Category Archives: Museums and the Like

Deutsches Museum in Munich – less than the sum of it’s parts


Don’t get me wrong – the biggest ‘Technology’ and ‘Science’ Museum in Germany is well worth visiting – it’s just that the parts are so large – it’s hard to focus.

The Deutsches Museum is all about ‘size matters’. Unlike most museums that are content with models, or electronic aids – this Museum wants the real thing. So there’s a life-size section of a Lufthansa Passenger jet showing the typical 2 – 4 – 2 seating- with the luggage containers below. There’s a real U-boat – the last of its kind, saved from destruction in 1919 by the founder of the museum, and sliced open so visitors can see the insides – from stem to stern. There are full-sized water wheels, running of course – even a full-sized sail boat used for fishing off the North Atlantic sea. At one point, you walk into the staterooms and then onto the deck of a cross Atlantic steamer – circa 1950.

It would be impossible to list all the stuff crammed into the museum – let alone see it all. But I did have one favorite part – and it’s wasn’t even on the must see sections!

To me the highlight of the museum was the Mining section. Why – because they devoted basically 1/2 the basement to full-sized, walk thru, mines. Dark, dripping with water, dirt or wooden floored as appropriate – these ‘mines’ felt like the real thing. And since I’ve been in the real thing several times – I feel justified in saying that.

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To trace the changes in mining technology over the past 200 years – they have created mines worked by hand, complete with miners using lamps to claw coal from the earth. Exit that mine – and you are in a salt mine – with life-sized miners using pick-axes to cut salt ‘cubes’ from the walls. Walk a bit further, and you are in more mechanized times – horse-drawn sleds, tracks running beneath your feet, electric lights. Just a bit further – and you are face to face with gigantic mining machines with bits larger than a human. This is a truly impressive bit of display work – it would be hard to leave without a feeling of pity for anyone who would have to earn their living under the earth!

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Another truly fascinating section dealt with nano-technologies. This section used the very latest in museum technologies – you passed your hand over an object – and in German and English the object was explained in quite significant detail. Neat technology – but not the best at conveying information. Because you had to pick what to learn about – it was easy to by-pass important things, and get intrigued by something less critical. Basically a confusing exhibit – but very cool technology.

Another exhibit that couldn’t help but admire – but have to admit that the designers went so far – and then dropped the ball – was in the Pharmaceutical section. There you see a picture of a naked woman (this is Europe – no clothing, no problems), are forced to focus on her eye, from there to a piece of skin above her eye, and from there to a skin cell. You then turn right – and actually enter the cell – blown up 10000 times to make room for probably 30 visitors at once. So far – so cool – but then the designers ran out of ideas. Once in the cell – it’s back to basic explanation – mostly in German. Oh well. I did like that one section of floor looked like cell wall – I think the entire floor should have been made like that – it would have been far more impressive.

There’s also a model train layout – huge of course – HO scale – that is ‘animated’ 3 times a day. When animated, the cameras on the front of the trains are turned on – and you see the scene from the perspective of the engineer. A very neat effect.

Under the – scare the wits out of people heading – they have a huge exhibit on static electricity – which ends with a house bursting into flames from a lightning strike. Very noisy – but not something I haven’t seen before.

The very highly reviewed Physics section has every mechanical advantage demonstration tool I’ve ever seen – very hands on – very fun – but limited explanations. I was left thinking that kids probably press the buttons – pull the levers – and roll the balls – and then walk out – none the wiser.

Bottom line – Do go. It’s way cool to see the full-sized planes, boats, power tools, printing presses, telephone exchanges, even an old IBM 360 – the computer I learned to program on in 1966. Be sure to visit the Mining section – you’ll have to hike down stairs quite a bit – and then gradually work your way up thru the various exhibits – but it’s truly amazing. Don’t be surprised at the lack of English – some sections are well labeled, others have nary a word of English. And Don’t expect an audio guide. You will be disappointed. But I’d rate the Mining section alone a must see in Munich. I’ve never seen anything better anywhere – and that includes really coal and silver mines!

