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the historic heart of LA at Olvera Street, and finally Union Station where I landed in LA as a 9 year old in 1955. We took the Metro back to the library and picked up the car. We opted to stay off the freeways and drove back to the hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. All the cousins met for dinner at Border Grill in Santa Monica.

USBank Tower: tallest in LA

LA Public Library

Library rotunda

New library atrium: cavernous and huge

Bunker Hill steps (original location of Angels Flight)

Bank of America Plaza

Angels Flight terminus (19th century)

New location of Angels Flight on east side of Bunker Hill

View of USBank Tower from California Plaza and Water Court

Walt Disney Concert Hall

The work of Frank O. Gehry

View across the Grand Park to City Hall

Jacaranda trees in bloom on Temple Street across from the catheral

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

Interior -- the figures on the walls far right are saints

depicted in spectacular Belgian tapestries

Iconic City Hall

Paseo de la Raza in the original Pueblo de Los Ángeles

Olvera Street in the Pueblo

Los Angeles Union Station, 1939

Waiting Hall

Concourse to the trains

Union station is a major transportation hub and the terminus

of the red and purple lines of the LA Metro

This is such a great city! I am uber-impressed with Los Angeles' vibrant downtown. One of my favorites anywhere!

There will be more, but that's all for now.

OXO

Monday, April 28, 2014

Hansen Cousins Day Three (Part I)

Wow what a day! So many adventures that the post has been split in two.

This morning early, we headed into Westwood Village to Le Pain Quotidien for breakfast: delicious hot ham and cheese croissant and Belgian hot chocolate. Just kitty-corner from the cafe, in front of the old Bank of America Building, I was gobsmacked to find a Wallace Fountain! Quel surprise! After breakfast, we headed to the Pacific Coast Highway and drove north through Malibu to Las Flores Canyon and up a treacherous mountain road to the top of the Santa Monica Mountains to a house that Michael Sant designed. Though difficult to reach, the setting is spectacular with views of the Pacific and even Santa Catalina Island. The house is the most carefully thought-out and well designed building I have ever seen. Every detail is perfect and everything is beautifully finished. He did not build it to live in but will probably keep it and rent it as a retreat.