Place: Hiking at Griffith Park and visit to the observatory....

It is our first and only hiking till now, hitting the dust and gravel trails of Griffith  Park, set in the fringe of throbbing Los Angeles city. We had gone visiting the observatory, so certainly not in hiking gear but after seeing people enthusiastically navigating their way among the chaparrals and climbing up the sloppy hills, I could not contain my wish to embark on a trail. With initial reluctance, Surya complied and the following few hours we brushed against the wilderness of the Californian chaparral biome, observing the native flora, breathing in fresh, crisp air, that alleviated our stresses. After toiling about few miles, we scaled the ridge top, for a bird's eye-view of the LA cityscape. For the descent, we followed another trail to avert monotony and it paid off with another set of grabbing vista. By the time we stumbled up to our car, we were dog-tired and drained of last ounce of energy. The rest of the weekend went in nurturing muscle cramps and tendon pains, but the thirst for just-kindled HIKING was not to be quenched.

Maiden venture of hiking on nature trails of Griffith Park, Los Angeles. It was fun hitting the dusty, meandering paths, watching the myriad varieties of wild plants and listening to the chirping birds. 

I will look forward to embark on such refreshing, nature walks more often.

was delighted to spot this western blue jay perched on a leafless bush ..these lovely corvid birds with cobalt blue plumage were all over the place in Grand Canyon National Park. I thought that the Canyon woodlands is their territorial habitat. No doubt, I was happily surprised to spot this bird closer to home, now that its always a treat for the eyes.

Visited the Griffith Observatory...this vivid mural adorns the vaulted ceiling ..the Hugo Ballin created mural depicts the mythological figures viz. the Atlas, planets and other celestial entities. You just can't help marveling at the details of the artistic masterpiece.

Sharing bench with the genius Albert Einstein....what if with his life-size statue? Even our dress color matches.:)

There were many high-tech devices on display. This infrared device is one. I have to gather more information about it to be in a position to explain better. But, our image on the monitor  looked so funny, I had to take a picture.

More than 2,000 brooches, pins, rings, necklaces, ear studs, pendants, key rings designed as celestial bodies like sun, moon, stars are decorated as ribbon of time theme behind glass panels ....

This unique collection of attractive jewellery pieces and knick-knacks belonged to Kara Knack, who donated them to this observatory. 

Though this timeline has little to do with the purpose of an observatory, you can't easily escape the charms of these glittering, sparkling, inviting pieces as you walk along the long hallway...