Life Styles of the Rich and Famous – the Princess of Thurn and Taxis for example


Regensburg, Germany is a relatively small – but historically important walled city in Germany. The old town dates back to the stone age – and for quite some time – it served as the capital of Bavaria. The ecclesiastical part of Charlemagne’s General Assembly was held here in 792. So this town is no sleeper!

We visited for 2 main reasons – one to visit the ‘Schloss’ or Palace of the Prince of Thurn and Taxis, and 2nd to see the stone bridge that part of Napoleon’s army (the 3me ligne) fought hard and long to win in 1809.

Seeing the bridge was easy. It’s just there. But seeing the Palace – naturally that required some planning ahead. Regine (one of our German friends who lives in Switzerland) made reservations for us weeks ago – and it was a good thing too – getting English tours is consistently challenging here in Germany.

Why did Regensburg rate having the Prince of Thurn and Taxis build a Palace? It turns out that from 1663 until 1806 – Regensburg was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, which of course made it very important. That wasn’t enough – what got the Palace built was the relocation of the Reichpost to Regensburg in 1748 – and as the head of the Post – the Prince of Thurn and Taxis needed a new home. However – they didn’t take possession of this Palace until 1812, when secularization laws forced the Benedictine Order to give up possession of the Cloisters of St. Emmeram, and the property came into the ownership of the family of Thurn and Taxis.

According to our tour guide – the family of Thurn and Taxis rated the inherited title of Postmaster General because the idea of postal stations was their invention. The pony express concept – horses and riders waiting at stations along the route – so the mail never starts – was invented by this family between 1200 and 1400.

Don’t believe me – check it out at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurn_und_Taxis

With all the visitors coming and going – having a nice place to entertain was important. And so the Palace was built using part of the Monastery of St. Emmeram. It’s been maintained because the family still lives on the upper floors and is reported to be one of the wealthiest in Germany!

Their story doesn’t end badly – despite eventually losing all the lucrative postal business to the government starting in 1806 as Germany was increasingly centralized. They recovered part of the business for a while by creating a company (Thurn and Taxis Post) – but eventually the entire thing became a government monopoly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurn-und-Taxis_Post

Because the Palace and the Monastery are in fact co-joined – a visit to the Palace includes a tour of the remaining portion of the Cloister – primarily the hall and the church. Outside of the Palace compound, but also part of the same complex is the Church of St. Emmeran – also worth visiting. It’s wooden painted ceiling is hundreds of years old. When we were there – they were setting up for a wedding – a combination of old and new – with music ranging from ‘You light up my Life’ to ‘Somewhere beyond the Sea’. Blue and White balloons contributed to the festive air!

If the Palace were just a museum – it would be interesting. But what make the Palace special, as I mentioned before, is that current Princess of Thurn and Taxis (Gloria) still lives in the Palace, along with her son and 2 daughters. She has her own line of jams, jellies, and wines – and has written (with maybe some help) several books on what it is like to be a member of royalty. She was quite young when she married the former prince – so it’s not a huge surprise that today she’s the regent for her son. If you check out her history – she had quite a wild youth (from a being a waitress in St. Moritz to becoming the wife of a hugely wealthy, much much older man has to have been a challenge), but when hit with inheritance taxes (by some reports – over $2 billion), she quickly settled down into a remarkable business woman. Check her out in detail at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria,_Princess_of_Thurn_and_Taxis

Until 1998 the family owned a brewery, and despite selling the ‘firm’ to the Paulaner Group, they still have their own brand – Thurn and Taxis of course.

They even have their own board game.

