Spent the morning touring the Piedras Blanca (White Rock) Light Station. Established in the 19th Century, the lighthouse and foghorn aided navigation in the San Simeon area for many years. Today the area is used primarily for studies of native plants and animals. Later in the day we toured the Hearst Castle on the top of the hill looking down on San Simeon Bay. It was filled with an incredible collection of ancient art works and sounded like it would have been a fun place to have been a guest in the early 20th Century. After such a busy day we decided to spend a second night in the area but opted for a simple dinner and beer in our room.
Did you notice the very humble condiments on the grand dining room table? Always thought that was ironic in the midst of such opulence! Haven’t been there in years but loved it, especially Big Sur area. I stayed at the Big Sur Lodge which was just magical. And yes, the road is twisty and worth every “extra” photo along the way.
Ever since its debut on Broadway the two of us have wanted to see “Wicked the Musical”. Today we realized that dream. In the Apollo Victoria Theater in London’s West End we were witness to the incredible prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the story of the Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
London’s National Portrait Gallery’s temporary exhibition, “Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens” presents an amazing collection of portraits, jewelry, personal effects, books, costumes, and more to illustrate not only the lives of the six women who married the second Tudor king, but the effort across five centuries to keep their memory alive.
The purpose of our trek to Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham in the southwest of London was to see a recently recovered bronze bust of the Emperor Caligula but we discovered so much more in the recently restored 18th Century “little Gothic castle” built by Horace Walpole.
Did you notice the very humble condiments on the grand dining room table? Always thought that was ironic in the midst of such opulence! Haven’t been there in years but loved it, especially Big Sur area. I stayed at the Big Sur Lodge which was just magical. And yes, the road is twisty and worth every “extra” photo along the way.
Did you put together jigsaw puzzles while lounging on the dining room floor of the Hearst estate?
Thursday, October 23, 2008 – 03:14 PM