Category: Weekend Excursion

Textile Protest, Alt-Reality Animation, Nature Dream at MOLAA by da-AL

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The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, is a great way to spend a rainy day with visiting family!

What a delight to visit MOLAA with Angela!

On display were arpilleras — textiles sewn by the women of MEMCh (Movement for the Emancipation of the Chilean Woman) to protest the 17-year-long fascist regime of Agosto Pinochet. The dictator seized control of Chile with the backing of United States President Nixon in 1973 and further support of later U.S. President Bush’s family. (More about the exhibition here)…

Bullets rain down on seekers of justice in Chile…
Women had to be creative to get word out about the killings…
“Children search trash cans for bread.” “Not everyone has running water.”
Books are burned…
All are forced to worship the dictator…

Dreams, politics, and beauty merge in the art of Argentine artist Matias Duville…

Transcendent and political art by Argentine artist Matias Duville…

Award-winning animation was also on display — the alternative worlds created by Quique Rivera, a Puerto Rican animation artist, sculptor, photographer, and film director. His sculptures such as these…

Quique Rivera sees things differently…
His underwater world is like no other…

…created videos such as these! Also, more about the Museum of Latin American Art is here and here and here.

Where’s your favorite place to take visitors?…

Inspiration at the Getty Museum Los Angeles by da-AL

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My honey, me, Angela, and Kim took a tram up to see the Getty Center.

Having family over to visit is an opportunity to see my own city through new eyes. It’s the best kind of stay-cation! We took them to visit the Getty Center (which shouldn’t be confused with the Getty Villa)…

The Getty Center offers amazing views.

The first area we visited was their gardens…

Getty Center gardens with the Getty’s amazing travertine architecture.

What could be better than art featuring a cat lover?…

Portrait of Magdaleine Pinceloup de la Grange by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, 1747.

And what’s more manly than manly royalty showing off his 64-year-old dancer legs in tights?…

Portrait of Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701.

Which is happier do you think — horse or rider?…

Angel of the Citadel by Marino Marini, 1950.

Mercury is a god of things good and bad and everything in between, so it stands to reason that his shadow would be as interesting as he is…

Mercury by Johan Gregor van der Schardt, 1575.

All this art was made me hungry…

Still Life: Tea Set by Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1782.

The sun began to cast long shadows across this Getty fountain — we were inspired to make our own art!…

Our great day at the Getty made us want to dance!…
so we danced…
and danced…
and danced!

It was a perfect way to end the day!…

Sunset at the Getty is spectacular!

What inspires you?

Huntington Library, Art, and Gardens

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da-AL at The Huntington, sitting on a bench in rose garden

What better way is there to celebrate a special occasion than with an all-day excursion of gorgeous weather, strolling an array of gardens that span rainforest to desert and Japanese to Australian to more, seeing the worlds’s stinkiest (and amusingly phallic) plant, eating international fare, admiring fine art museums, and ending it all with a high tea?

My honey and I spent our special day at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (a collections-based educational and research institution) located in San Marino, California. Tap photos for captions…

Pinkie by Thomas Lawrence and The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough at The Huntinton.

da-AL and her honey having high tea at The Huntington

What’s your favorite way to celebrate a special day?

Enchanting Espelette, France, by da-AL

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After a weekend of beautiful Barcelona, we drove towards French Basque country. We lunched in wonderful Huesca and overnighted in pretty Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

The sun shone and we were back on the road. What better way to relax than to stop in the enchanting Basque town of Espelette?

We sipped hot chocolate at a sidewalk cafe…

We shopped for edible gifts from a kindly shopkeeper, including the special not-too-hot red pepper power the city is known for…

da-AL and her honey shopping in Espelette, France

And we strolled, admiring the town’s typically red-accented white buildings…

Everything, everyone, the weather — it was all so charming, that I could easily have stayed for a nap…

…but we had more places to visit! We were headed further into phenomenal French Basque Country (Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Bayonne, and Biarritz).

Then, back in Spain (after all, my upcoming novel is titled “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat”), we’d marvel at the food and seaside dogs of San Sebastián, Spain and breathtaking Bilbao…

Portland, Oregon: Wonderful in Unexpected Ways by da-AL

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Do all Portland lambs hike with their people?
Do all Portland lambs hike with their people?

Over a recent long holiday weekend, I visited Portland, Oregon for my first time. The weather was warm, with blue skies and no rain in sight.

Book lovers rejoice! It’s home to Powell’s Books, where book goodness spreads over four generous floors!

Powells Books, Portland, Oregon
4 floors of book goodness

Mouthwatering food abounds! Cafes, bakeries, restaurants, chocolatiers, and even their many food trucks (aka food carts) here are delicious and gourmet.

Sheep taking a hike with its peopleWhere else could one see a lamb hiking with its people and dogs to a waterfall?

Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon
Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland, Oregon

Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden features authentic architecture, landscaping, Koi at Lan Su Gardenkoi, and a fine tea house …

Tea at Lan Su Garden, Portland, Oregon

Jetboat excursions begin at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, speed under Willamette River’s many bridges,

Willamette River, Portland, Oregon
Willamette River, Portland, Oregon

and turn around at —- waterfalls (who knew?)

waterfalls in Portland, Oregon

Their International Rose Test Garden goes on and on with sweet smelling colorful flowers …

da-AL enjoying Portland's Rose Test Garden
Wishing I smelled like a rose at Portland’s Rose Test Garden

Please tell us — do your sheep enjoy hiking?