Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Los Angeles, Oakland and Inverness: California Fun with Family

We went to Los Angeles for a few days with Pete’s Mom, Csilla. We checked out the Disney Concert Hall architecture.



Designed by Frank Gehry, it’s similar to the Bilbao Guggenheim architecture.



Pete is in front of a rose shaped fountain that was designed for Lillian Disney, who funded the concert hall in her husband’s honor.



The fountain is made of broken, inexpensive blue and white pottery, which was Lillian’s favorite.



The inside is also beautiful. We all agreed we’d like to come back and hear a concert!



We enjoyed lunch at AOC. This is halibut with couscous and grapefruit.



Capuccinos afterwards had cool designs like this pig.



We went to the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) and had fun walking around Michael Heizer’s Levitate Mass sculpture. Kristina demonstrates her amazing strength by holding up the 34 ton boulder!





Nearby to LACMA is this inspiring graffiti. The letters are made of old sweaters.



We stayed in an Airbnb apartment in the mid-Wilshire neighborhood that had nice views from the 10th floor.



We could see the iconic Hollywood sign off in the distance.



The next day we went to the Getty Center. For years Csilla had seen it from the freeway as she and Pete’s Dad drove to San Diego. This view shows the cactus garden and part of the building that overlook Interstate 5.



There's a tram that takes visitors up to the Getty campus. This is the view up to the Getty museum as we got off the tram. The travertine used throughout is gorgeous. 



The Getty was designed by architect Richard Meier.



The beautiful garden was designed by the artist Robert Irwin. 



We had seen the garden more than 15 years ago, shortly after the Getty Center had opened, and we felt it had matured to become even more lovely.



The rhododendron maze was blooming.





As were many flowers.





We walked around the garden. Kristina and Csilla are in front of the fountain looking at the rhododendrons.



Inside we checked out the furniture galleries. Would you like sleeping in a canopy bed like this?



We read that Kandinsky had seen Monet’s Haystack paintings and had an epiphany that resulted in him abandoning his legal career to paint. He went on to become the first completely abstract painter and he wrote "colour is a power which directly influences the soul."



We ate lunch at a rest stop as we drove back to the Bay Area.



We are staying in a pied a terre at Kristina’s cousin Cynthia and her husband Humberto’s house in Oakland. One Friday when Cynthia wasn’t working we went for lunch at the Korean restaurant named Fuse Box.



We started with Korean fried chicken, which was finger-licking good.



All the food was good, but Pete's pork belly bibimbap with lots of banchan (Korean side dishes) was the most interesting looking.



Cynthia and Humberto hosted Easter brunch at their house. Enjoying the new seating area off the kitchen are (left to right) Cynthia’s sister Stephanie, Cynthia’s friend Danielle and Kristina’s Mom Patty.



Cynthia is savoring her mimosa while the men chat in the kitchen.



We had a buffet of Portuguese eggs, fruit salad and bagels with lox and cream cheese.



It was a fun and tasty get-together!





Kristina’s folks spent the day with us, and Pete roasted a leg of lamb for dinner.



Here are Pete, Bill and Emilio around the dinner table.



We spent another day being tourists in San Francisco with our friend Staci. We walked up Telegraph Hill.



We admired all the quirky sculpture like this special pee spot for dogs.



And we looked at all the beautiful gardens.



At Coit Tower we checked out the murals.



It was clear so we had nice views of the Golden Gate bridge.





We even drove down Lombard Street.



For lunch we went to PPQ and had pho, Vietnamese beef noodle soup.



Then went to Golden Gate Park. This is a Keith Haring sculpture entitled Three Dancing Figures. Pete and Staci were inspired to imitate the sculpture.



We spent a long weekend with Cynthia and Humberto and their sons Julian and Emilio in Inverness. The first day we went for a bike ride in Samuel P. Taylor State Park. Julian is 11 and he's in front in the red t-shirt.



We love exploring all the natural beauty in Point Reyes and Inverness.



And the food is fantastic! Shown here is Brickmaiden bread, which we enjoyed with Cowgirl Creamery cheeses.



We planned to ride out to Marshall Beach, but decided once we got there that the trail was better suited for hiking.



The irises were blooming!







This type of gate is used to keep the cattle out.



The views of Tomales Bay were delightful as we hiked, but it was quite windy.



Humberto, Julian and Emilio decided to run the trail down to the beach. Emilio still had energy, so he kept trying to wrestle with his dad.



Here’s a family portrait on Marshall Beach.



We worked up an appetite for more bread and cheese, but Pete also cooked us beef short ribs from Marin Sun Farms.



Served over polenta with a side of spinach, we savored the short ribs.



Although we weren’t in Inverness over the 4th of July, Pete was inspired to dress up in the stars and stripes he found at the rental house.



Emilio was also feeling patriotic. He is nine years old and lots of fun.



We rode on the Bear Valley trail in Point Reyes National Seashore.



Emilio is riding his bike that he got for Christmas, and he did great on the ascents.



The scenery was lush and green.





There was water flowing in the creek below Cynthia, Emilio and Pete.



We took our last ride on our tandem bike, which we’ve ridden close to 20,000 miles over 10 years. We bought a new tandem that we should get in a few weeks.