Beauty in the concrete jungle

I just spent the last 3 days visiting my sister in southern California.  We had a truly lovely time, and did as much catching up in a few days as we've done in years.  She also kept me pretty busy visiting some of her area favorites.  While LA is sprawling, low, and largely concrete, I was surprised by how much beauty there was to be found.

The first day, she took me to the Getty.  It's this amazing campus of buildings that houses a free art museum.  It's also located on a mountainlette that give it breathtaking views all around.

Here we are at the top, looking over the LA area. Isn't my sister gorgeous?

This is the only vineyard in LA proper. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called.

And this is the cactus garden. It looked like a giant, backwards P to me, but apparently is an art piece, representing the cityscape beyond. Everything in the Getty is this way.  It's never just a building or a sidewalk or garden. It all has a meaning. Anyway, it was very pretty, and if I didn't always get the deeper meaning, you'll have to forgive me.  I'm impressed that so much thought was put in.

My sister and her husband.  Still very much in love.

I loved these trellises.  Not sure why.  When you got up close, you could see that they were made of rebar.  From afar though, they looked like natural umbrellas.  Speaking of umbrellas, my sister tells me that when it rains, the Getty hands out matching umbrellas so that even the visitors become part of the "vision."

We stayed most of the day, and the sun was beginning to set as we took the tram back down the mountain.  This art piece was again specifically chosen so that while you could see the sculpture, you could still see the surroundings. Neat.

That evening, we had dinner with my D&L, who are staying a few hours away and were on their way to the condo.  It was a nice treat to see them again, especially since I saw them so recently.  Day one was a great success!