Today's my first full day in LA and what a day!

Woke up exhausted as by the time we got to bed last last night we'd been up a least 28 hours. I'd forgotten that a lot of the US seems to shut down early and we even had problems finding a restaurant that was open after 9.30pm- on a saurday night in LA! But we eventually found Salt Creek Grille where I had the most delicious cheese plate and then straight off to bed.

We began today by going to the Getty Museum which was absolutely incredible. A wonderful example of architecture and to be absolutely recommended. You park at the bottom of the hill and then have to get a tram up to the top- the views are almost worth a visit in themselves!

Whilst there I got to see my first view of LA smog- incredible.

The Getty is absolutely crammed full of wonderful works of art, all displayed so well. I loved the fact that some of the galleries are sparse to emphasise the work and some are so ornate with wallpaper, cornicing etc when appropriate.

Some of the items I fell in love with were this Italian chair made around 1790- love those curves! - and these beautiful sculptures, of a mother and daughter, made by Pierre Jean David D'angers. They were made in 1831 and yet look so contemporary.

For the afternoon we went to Santa Monica which has a lovely pedestrainised area with some great shops. I discovered Anthropologie which was full of covetable clothes. Unfortunately they don't have any shops over here but they do ship overseas.

We walked down to the pier and saw the lovely beach where there was an anti-war protest going on.