Travels of a Fish Nut

The L.A. natural history museum is quite small, particularly when compared to the British one, but it was good all the same. There was a butterfly pavilion when we went with lots of species native to the US as well as some exotics. This is a Spicebush swallowtail ( Pterourus troilus ): And this is a Julia ( Dryas iulia ): The museum focused on north american species, as you might expect for a county museum. They had a great exhibition showing the work occurring on a T. rex fossil that is being prepared for display. My favourite piece, however, was not part of a gallery or exhibition at all, it was in one of the entrance halls. It was an oarfish ( Regalecus sp.). It was found floating off Catalina island in the late '70s nearly dead. It's a huge fish and the species is thought to be the source of stories of sea serpents. They're beautifully coloured when alive but preservation causes them to become dull. The most interesting thing to me was the shape of the pelvic fins w...

The UCLA botanical gardens are open to the public but aren't very well signposted. They are on the edge of the campus and are fantastic. There were some incredible plants . . . . . . but the best bit was seeing hummingbirds. They were, as you might expect, pretty difficult to photograph. The only time it was possible was when they briefly rested on a branch. Near the street exit was a relatively open area with grass and trees. There were about a dozen squirrels around and they were really tame, getting very close if you let them. They were really cute!

The Getty Center is an amazing complex set high in the hills surrounding L.A. I was a bit ambivalent about going because while I like art I wasn't sure if I could spend an entire day looking at pictures. In fact I was much more than just an art gallery and I could have spent days there. The first thing that strikes you, even before you arrive, is the complex itself. I know nothing about architecture yet even I can tell that it is an architectural marvel. The buildings seem to frame each other and the white marble is stunning against the everpresent blue sky. We decided to go a highlights tour which went around the four main collections and went into detail about one piece in each collection. We then had lunch and afterwards we had a look at a special exhibition taking place on a 17th century female artist called Maria Sibylla Merian who produced scientific drawings of plants, birds and insects and discovered that caterpillers metamorphose into butterflies. The artwork was stunning ...