I haven’t managed to get a bus map of LA in two days. That makes navigation a bit difficult. Before I set off for the Getty Centre, I download the map as a PDF and take my laptop with me. On the way, I pass through UCLA University. Some of the student fraternity houses look like castles.
After the first bus I am lost despite the map. There is no stop indicated anywhere. I walk a few kilometres in circles and then walk to the Getty Center. I take the hovercraft train up into the Santa Monica Mountains. All for free. It’s fascinating what you can do with just 10 billion dollars.
I didn’t know who built the Getty Center. You don’t need to. Even blind people can recognise Richard Meier the first time they see him. The Getty Center is a beautiful oasis of calm and shines white in the sun. Only the smog spoils the view.
I see Rembrandt, Manet, Delacroix and many other great artists. The architecture still impresses me the most. So beautifully regular and calm. A nice contrast to the turbulent juggernaut in the valley.
After five hours, it’s back on the bus. I couldn’t find the right stop on the outward journey because the new bus number was written at all the stops. The old number is still on the buses, in the maps and on the internet. Otherwise it would be too easy. I walk along Wilford Avenue, the golden triangle of luxury shops. The palm trees grow tall and barely have a crown at the top. Almost like the customers of the shops.
Directly to the south is the completely flat Beverly Hills neighbourhood. I walk around there. Charm and individuality like Munich Neuperlach. But because the good Beverly Hillbillies have so much money, you can’t see it straight away. There are signs on every street: Neighbourhood Watch. On every lawn there are signs with texts similar to those on the old Berlin Wall. Honecker would have loved it here.
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.