California and New Zealand Arrival

Hello all, I've arrived!

Monday morning I left VT on a flight to California, where I arrived at 2pm into the care of my good friend Justin. I was to spend two and a half days in Pasadena and Los Angeles, California.

On Monday, we went to the Getty Villa, which is a beautiful estate that was built to house the Getty Foundation's antiquity collections (Greek and Roman sculpture, bronzes, mosaics, and jewelry).

The Getty is, quite simply, amazing. The new building was modeled from a traditional Roman villa, and the result is breathtaking.




I read about the Getty recently in a New Yorker article about Marion True, the former Getty head who entered into controversy over her policies towards antiquity acquisition. The Getty Villa showcases the truly extensive collection of Greek and Roman art and lifestyle pieces.

I also at at In-n-Out Burger, which met all my expectations of a famous California hamburger.

I spent the other day and a half mostly relaxing in Justin's backyard, which was a sunny and temperate contrast to the Vermont I had left.

My flight went from LAX-San Francisco-Sydney-Christchurch, and took about 24 hours total.

I stayed in Christchurch with Darrel and Josie, some friends of the family. Josie's parents live in VT and she and Darrel (A New Zealander) lived in VT as well for about five years. I spent the night with them, and in the morning we went to the Christchurch Art Gallery (museum) before I caught my bus. The gallery was focused on New Zealand art and had a few special exhibits. Below is one of the finer pieces that I saw there, which is made of metal, with the shadow created by a light shining from above.

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With that, I was on the bus to Dunedin, where I arrived at 8pm! More on that in the next entry.