Jewels of the Season at The Timken in San Diego

 The Timken's lobby is now resplendent with an exquisite display of hand-crafted holiday ornaments.  It is hard to convey how beautiful these are.  Each was hand-made over many years to two local women.  These are bedazzled, bejeweled and bedighted and there are hundreds.  Some are the size of walnuts and some are the size of a baseball.  The colors range from apricot to gold to peacock to ebony and everything in between.  Some are a tribute to San Diego institutions such as the Padres and the Zoo.  The craftsmanship and creativity is breath-taking.

There is a central Christmas with a train on loan from the Model Train Club, also in Balboa Park.  Christmas trees and model trains just seem to go together.

The Timken Museum of Art is free!  It is adjacent to the San Diego Museum of Art.  They are finishing up a major exterior renovation, so the front stairs still looks a bit "in progress".  This is a small, but very nice collection of European art with some interesting Russian icons; paintings by some Spanish masters; works by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Brueghel; and much more.  They also have docent tours of their collection.   It is one of the jewels of Balboa Park!