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During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Craft & Folk Art Museum
This gallery, housed in a prominent Museum Row building, has grown into one of the city's largest. "Craft and folk art" encompasses everything from clothing, tools, religious artifacts, and other everyday objects to wood carvings, papier-mâché, weaving, and metalwork. The museum displays folk objects from around the world, but its strongest collection is masks from India, America, Mexico, Japan, and China. The museum is also known for its annual International Festival of Masks, held each October in Hancock Park, across the street. Be sure to stop in the funky, eclectic Museum Shop (tel. 323/857-4677) to peruse the wearable art, folk art books, and various handmade crafts.
Descanso Gardens
Camellias -- evergreen flowering shrubs from China and Japan -- were the passion of amateur gardener E. Manchester Boddy, who began planting them here in 1941. Today his 160-acre Descanso Gardens contain more than 100,000 camellias in more than 600 varieties, blooming under a canopy of California oak trees. The shrubs now share the limelight with a 9-acre International Rosarium, home to hundreds of varieties. This is a very relaxing place, with paths and streams that wind through the towering forest, bordering a lake, bird sanctuary, Japanese Garden & Tea House, and Boddy House art museum. Each season features different plants: daffodils, azaleas, tulips, and lilacs in the spring; chrysanthemums in the fall; and so on. Monthly art exhibits are held in the garden's hospitality house, and the Courtyard Café offers light meals daily from 10am to 3pm. Guided tram tours, which cost $2, run Tuesday through Friday at 1, 2, and 3pm; and Saturday and Sunday at 11am and 1, 2, and 3pm. Picnicking is allowed in specified areas.
Norton Simon Museum of Art
Named for a food-packing king and financier who reorganized the failing Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, the Norton Simon displays one of the finest private collections of European, American, and Asian art in the world (and yet another feather in the cap of architect Frank Gehry, who redesigned the interior space). Comprehensive collections of masterpieces by Degas, Picasso, Rembrandt, and Goya are augmented by sculptures by Henry Moore and Auguste Rodin, including The Burghers of Calais, which greets you at the gates. The "Blue Four" collection of works by Kandinsky, Jawlensky, Klee, and Feininger is impressive, as is a superb collection of Southeast Asian sculpture. Still Life with Lemons, Oranges, and a Rose (1633), an oil by Francisco de Zurbarán, is one of the museum's most important holdings. Perhaps the most popular piece is The Flower Vendor/Girl with Lilies, by Diego Rivera, followed by Goya's Disasters of War. The collection of paintings, sculptures, pastels, and prints by French Impressionist Edgar Degas is among the best in the world. Tip: Unless you're an art expert, you'll probably want to take the "Acoustiguide" audio tour -- it's $3 well spent.
Four Points by Sheraton Los Angeles International Airport
Nearby Airports:* Los Angeles International Airport - 5 Blocks* Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport - 30 MilesNearby Cities:* El Segundo - 2 Miles* Culver City - 3 Miles* Manhattan Beach - 4 Miles* Marina Del Rey - 5 Miles* Hermosa Beach - 6 Miles* Venice Beach - 7 Miles* Redondo Beach - 8 Miles* Torrance - 8 Miles* Santa Monica - 9 Miles* Century City - 10 Miles* Westwood - 12 Miles* Beverly Hills - 12 Miles* Hollywood - 15 Miles* Long Beach - 20 ...
Elan Hotel Modern
Vibrant, culturally balanced and perfectly located. Just steps from the Beverly Center, at the cutting edge of West Hollywood, where the world of entertainment and design meet to conduct business and expand pleasure. Neighborhood cafes invite one to linger. Antique shops and art galleries beckon to browse. The Pacific Design and Beverly Center just 2 blocks. The hub of Los Angeles Commerce and the incomparable "Sunset Strip" 1 1/2 miles. Uncluttered, soothing modern accommodations with a ...
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