Drowned

Saturday Dan and I got up relatively early to find it pouring in San Francisco. Rain everywhere, wind and a real chill, too. We decided it'd be worth the extra money to take a cab to the Academy, and we got there about a half hour after they opened. The building was huge, and I'd built the whole thing up a lot in my head, so I was geeking out when we got there and plopped down our $25 for each ticket.

The first thing we went through was a four-story rain forest, a giant glass dome that was humid and filled with a glass-bottomed waterway with giant fish, fake trees, real orchids, birds, little jewel-colored poisonous frogs and lots of psychedelic butterflies. You went up this spiral walkway around the exhibit, and there were little exhibits with examples of creatures found in rain forests, like really bored looking chameleons and fish. People were going nuts in there, trying to get photos of the butterflies.

Aside from the rain forest, we saw penguins, an albino alligator and the "living roof," which has seven mounds on it (to represent the seven hills of San Francisco) covered with different types of plants growing on it. They weren't in pots or planters; they were rooted into the roof itself. It was pretty, but also cold and rainy sideways, so I took quick photos and then we retreated.

Back inside we cut through the cafe/atrium area to head toward the aquarium, which was in the lowest level, under the rain forest and everything else. Cutting through the cafe I noticed they were blocking off a large section in the middle with those little A-shaped yellow "wet floor" signs, a huge wet spot on the floor, displacing families who had packed little baggies of apple slices to feed their cranky children. There were little puddles spotting the floor too, causing people to scoot their chairs out of the way.

It was brilliant. This awesome piece of architecture, this new building that cost $500 million and was 10 years in the planning, had a living roof that leaked. A lot.

Naturally, I took photos. They'll be posted, of course, as soon as I get them developed. If I'd just used a digital camera, I would have posted it already. I'd be a shitty mobile journalist. Awesomely enough, though, the San Francisco Chronicle didn't seem to do anything about the leak, so they suck too.

Maybe when people google the California Academy of the Sciences this blog post will show up and they will know that the roof leaks and AVOID THE PLACE IF IT'S RAINING. You will get wet and all the children will be in the basement aquarium, trying not to get wet and all screaming.

The aquarium was really neat, from what I could see around the strollers and children. It seemed like every kid under the age of 8 was there. Hundreds of children, running amok, looking at the fish and corals and everything else. I like aquariums, but I could hardly see anything, and I could feel myself getting more and more tense the longer we stayed. I hadn't eaten breakfast, and so was a bit frayed because of that, and then the kids just sent me over the edge. Dan and I cruised through and then went up to the bookstore, where I bought a postcard (a picture of the front of the museum, since I didn't get a good one due to the rain) and a chocolate bar. Then we took a cab back, ate food and spent the afternoon holed up in the hotel room, watching crappy movies. Really crappy movies. Seriously crappy movies.

I'll post about the wedding later, since it deserves a post of its own. I am back home right now, with my poor little neglected cat, who gets sad on his own. I am also all disoriented from the time change issues, but luckily don't have anything really scheduled at work tomorrow.

It's a bummer I've got to go back to work, though.