On the walls were several outstanding pieces of modern art – nestled along side century old tapestries, glorious inlaid tables, and magnificent ceiling paintings. My favorite painting is of one of Therese, wife of Karl Alexander, 5th Prince of Thurn and Taxis – painted in 1811 – and showing her sporting the new style of ‘undress’ or Regency Style clothing made famous by Josephine, wife of Napoleon!

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Therese_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz

My favorite part of the house? The ballroom of course. Decorated extensively in high fashion Rocco gold and gilt – and fitted with electric lights (the family still lives here – remember) – you can easily envision elegantly clad men and women dancing the evening away.

Sigh

Beer and my long lost tea pot – Color me Happy!


Sometimes a little imagination can go a really long way – and that’s pretty much sums up the art of Friedensreich Hundertwasser – or Fred Hundred Waters. I first saw his work in Montreal – the Museum of Fine Arts mounted an exposition – and I was totally blown away. Known for his outstanding use of colors and design – and lack of anything resembling straight lines – I promptly invested in one of his posters.

Several years later – in around 2005, I saw his tea cups – well, not really his tea cups – but tea/coffee cups that one of the high-end German porcelain producers made featuring his art. It was love at first sight. But I could only afford 6 mugs and saucers – the tea-pot that matched just seemed an impossible purchase. Naturally – I’ve mourned that decision for years – and have carefully been keeping my eyes out for it. Never saw it again.

Fast forward to October 2013 – Our wonderful German hosts suggested that we visit one of the best and oldest breweries in Bavaria – Kuchlbauer. Being rather keen beer drinkers – and always fond of the lighter ‘Wheat’ beers – we promptly agreed. Now imagine our surprise when we found out that not only are they known for their beer, their copy of the last supper (full size and painted in a grotto), and their singing dwarfs (I kid you not) – they have an amazing Hundertwasser designed tower. Beer and probably my favorite artist – it’s a plan!

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So we drive to the brewery. Next to the parking lot is the newest work being built life-sized from his plans – I think it’s a church – but you can judge for yourself.

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After taking a long hard look at this newest example of art on the loose, we enter and sign up for the tour. It’s a bit pricy as these things go – but the gal selling tickets promises us it will be worth it. Things don’t start off that well – because it’s German Unification Day – there are no workers to observe – so while we can admire the equipment – it’s not really functional.

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Things go from ok to weird when we enter a grotto and are serenaded by dwarfs that represent the steps to beer making. Or at least I think that’s what they were singing about – it was all in German.

From there it was out into the daylight – and finally our look at the tower. It’s pretty cool.

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Inside the brewery there were demo versions, at least one built by Hundertwasser himself, the rest built by local artists following his designs. But for the real thing – you must go outside. Wow. What a tower. We climb the 150 steps to the top – admire the view of the totally solar-powered brewery below us – and then climb down.

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Now it’s time for beer tasting – and in German a taste is at least a 1/2 litre! They give us 4 bottles of beer and 4 wonderful tasting pretzels, my favorite part. We enjoy the beer, scarf down the pretzels, and then decide to buy 4 of the very unique beer glasses they are using. Victor sends me into the shop on my own – and what do I see? My tea-pot! Finally – I found it. Or perhaps better said – it found me.

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We have an emotional reunion, and I leave the proud owner of the most amazing tea-pot – and 4 beer glasses – gift from the owner of the brewery who was delighted to finally sell the tea-pot!

Great tour, Good beer, and my tea-pot – I’m happy!

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BMW Welt (World) – It’s all about the Cars!


Our friend Helmut works for BMW – so a visit to their house was definitely going to include a plant visit. What I didn’t expect to find was an organized touring schedule – replete with packaged video’s, museum quality audio projection system for the tour guide, and naturally – a up close and personal visit with your friendly robots! But BMW sees plant tours as a marketing tour – and packages them accordingly. Unlike Porsche, which wanted over $700 to do a plant tour – the BMW tours are reasonable, which explains why they were complete booked the day we went. Thank goodness for reservations.

