American Museum of Natural History

We exited Central Park and took refuge in the cool air of the American Museum of Natural History. It got so cold in some areas that I put on my (newest) cashmere sweater. We wandered around and then ate at the museum cafe. 

Ross and I have a thing for octopodes (my preferred plural term for octopus), so I took a photo of this drawing.

The main reason we went to the museum is that my dad wanted to see the special exhibit Spiders Alive! It took us a bit to find the exhibit, so when we did we didn't have to wait for our timed entry.

We watched a short movie about spiders. It was very informative. I didn't know how tarantulas molt. They actually showed a tarantula molting in the film.

I think this was the neatest live spider they had on display. It is a trap door spider. The spider had made a burrow up against the glass and you could see it moving around in there. I could actually make out the trap door on the surface as well.

Here I am posing on a giant spider. I think we all learned something in the exhibit.

After the spiders we went through the Hall of Biodiversity and Hall of Ocean Creatures.  The Hall of Biodiversity was my favorite. So many different and contrasting kinds of creatures in one area and next to each other.

Vatican Museum

Just a selection of the photos I took in the Vatican Museum. We burned out after 4 hours...and so we didn't see everything.

Looking down onto the courtyard.

Must take photo of peacock.

We saw tons of sculptures. The flowing, almost transparent look of the fabric is amazing.

River God.

The staircase is a double spiral. Last time we were there you could race down the spirals and see who won. This time one side was closed off and there were "speed bumps" at the beginning to keep you from going fast.

Athens: National Archaeological Museum

On a drizzly day we walked all the way to the National Archaeological Museum and tested our museum tolerance while hiding out from the rain.

I especially like looking at the jewelry in the museums. The earrings were so delicate and finely detailed.

This statue was part of a special exhibit showing things that were found in a shipwreck. The exhibit included many sculptures, glassware, a couch, and a very interesting contraption with lots of gears and dials. Experts think that the contraption is some sort of celestial calculator/computer. No other machine like it has ever been found.

This was my favorite sculpture in the museum. It depicts Aphrodite about to smack Pan with her sandal while Eros watches.

Florence Museums: Pitti Palace and The Borgello

Our second day in Florence it rained all day--so we hung out in museums.  I wanted to see Pitti Palace because I don't think I'd ever seen it before, and they were having a special exhibit showing impressionist paintings.  I only have a few photos.  We weren't allowed to take photos in most areas.

Pitti Palace was a fancy shmancy palace place.  Lots of things are covered with gold.  We saw luxurious apartments and Napoleon's bathroom. The tables were all inlaid wood or marble. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a palace like that.

Pitti Palace also had many paintings on display.  It seemed there were a lot of paintings showing the temptation of St. Anthony.  The impressionist exhibit was small, but we both saw paintings we liked.

We get burned out in museums after a few hours, so we didn't look at the costume wing.  I wanted to see the attached Boboli gardens, but because of the rain we skipped them.

Ross in the courtyard of Pitti Palace.

Ganymede and the Eagle.

Florence Triumphs over Pisa.

I'm Baaaaa-aaack!

Well, my few and faithful readers, as you know, I've been away away for two weeks on an impromptu vacation.  I'm back and have almost 1500 photos to sift through. I'll try to share the best ones. Amazingly enough I'm not feeling jet lagged. I am worn out though. I wish I'd taken my pedometer, I'm curious just how much we walked. My feet and shoulders are sore. It will take a while to recover from this vacation.

Here is a photo of me in the Vatican Museum.

Getty Center

Last Sunday we went to the Getty Center in L.A. It was a neat place with museums inside and gardens, fountains, and sculpture outside. We saw some very nice sculptures in the museums and some famous paintings, including Van Gogh's Irises--which was neat to see in person, but wasn't my favorite painting in their collection. The gardens were really awesome--as were the views from the Center.

Reflections

One of my favorite parts of the Air and Space museum (we went on Sunday) was the gallery of photos of the different planets. Ross and I particularly liked Saturn. I tried to take a photo of the photo, but ended up with a lot of reflections, including another cool photo of Saturn. I was disappointed that they didn't have a postcard of any of the planetary photos in the gift shop.

Long Day in DC

We spent a whole day in DC. We started by visiting the Zoo. It was cool to see the pandas, but I think the invertebrates section (aquarium), was my favorite part. It rained off and on, but we managed not to get too wet. I actually brought my little umbrella!

After the zoo we checked out the Natural History Museum. The temporary exhibit on ants was interesting and after that we split up. I went to the American History Museum and the rest of the gang continued to explore the Natural History museum.

I was interested in seeing an exhibit marking the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that I had seen listed on the web site, but no one seemed to know what I was talking about. Instead I rested, and saw an exhibit on the history of illustration. I remember reading something interesting, but I don't remember what I read! Ha! So I guess I didn't learn much. There were lines to see half of the exhibits.

I stood in one line, but just for a minute or two. I saw what I wanted to see (had my photo taken), and then left.

Museum of Natural History

Yesterday we ignored the weather forecast and headed to D.C. We really wanted to get out and I figured we'd be indoors most of the time, so the rain wouldn't bother us. It was raining when we left the house, lightened up to a drizzle when we got to the metro station, and was really just a mist by the time we got off at the Smithsonian stop.

We headed over to the National Museum of Natural History just as it opened. We wandered through the oceans exhibit first--not exactly the best course of action--since that isn't what we had gone to see. By the time we got around to seeing what we wanted to see, of course the place was crowded. Anyway, in the ocean exhibit we saw the giant squid and learned about the whale's ancestors (from a very enthusiastic docent). Oh, and we saw a lot of gross looking fish.

From the oceans we headed to see the dinosaurs--which is what Ross really wanted to see. The skeletons are really impressive. Ross's favorite is the Stegasaurus. I liked the Apatosaurus--it was so long! My favorite fossil though, was the fossil in the belly of the fossil.

The gems and minerals came next. Wow. They have some bling there on display at the Smithsonian. We got a bit worn out in the middle of the mineral displays. I guess 2 hours walking around a museum will do that to you. I sat down for a bit and had a nice view of the Capitol building.

Since we were running out of energy we had to decide what we really wanted to see. I decided we would go through the temporary orchid exhibit before heading to lunch. The exhibit had lots of colorful flowers, and I even got to see a vanilla plant. After lunch we walked through some of the sculpture gardens. Ross saw a metal sphere sculpture just like the ones at the Vatican. We also saw some blooming trees. I hope the weather is better next week--I think we are going back to see more cherry blossoms.

The Impressionists

The plan was to go to the museum today and see The Impressionists art exhibition. When I checked the hours and ticket prices online yesterday I found out that Friday nights are half price. Score! We headed to the Kimbell and checked out all the paintings. Ross actually enjoyed the exhibit. We saw paintings by Renoir, Manet, Monet, Gauguin (I'm not a fan), Seurat, Sisley, Pissarro, van Gogh, and more. We both loved one particular painting by Monet of a branch of the river Seine (I can't find a photo that does it justice). We both also marvelled at Gustav Caillebotte's famous painting Paris Street; Rainy Day. That painting was huge! The place was buzzing with people. We got the audio tour for free, but didn't listen to much of it. I just like to look at the art. I don't like people telling me what it means or why it is significant. I am a big fan of impressionism, so I really wanted to go. I'm so glad we went. After the special exhibit we took a look at the permanent collection. Nothing I couldn't live without, but there was a Picasso that made me chuckle. It was a good way to spend Halloween I guess.