Reach for the Stars

Griffith Observatory

Location: Griffith Observatory

Entertainment Value: Suped up Imax Experience to the 10th power...Dome Style!

Entertainment Cost: $7 for the Valkyrie show at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium
Food Location: Orochon
Food Cost: $8-10 for a huge bowl of Ramen with custom toppings

Imagine being inside the sun, shielded from any harm or discomfort by top notch magical immunity that only a hypothetical like this could afford. Though the temperature is a cool 65 degrees, the room is filled with bright orange and tinged red colors, bombarding your visual senses, convincing you that you are indeed inside the sun, watching each atom colliding into the other. Next, you break free of the sun's inner core, hovering above the horizon of the surface, witnessing the solar arches protrude ballarinas on the tip of their toes.

You are transposed into a wild ride of astrological wonders, visually superior to Disney's Back to the Future ride (and without the sudden jolts). We start under the Los Angeles twilight, then are transposed to the artic Icelands. There we witness the stubborn sun that won't go down during the summers and the perpetual darkness during the winters.  With a familiar summer movie trailer voice, our real time narrator gives detailed and timely explanations about how the star filled universe we see today were once perceived in Norse Mythology as Gods like Lode, Thu, and Breid, who commanded the skies, the earth, and the underworld. Constellations like Hellewagon, Friggerock, and Dain watched  the battles on earth, between Niflheim, the Ice God, and Muspell, the Fire God. The best  part of the show was witnessing the aurora. If you were ever confused as to how an aurora comes about, even the slowest learner can understand the technicalities behind a graphically astounding display of earth's magnetic field. I could go on and on about an aurora birth, but why not see it for yourself? Watch as if you are the God that made it. It is incredible to witness such graphic effects come to a full 180. The Valkyrie show is a must see; if not for the dome sized screens, the high definition scenary, then for the actor that narrates real time throughout the entire show, or the beauty of watching the heavens in an angel's point of view .

If for some reason you are not able to obtain a ticket, (Note: Tickets are not available for pre-sale and must be bought one hour before the show starts, so make sure you arrive on time!)  you can still watch the pendulum, the statue of famous astronomers, the many interactive booths, touch meteorites, peak  through telescopes, and best of all, the watch the astounding panoramic view of Los Angeles. Lastly, if you want to find a place that gives a good hike, Griffith Park has dozens of trails with picnic tables and scenic points. You can see the Hollywood sign so clearly it's almost as if you could touch it. And the best part of it all? Well,  to the tune of the old adage, "The best things are free".