Cathedral

I am not sure if travertine and glass and steel can be sensuous. Can the light striking the lustrous sandy color of stone squares make you excited and happy? Can a set of buildings on top of a hill in West Los Angles make you feel serene, yet thrilled? It is truly amazing that at this place, this magical place, with every turn of your head, from every vantage point, your view is stunning and impeccable. The lines of the buildings curve and bend with the backdrop of the surrounding hills. The thought of what is far and near blur, as hills and skylines and travertine all seem to hug each other. It's as if it was always meant to be this way. It is destiny realized. It is the Getty Center.

It starts at the tram station at the bottom of the hill. The garden just past the platform is a little hidden emerald, which most people miss as they rush to get to the museum. As the tram snakes up the hill, you get little peaks of the destination ahead. It reminds me of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, where mere mortals only get a glimpse. Once we spilled out of the tram onto the Arrival Plaza you feel as though you are stepping onto the sky. To the right the platform falls off and you are looking at the hills, through a warm breeze. To the left are ceremonial stairs that take you to the main entrance.

Our family drifts up the stairs, slowly working our way to the entrance. Once through the main circular hall, we are constantly enticed by the views peeking through gaps in the buildings. It feels as though you are walking in the clouds held up only by travertine. This stunning, elegant travertine is everywhere. We are told it comes from the same quarry in Italy that built much of ancient Rome. The museum is bathed in it, you see it on almost every wall and it’s under your feet as you walk. Every piece is unique and together it is spectacular.

The family decides to take a tour of the Gardens. The tour guide is sweet but soft spoken, so midway through the tour we all start to drift apart like a room full of cats. I lose focus at the fountain at the top of the winding walkway that leads to the garden. There sitting at my feet are a wonderful collection of desert plants, in colors that only nature can paint. Raise your eyes and you are looking downstream through a forest of trees and shade, and a walk way that crisis crosses the stream on it way to the central garden. We all slowly trickle down the winding walkway, in a delightful breezy silence.

I would not call myself a world traveler…. just yet. But I have seen a few things. The Grand Canyon at sunset, the twinkling lights of the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame at midnight while drifting down the Seine, the Ginza at twilight. As a born again atheist, I have no need for a church. But I do need a place that reminds me the world can be a good place, and the people in it can be intelligent and creative and beautiful. The Getty is my cathedral. A monument to what great and beautiful things mankind can create when we chose to do so.