We got off to an early start this morning. We headed in to Pasadena to visit a museum,
however we were so early it wasn’t yet open!
Turns out it opens at 12pm on Thursdays!
It’s fair to say opening hours are a bit later here than
they are in Oz! We’re finding many
things aren’t open until 10am or later, which has come as a bit of a
surprise. It will be good practice for
Chile though!
So, we’re in old Pasadena, waiting until midday for a museum
to open, having spent yesterday wandering around and seeing most things of
interest to us… We thought we’d grab a
coffee and found ourselves in a little bakery shop on E Colorado Blvd – Aux Delices. Looked lovely but unfortunately failed to
deliver with either their mocha or the chai latte. Both of them were largely frothy milk with a
hint of flavour. Disappointing.
So, what next? We
took to the streets, weaving our way through the residential streets of
Pasadena. Many lovely buildings to be
seen, just like in the movies of nice suburbs in the US. Additionally, we found ourselves driving past
Caltech, thinking of Sheldon, Leonard etc and lo and behold, walking along the
footpath were a bunch of nerdy looking guys that MUST have been from the
Physics Department! Bit of a giggle!
After driving around until 10am, we found a cluster of
antique shops that had just opened. The
first one we went in was enormous, with lots of interesting things to see. Turns out it is a collective of lots of
people all selling from the one address.
Nonetheless it was a great place to wander for an hour or two. On the way back to the car, we ducked in to
another smaller shop, which was less interesting however the owner was more
interested in chatting. He knew a little
about Australia and has a son studying geophysics! Of most interest, there was a plant growing on
the front wall with stunning flowers, apparently called a Passionflower.
We headed off to the museum – the Norton Simon museum. Very impressive collection and well worth the
visit. I was most impressed with the
collection of Degas sculptures, although van Gogh’s “The Mulberry Tree” was
pretty darn good, along with the collection of Asian statues (Indian and
Thai). The Rodin bronzes were also good.
Afterwards, we headed for a late lunch at El Pollo Loco (the
crazy chicken). Quite tolerable! It came with a choice of sides, one of which
was broccoli! You don’t see that at
every fast food place…
The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the stores on
old Pasadena that we missed the yesterday.
We dropped in to a Venezuelan coffee shop and had some churros. The dipping chocolate was reported to be
outstanding, along with the cocoa that Andrea had.
Back at the hotel, we fancied a light snack for dinner, so
we went over the road the El Super Burrito.
Unfortunately there was a very angry man threatening the people working
there over some imagined insult, so we left, did a lap of the block and came
back. Apparently he was suggesting he
was going to get his gang and come back.
Fool. Anyway, we got our nachos
and went back to the room. The dipping
sauce and the guacamole were just excellent!
Now, it’s time to wind down the some junky Christmas TV
movie, then sleepy time………………
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