My friend Dani is still in town, and for our next tourist activity, she picked the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena of Los Angeles County, California.
There was a phase during my two-year road trip during which I was intrigued by art museums and art galleries, but I think that period has ended, because I found the Norton Simon Museum to be fairly understimulating.
It was also extremely packed and congested inside—probably because Los Angeles has been going through a rainy phase so people probably thought an art museum would be a good indoor activity for a gloomy day—so it was difficult for me to stand still and read the placards without feeling like I was obstructing the view of a row of people walking assembly-line style past me.
The downstairs area had a spotlight called “Benevolent Beings: Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from South and Southeast Asia,” which I found to be a bit more interesting.
Unfortunately, the Sculpture Garden in the outdoor area was closed due to heavy rain.
Even though this wasn’t personally my thing, it was nice to see that Dani seemed to enjoy it. We paid US$20.00 each for admission, which is not bad for an art museum of this size in Southern California. I’m still glad that I went, because I like to broaden my breadth of knowledge and understanding on various topics, and even though I’m probably not creative or attuned to artistic themes enough to be able to get the most out of this experience, it was still nice to look at everything.