Tuesday
20th July
Hearst
Castle
We
survived our night at Motel 6 and were up and ready for the big day
ahead. Arrived at Hearst Castle as the fog was settling in. Cold and
damp at the visitors center. We were on the first bus to go up to
the castle so we felt we had the place to ourselves for the first
hour. Hearst Castle is a tribute to absolute wealth and what you can
do with it. Art works, furniture and even whole rooms were purchased
by Hearst and brought by ship to his 'ranch'. Over a period of 40
years he created this celebration of Mediterranean art, architecture
and gardens. We did the introductory tour and the garden tour,
exploring the magnificent lower public floors, the two unbelievably
beautiful swimming pools and the gardens. The whole place,
particularly the pools are totally memorable, and a wonderful
examples of a modern fantasy. Hat's off to Julia Morgan (architect)
and William Hearst for their vision and determination.
