September 10

Yet another wonderful day! How lucky am I? This morning Jordan and I spent several hours exploring The Getty, which is a huge art museum and gardens. The building is an architectural marvel, not to mention the historic and cultural value of the contents. We saw paintings dating from the 15th century, many with religious themes, mythology inspired sculpture and beautifully landscaped gardens. The Getty has a tram to transport you to the building because it is up in the hills. As a result, it has great views of the city.

The collection of art was amazing. The age and quality of the pieces would’ve been at home in any European museum. We both very much admired then Dutch works. Jordan favored ocean and other water scenes. I leaned toward the human-focused pieces. I was also partial to the marble sculptures.

Despite the heat (it was unusually hot today), we wandered into the gardens to see the beautiful flowers and plants. We also made wishes in the fountain! One tree that we passed appeared to be growing pomegranates (did anyone know that they grew on trees?)

After our examination of The Getty, we headed out to Manhattan Beach for the late afternoon. As we were headed out of the Getty parking lot, we saw a Suburban run into another car and knock off the mirror, then they drove off! Jordan’s response: “That’s so LA.” (My local friend gave the exact same response when we told him the story!) Anyways, we went down to Manhattan Beach and while we were jumping over the massive waves (and I was desperately trying to keep my bikini in place), I saw the strangest sight I’ve witnessed yet in LA. That’s including the diverse group of people that I saw on Sunset Boulevard last night. It was a giant pterodactyl-looking bird; its wingspan was easily three feet across. It was soaring low over the water, as though it was looking to pick off surfers. Around that time I decided to head back to the beach. On my attempt to drag myself through the current, I noticed another unexpected sight–a stingray! It was very close and it swam a yard away from Jordan. After that, I made a mad dash out of the water. I’d had enough of prehistoric-looking sea monsters for one day!

Tonight, we met up with my friend Aaron from Maine. He moved out here a few years ago and I haven’t seen him since then. I was very anxious to catch up! We met at the Alibi Room for a drink and had a wonderful chat. It was awesome to hear about his life and his pursuit of his PhD. After a couple hours, we went our separate ways. Jordan and I decided to check out a Ramen restaurant. This is not your typical college ramen! It is absolutely delicious–spicy, garlicky broth with tender noodles. I highly recommend it!

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