Anyway – the tour. You begin at the BMW welt – a specially designed massive building part of which is shaped like 2 stacked cones.

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Inside the glass doors are several huge areas devoted to various BMW product lines – there’s a section for the mini, there’s a ‘junior’ world exhibit to keep kids entertained (and informed), and on the 2nd floor – the personal car pick-up zone. If you come to Munich to take possession of your new car – you can expect only the best! A private dining room, your car presented on its own rotating platform, and then a personal ‘road’ out of the Welt and onto the streets of Munich. Nice.

For the average Soup Lady and friends – there’s a cafe offering drinks and light meals, a BMW life-style shop, a motorcycle demo which had the helmeted rider going up and down huge staircases, and the plant tour. The tour starts with a nicely produced video of the history of BMW, including an apology for using forced labor during WWII. Then a quick safety lecture (no walking outside the yellow lines, no pictures, no cell phones, no leaving the group), and we’re off.

The sprawling plant was originally built far from the city center, but the city of Munich has grown around it. There’s now a metro station right at the entrance – and across the street are the left-over buildings of the 1972 Olympics. Surrounded on all sides by housing, shops, and streets, the BMW plant blends into its surroundings, hidden in plain view.

Our tour takes us into the starting point of every BMW vehicle – the press room. Huge automated presses take flat steel and create the frames of the cars. These frames are then transported to huge rooms filled with Robots that pick up each piece, identify the type of car to be built, and then glue or bolt or spot weld the frames together.

The Munich plant only makes 3 types of BMW cars – the 3 series coupe and wagon, and the 4 series coupe. That means only 2 basic body types – but lots of options for paint color, engine, and interior. And every car is pre-sold! So each car – starting at the press room – is already pre-defined for its final look. The task is to make this happen without stopping between the steps.

Once the humanoid acting robots do the spot welding, the frames go to the body shop for their paint jobs. Robot ‘artists’ open the doors, spray on the multiple coats of paint, all while the cars are slowly moving continuously thru the plant. Attached to each frame is a transponder telling the robots what type of car, what color, what finishing needs to be done. The robots just follow the directions.

After painting, the cars spend several hours drying before the electronics, the seats, the dashboards, the chrome is carefully attached. As each car is pulled from the drying room – it joins an endless parade of cars – each being assembled. In the electronics section, there is a human ballet happening. Co-workers are assigned multi-function positions, and they rotate around the cars, standing on the conveyor belt so that they are standing still relative to the moving cars. The gas tanks are added, the padding inserted, the electronics attached. After each group of steps, a photograph is taken, and compared by both human and computer to the ‘model’. Any variation from the model is flagged – and the car removed from the assembly line for ‘repair’. Our guide explains that the system is so good that days can go by without a single car flagged for a ‘fix’.

We couldn’t tour the engine assembly room (the tour section is under renovation), but we did get to watch seats being assembled and put into moving baskets that would join up with the car assembly line just as the car for which they were intended made its appearance. Cool, eh?

It takes approximately 40 hours from rolled steel to finished car – as long as there is no problem on the line. When the cars roll off the line they are either loaded onto a train, or onto a truck for ‘local’ delivery. ‘Local’ includes the personal pick-up – but a truck is required because the cars must cross a road – and there would be too many individual cars.

We end up back where we started – having walked about 3 km around the plant.

Awesome tour – great robots – and naturally – now I really want to buy a BMW. Guess the marketing worked!

The ROM – Big, Overwhelming, Awe-Inspiring, Probably a Must Visit – Certainly a Must Shop


The newly redesigned entrance to this grande dame of the museum world says it all. The ROM is here to stay – and determined to stay impressive. We showed up at opening time – wanting to avoid the crowds that a civil holiday Monday were sure to inspire.

Like most major museums – there are the ‘permanent’ exhibits, and the traveling shows or special exhibits. We opted for a combined ticket that gave us access to everything – $26 each, but we’re talking a full day of walking, reading, listening and thinking. Worth it for adults, maybe not as child friendly as today’s kids might expect.

