We have tried to get into the local planetarium several times, but were always turned away because it was either closed or the tickets were sold out.  We decided to try again today.

We walked to the planetarium (it is only a 10 minute walk from our condo), and had lunch at one of our favorite hamburger places — Chill & Grill.  Afterwards we went next door and picked up our free tickets to the show.  Yes, like the symphony and much of the music in town, the planetarium is free.

Kids arrived with several volunteers in tow.  And yes, that is a McDonalds across the street…

We were the first in line for the tickets at 2:30, for the 3:00 showing. A few minutes later 20 kids got off a school bus, and one of the teachers got their tickets. Since this is primarily an educational service, the school kids got first seating.  There was plenty of seating for all though, and there really isn’t a bad seat in the place.

The presentation opened with a docent talking about the solar system in Spanish, so I only caught the general gist of the talk.  At one point, he asked the audience “lo que es el planeta más grande?” (what is the largest planet?).  One kid down front yelled “Jupiter!” and an image of Jupiter zoomed on the ceiling, to the gasps of many of the children.

The opening scene showed the Hubble, so I had expected some deep galaxy images from that telescope. As it turned out, the actual recorded part of the show only lasted 15 minutes, and we never left the solar system.  It was a bit of a letdown.

The price is right though (free)! ☺