Unfortunately, the Friday before I had stepped on a bee. It appears I have a mild allergy/reaction/whatsit to bee stings (both times I've stepped on a bee and reacted the same way) that includes swelling, INCREDIBLE ITCHINESS (!!!), turning purple and being creepy looking for nearly a week. So I half-hobbled throughout the day.
As soon as we got there I was starving so we ate at the overpriced cafe that served awesome Italian food.
This is what I got-- Italian-style omelette (frittata?) with a salad. SO tasty.
This is me trying to act sophisticated using an umbrella that was one of the many provided for guests (good looking out!)
And Kevin doing what he does best, eating. He had some kind of fancy pasta and even ate my leftovers.
There were some creepy things to see...
And some completely awesome things. I took tons of pictures, so I'll just put a few up to give you a taste. These are all originals or ancient reproductions (Mr creepy up there is a modern reproduction). This guy I'm pretty sure is an athlete about to throw something or else he's just about to fix his hair. He was found underwater (most ancient Greek art is, the dumb Romans stole everything and made off on ships, many of which sank en route. Other cases are that sometimes, at least in the case of Poseidon, tributes were thrown off of cliffs into the sea) and was covered in crustaceans and such until restoration artists got their paws on him and made him pretty. You can still see some mottling though. And he's lost his feet. Maybe that's what he's doing, tapping his head in the hopes that it will loosen the memory of where he left his feet...
This is a statue of Leda and Zeus in the form of a swan. Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world and reason for the Trojan War was born of this particular union. Later Leda also gave birth to Clytemnestra and Dioscori (sp?), but I don't know if Zeus was the dad in that case (they were twins). I can't recall. Anyway, the only modern restoration done on this is Leda's right big toe.
This is the goddess Nike (Nee-kay), who is the goddess of victory. This is an archaic depiction of her, so the wings aren't very fancy. And I think this is supposed to be an incense burner or something, so that's what's on her head.
This is another part of the story of Leda and the swan. Here Zeus is sitting in his little covered porch thing with his sister-ish Aphrodite (holding Eros on her arm). Zeus is asking Aphrodite for some help in seducing Leda, who is shown below kissing Swan Zeus (time lapse I guess). So you know, it's almost impossible to resist a god who's coming on to you, not to mention Leda was also slightly drugged by Hypnos (but as a girl??? the winged person with a torch to the left) to make the seducing a little easier. So don't think she had a thing for bestiality, because it wasn't her fault.
I'll give you one hint who my favorite Greek deity is...Anyway, here is Nike anointing a victorious boxer (you know he's a boxer because he still has the leather strips hanging from his arms that were the ancient version of a boxing glove).
I thought I'd throw in a picture of a mosaic for good measure. Here is a lion giving some sort of African critter "the munch".
After all this, Kevin and I began some frivolity at the gift shop. Here Kevin is wearing a medusa hat. You can see the little red tongues hanging out of some of the snakes. He looks ridiculous.
Everybody should go to the Getty Villa, it's the next best thing to Greece (probably not really haha) and it's COMPLETELY FREE!!!! Well, no, that's a lie. It's $8 in parking, but if you can fit everybody in one car, it's only $8 for everyone.By the way, the title is Ancient Greek for "Go!" So, Go!
1 comment:
the last time I went to the getty was like... a little over 6 years ago, I think! it *is* cool. I remember the umbrellas.
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