Places To Go / Things To Do

Some of the most interesting sights, popular vacation spots, and productive leisure in Оrange County and around. Latest additions:

Getty Center in Brentwood, Los Angeles Very close to Orange County, this art museum is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum (another part is Getty Villa in Malibu, Ca). Getty Center specializes in “pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and 19th and 20th-century American and European photographs”. Among the works on display is the painting Irises by Vincent van Gogh. The $1.3 billion center, which opened in 1997, is also well known for dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens, and breathtaking views of Los Angeles. The center sits atop a hill connected to a visitor’s parking garage at the bottom of the hill by a three-car, cable-pulled tram. The center draws 1.3 million visitors annually. Address: 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles. Admission is free. Parking is $15.

Getty Villa, Malibu This is a unique museum and educational center, dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. You will be deeply affected by the astonishing spectacle of the villa view, modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Presented at the villa, a unique collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan monuments of culture is the largest in the US collection of the antique art. Etruscan silver articles, Greek vessels with scenes from the Trojan War, sculptures and decorative reliefs, fragments of ancient frescos and tapestries are presented in the museum. You will be fascinated by the architecture of the Temple of Hercules and the Atrium, the beauty of villa’s gardens, where you can enjoy the aromas of the Ancient Mediterranean World. You can watch Roman classic tragedies and musical shows in the villa’s theater, and also walk along the Roman paved road. Apart from the permanent exposition, the villa features materials on loan from other institutions, conferences, lectures and master-classes of the fine arts and crafts. Address: 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, California 90272. Admission to the Getty Villa is always FREE; an advance, timed-entry ticket is required, see: http://www.getty.edu/visit/images/get_tickets_villa.gif Parking is $15.