The ‘Special’ Exhibit during our visit was a very interesting one on Mesopotamia. Replete with some pretty new technology – like carved stone reliefs that came to life to show you the story they were telling in a more ‘modern’ fashion, seeing just this one exhibit took us most of the morning. That said – people shot past us frequently – either unable or unwilling to read and listen. But I found the content fascinating, the short ‘expert interviews’ appealing, and some of the technology on display impressive. My favorite, the recreation of the city of Babylon, complete with people walking the streets.

The permanent exhibits represent a quick look at just about every thing that caught the eye or interest of curators in the past. The guide gives you a handy hot list of the 13 or so ‘not to be missed’ exhibits – easily identified by the presence of a video monitor on a post nearby. Watching these quick intros into the why and wherefores of these major collectables was interesting to say the least. And believe it or not – took up all the rest of the day. It’s a huge place. Trust me on that!

For those who eat in Museums – I must say that I had some of the best food I’ve ever had in a museum in the unassuming ROM cafe. Delicious, reasonable, kid friendly, attractively presented. What’s not to like.

Is this my favorite museum in Toronto? No
Is this a must visit museum? If in Toronto, probably Yes
Would I see this one first? No
Would I see this one on my second day, or if the weather were terrible? Absolutely Yes

There you have it. The ROM
Visited August 2013

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons – A must visit Museum!


Sainte-Marie among the Hurons – Midland, Ontario. Not just your average Museum

Several years ago I was lucky enough to visit this Museum and Living History Re-creation, and my memories were so strong, I insisted that we go again. I didn’t have enough time to really look hard at the museum, the outdoor portion is so outstanding.

A little history as background – From 1639 to 1648, here in an isolated and seemingly abandoned part of Canada, the Jesuits established and maintained a settlement among the Wendat (Huron) Indians. Their purpose was to convert the natives of course, but the trading opportunities were of great interest as well. Eventually – attacks by the Iroquois became too much for the colony to continue, although the loss of the founders – Fathers Jean de Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant – might have been the determining factor.

This museum/living history exhibit attempts to recreate the settlement in great historical detail. The exhibit starts with a 15 minute movie – which ends with the screen opening to reveal the entry to the outdoor component. There we find an entire settlement, numerous costumed interpreters available to provide explanations and in-depth descriptions of the soldier’s barracks, the Stone Bastions, the Granaries, the Gardens, the Cookhouse, the Hospital, the Chapel, and my favorite – a non-Christian Longhouse. Still in use during reenactments, the Longhouse smells of smoky fires, and feels full of Wendat Legends and tales.

It’s wonderful.

But even better is the museum, which starts with the cobbled streets of Europe of the 1630’s. There are movies galore – available in both English and French with the press of the correct button. There’s a sideshow describing a canoe trip from Montreal to the Midlands done in traditional clothes – which means full habits for the Jesits – 39 portages, and numerous rapids. In another section, there are a series of short videos of Wendat stories and tales. The walls of the museum start off resembling the towns in Europe, and end off becoming the woods of Northern Ontario. Among the birches and pines are set the exhibits, examples of tools and axes typical of the period, books of Jesuit prayers, the bits and pieces of everyday life in Northern Ontario in 1650.

Remarkable and well worth visiting.

Spencerville Mill Heritage Days – Living History can be so much Fun


The War of 1812 is big news in Canada – at least the part along the St. Lawrence River. In the Canadian History books, we are the winners, and the War is a source of pride. And given that this is 2013 – We are in the middle of a series of 200 year celebrations. Spencerville Mill Heritage Days is a part of that – and like most 1812 celebrations – it’s free.

