Hotel del Coronado. Some like it hot.

Just out from San Diego is Coronado island, site of the fabulous Hotel del Coronado.

A once stylish holiday resort to the rich and famous, it is the largest wooden structure of its kind to survive to this day(the rest seem to have been eaten by termites or gone up in flames).  One of its later day claims to fame is as the sight where Marilyn Munroe cavorts on the  beach in one of our all time favourites, "Some like it hot."

Whilst its foyer still maintains some dignity, the uninspiring gift shops and corporate conference centre signage give this grand old dame a dowdy tinge.

Still, viewed from the beach through a sand castle, you can drift away to an earlier, more glamourous time.  Royalty, railway tycoons, newspaper moguls, presidents and eligible heiresses.  

Now its cardboard cutout movie stars and podgy real-estate agents at conferences.

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L.A.C.M.A.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art was the venue for the excellent "In Wonderland" exhibition and we grabbed a bit of time to see some of their permanent collection as well.  Many fine things to peruse, good large scale sculptures and a fist full of Picasso and I think we only scratched the surface.

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In Wonderland. Surrealist Adventures.

Another little bit of luck was on our side and we happened to catch the,

In Wonberland, The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States.

Our hosts were happy to take us along as they had been keen to see this as well. The drawcard of the show was Frida Kahlo and it was exciting to finally some of her work in the flesh.  But the quality of the whole show was amazing and we have discovered a few new artist hero's.

A great collection of women and works, covering many different artistic disciplines.

Many of these women lived very long lives, some are still alive and several made it to over 100.  Must be something to do with exploring the inner mind, as surrealists did.

We recommend that you explore this list of names for some incredible stories and work.  Standouts for us had to be Remedios Varo & Dorethea Tanning, but all of these women were pretty amazing.

We will be campaigning for the NGV to stage this show.

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