Spared from the Storm and Conservatory of Flowers

I went to a few cultural activities around SF while William was out of town. I went to the FREE exhibit at the Stanford Museum of Art entitled "Spared from the Storm" featuring paintings that survived Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans. They had several Monets, several Picassos, Miros, a Renior, Degas, and several other masters. It was quite a good exhibition especially since it was FREE.

I also went to another FREE entry at the Conservatory of Flowers. Dyan and Nora were kind enough to come with me. Fortunately, even though the entry was free, the crowds were not overwhelming. It seems to have similar architecture to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England.
The conservatory inside had this beautiful stained glass
that spread beautiful colors throughout the room.
I liked the pond- complete with the lily pads
The pond was surrounded by beautiful orchids
But what I also found interesting to the orchids, was also the carnivorous plants. This one is called the "pitchers plant" and digests things inside of the pitcher
This may look pretty, but it too can be dangerous if an insect falls in the center tube
And finally, your typical venus fly trap jaws
Here are a few other unique flowers that I don't know what their names are. Love the beautiful orange shade and shape
This one looks kind of like a gothic lion flower- grrr
But, the best part of the Conservatory is the Butterfly Zone. We saw so many beautiful butterflies and the best part is that Nora LOVED them. She kept following them around with her eyes, and making happy noises when they fluttered around. None of them landed on us, but pretty close to us. I could even see the curled up tongue on this one
The majestic monarch
It was fun, but I'm glad that it was on a free day, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if it wasn't free.