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As Napoleonic Reenactors – we’ve come to be a part of the celebrations. On Friday there are dance lessons followed by a pig roast. On Saturday – more dance lessons, a 45 minute skirmish between the Americans (bolstered by a member of the French Imperial Guard), and a series of planned lectures – including one on dueling, another on medical expertise in 1813, and two rather boring historical lectures on clothing. At night will be the Grand Regency Ball. On Sunday the schedule includes more lectures – including one called ‘Petticoats on the Battlefield’, another called “Period Cooking”, visits to sutlers (period correct craftsman and women), and finally clean-up.

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We are 3 – my husband who will be re-enacting as Imperial Guard during the fighting, and then coming to the ball as Royal Horse Artillery, I’m doing a period grand lady – Lady Bertram carrying Pug to be specific – for the ball. During the skirmish, I’ll do ‘Vivandaire’ duty – which puts me on the battlefield but behind the troops. Meanwhile, my granddaughter will also be ‘doing’ a grand lady for the ball, and a fellow camp follower during the day.

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So much for our plans. How did it turn out? Well parts exceeded expectations – a very good thing. My favorite parts – the ‘medical’ lecture which was so interesting, we actually went twice. Pug even volunteered for brain surgery. He loved the laudanum, and did better at staying still than the next volunteer, who screamed dramatically from the ‘pain’.

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And I adored the English Country Dancing! There were probably about 60 dancers in total – many of them with a great deal of experience. This means that it is a lot easier to look good – you can rely on your partner to guide you if you get confused.

For those who don’t know English Country Dancing from Ballet – a quick description. Generally English Country Dancing is done in long lines – men on the right, women on the left – with a caller. The practice sessions differ from the Ball in two ways – first everyone wears period dress to the ball, and second, the caller takes a bit more time going over the dances. So if you’re a ‘newbie’ – you just go to the practice sessions! Another important fact about English Country Dancing – it’s considered very rude to only dance with the person you came with. The idea is to change partners on every dance – never doing a repeat if you can avoid it. This way you get to meet other people – and since it’s the expected way to behave – your partner can’t get upset about it. I think it’s fun!
And my third highlight – the fireworks! They were amazing, done by a local fireworks company called Han Fireworks – they lasted at least 15 minutes – and it’s was finale after finale.

For the skirmish – there were 2 cannons – one on each side – plus our side – the Americans has a Blunderbus – a hand carried musket that creates an unbelievable amount of noise. Unfortunately, the British are the victors – out numbering and overwhelming the Americans – who end up having to flee with they fix bayonets and charge. We tried for an orderly retreat – but ended up fleeing with our lives to fight another day.

Bottom line – fun for the participants – fun for the spectators – and you even got to learn something about living history. The perfect definition of a Win-Win situation.

Biltmore Day 2 – Better than Day 1 – how cool is that?


Today is Saturday – Father’s Day – and we’ve been warned. The one lane road that goes from the ticket booth to the Biltmore (about 5 miles long) – can take up to 45 minutes – it gets that crowded. So show up early – or else.

So early it will be. We manage to get up, get breakfast, take 2 mile ‘fast walk’, shower, do laundry, and still leave the condo by 9:05. Not bad – our target had been 9:00. So congrats sister team!

Naturally – we are there so early – it’s no problem to do the drive (lovely – a different vista with every snake-like turn of the road – a stream here, a pond there, a bamboo forest here, a hardwood forest there. Ormsted (landscaper of Biltmore, Central Park – and Mount Royal in Montreal) was no fool. This is awesome landscaping. We hazard a guess as to the number of gardeners – naturally – we’re off – it’s actually 55. Which honestly – feels low given the size of the gardens and the year-round nature of their care. Guess they have a tight scheduled. Today the Rose Garden, tomorrow the Azalea, then we mow some lawn.

Our specialized tour today is the Architecture tour – but first we check out the indoor pool, the pictures of the construction (George V knew this was going to be amazing – so he has before and after pictures – hard to believe it was that barren before. Such vision), the kitchen (again), and the laundry rooms. So cool.

