Beyond Van Gogh will soon open in San Diego, but I was looking for a fun outing in the fall, so I got a few friends together and we bought tickets for the show in Los Angeles. What a great day we had, although, as usual, things did not go according to plan.
We were planning to drive in two cars to comfortably accomodate six of us. At 9am in the morning I got a call from Sharon. Her dog was quite sick, and she need to take her to the vet right away, and would miss the trip. We scrambled to find someone to take her place last minute, but had no luck. Then, just a few minutes before our departure, we got a call that Sue had been in a minor car accident, and could not go. So, although our group got smaller, we did not lack in enthusiasm for the day ahead.
Our first stop was lunch, just a few blocks from the Van Gogh venue in Hollywood. We ate at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele. You would miss it if you didn't know it was there. It's off Sunset one block from Las Palmas, on a shabby looking street with nothing much to see. But once you enter the doors of the restaurant, you are transported to an Italian bistro. It is light and airy, bustling, and very inviting. The restaurant originated in Naples in 1870, and their tradition of authentic Neopolitan pizza and pasta is still alive in Hollywood. Pizzas are big (12 inches) and delicious. Appetizers are wonderful too. They include things like burrata and eggplant, gnocchi fritto, and zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta. Great salads and pastas round out the menu. We enjoyed a modestly priced Italian wine to accompany the meal.
Then it was off to Immersion Van Gogh. The exhibit consists of a walk through empty rooms where paintings are projected all around. The images move and swirl around the walls and floors and ceilings. There are 300 Van Gogh works in all, and wonderful recorded symphonic score to accompany the visual images. It is truly a beautiful sensory experience.
Although the gift shop (of course there's a gift shop) has some lovely items, we all thought the prices were, well, quite pricy. No one bought anything. We did stay to watch the program twice. It was that good. It's only about 30 minutes long, and you can't see everything the first time, so I recommend watching it twice. You won't be bored. I hope you have a chance to see it when it comes to San Diego in January.
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