Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles

This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Griffith Observatory for the first time! I went on the Saturday with my boyfriend Andrew, and some friends. Since it was Saturday, the parking situation was a little crazy. We had planned to go on a hike near the observatory, since we had heard there were trails; but instead we opted for parking down the hill (the only place parking was available at that point in time) and then "hiking" up to the observatory. Once we did get to the top, it was a pretty awesome view of Los Angeles (minus the smog) and of the Hollywood sign!

Inside the observatory, which I was surprised to find out included a free entrance, were a series of displays, and a lot of them had fun hands-on learning components to them. One of my favorite displays, was the one about the role of the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon on the tides. I learned that in Nova Scotia the tide can rise and go with a difference of up to 50 feet! There was an awesome animation showing how literally a boat that would be docked in the sea, could all of a sudden be found at the bottom of the shore, due to the tides. We also stumbled upon an awesome photo backdrop inside the observatory, and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

We bought our tickets promptly at 6:00 pm, because they only the sell the tickets for certain show times are tiered time slots. After we secured our tickets, we stepped outside and experienced another beautiful view of Los Angeles from behind the observatory. 

In the evening we bought tickets for a show entitled "Time's Up" in one of the theaters. I was surprised that the ticket only cost $5 for students and $7 for an adult, I think the price was relatively cheap for the high-quality of the viewing in the theater. The theater was set-up kind of like an IMAX where the screen is above you and you might experience a bit of motion-sickness. I enjoyed the show because it was an amazing mixture of scientific facts with history from the times of the Mayan Civilization to the present day. I really liked how there was a discussion of what the Mayan Calendar really is, and how it doesn't predict the end of the world to be this coming December.