San Diego Bucket List: Los Angeles Free Museums

I know that this is a San Diego blog, and that's what I fully intend it to be, but I went to L.A. one weekend and I went to several free museums, and I just had to share them! The reason I went to L.A. was to run a 5k for Homeboy Industries, which is a totally amazing organization which you should check out and support!
The museums I visited were the Museum of the Holocaust, the Getty Villa, the Getty Center, and the Griffith Observatory. The Getty Center and Getty Villa have a $15 parking fee (valid at both locations on the same day). The Getty Villa requires timed tickets that you print out in advance, but they are free. The Museum of the Holocaust, Getty Center and Getty Villa all have free audio tours which are really good. There is another free museum, the California Science Center, but I didn't have time to go there. There's a $10 parking fee, I believe, for that one.

Father G! He's pretty cool.

Museum of the Holocaust

Jewish Artifacts

I could have spent all day at this table. Well, at least an hour. Each photo floating around the surface had a whole story of a Jewish family. But we only budgeted an hour and a half for the whole museum.

I could have spent several hours here, too. Each screen had a holocaust survivor or someone from that time period (I think some were military people) telling a story

The Getty Villa! It was stunning.

Apparently this is the most famous piece of artwork there. I think it's just a naked guy, with a lion skin and a club. But hey, better than I could do.

The audio tour told me to focus on the folds of the clothes. They're pretty impressive, actually, considering it's stone.

When this was full of wine, it would appear as if they ships were floating on the surface.

A mosaic!

I totally did not know this. There were several different athletic contests in Greece, but the most famous was in Olympia.

Another naked guy. This one, apparently, is a "youth."

An elephant!

So beautiful

This is on the way up to the Getty Center. You get to ride a cool tram.

I thought this was a little weird- a kid fighting a dragon?

This is a bed! My bedroom is hardly that size.

L.A. Lights

Art that's famous enough that I recognize it!

I really wish there had been time (and enough daylight) to go wander the labyrinth. As it was, I had to be content to view it from afar and above.

This is the Griffith Observatory, one of the coolest places I've ever been to in the whole world. This is a periodic table of the elements, with each element inside the box!