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For the architecture tour – our lovely hostess starts with a down and dirty history – this is where we learn that Cornelia actually deserted her family when times got tough, leaving her husband and kids (and grand kids) to maintain the house. Then we walk up 250 stairs to the roof – and visit the attic, pat some of the gargoyles, and take pictures of what our hostess refers to as fantasies (and Wikipedia calls ‘grotesques’). The difference? Gargoyles – gargle. When the water goes thru them, they make a noise – hence the name. Fantasies don’t allow the water thru – they are just for fun. Check out the pictures (bit X rated – sorry)

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On this tour – it’s not so much what we see as what we hear that is cool. Our hostess shares tons of tidbits – and that makes it really fun.

Lunch today is shared sandwiches from the bakery. I have to say that the food options are outstanding – they really do a good job. Later I learn from my daughter – a graduate of Culinary Institute of America – that lots of the interns come here – and the ability shines thru. They have their ‘food’ act together!

Finally – we are hitting the gardens. And they are spectacular. It’s hard to explain why acres and acres of grounds should be so special – but it’s the variety and the twists and turns that makes this place so cool. You literally never know what will be around the next corner. Could be a stone wall, a fountain, the Italian gardens with their highly structured layout, the huge glassed in Conservatories, the Bass Pond for boating, or the Spring Garden – a riotously joyful explosion of flower and plant. We spend way too long, and way too much money in the garden shop. In my defense – it was probably the best garden shop I’ve ever been in, and finally drag ourselves back to the car. We still plan to visit Ashville!

But before Ashville – we must stop at Antler Hill Village and Winery. This is the home of the Inn at Biltmore – a monster of a ‘Hotel’ that towers above the ‘village’ with it’s collection of shops, an exhibit on the Vanderbilt’s, a maze, a kid’s Land Rover Course (you know you want to drive a midget Land Rover over rock bridges and obstacles don’t you), the farm, the barn, the kitchen garden, and the miniature winery. We’re not impressed with the winery – they don’t even grow their own grapes – but the rest is cute if way over priced. Maybe we’d feel differently if we’d had kids – but the off-key singing of the musician on stage was extremely off-putting.

So now it’s on to Ashville. Cute town, cute shops, great little ‘art’ market, and my favorite – the Mast General Store. Dinner, drive home (avoiding all deer), and bed time. Tomorrow is check out and leave. So much fun, so quickly done.

Biltmore Estate in Ashville, N.C. – A house definitely worth a 2 day visit!


Some houses are big, some houses are insanely big – and then there’s the Biltmore. It defies description today – probably the most common reaction when George Vanderbilt – grandson of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt – decided he needed a pied-a-tere in a remote corner of Ashville, NC.

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Talking about a good idea that got carried away. The Biltmore has 240 rooms (including closets and toilets according to our guide), an indoor pool, an indoor garden, servant quarters by the dozens – and no residents. The Vanderbilt’s only really lived there for 35 years – 2 years longer than I’ve owned my home. It took 5 years to build, many more years to furnish – and was opened to the public by Cornelia Vanderbilt (age 30) in 1930, mostly I’m guessing because the family had simply run out of money to maintain it. In any case, shortly afterwards she divorced her husband, left him to raise their 2 kids and tend to the monster of a house – and went to England. There she changed her name and lived quietly for a long time before she died. Today the home is still owned by her kids and grandkids.

All of which reminds me that money just doesn’t make you happy. Even lots and lots of money.

In the Wikipedia write-up – the authors speculate that George probably spent his entire inheritance on this house – an idea that while appealing, just doesn’t seem right. The family owned at least 4 other homes – so while this one might have been horribly expensive – in those days – it was probably considered just extravagant – but not ruinous. Nope – I think their lack of business smarts did them in, not just the house.

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Anyway – our tour. We opted to not only pay for admittance ($49 each) – and get an audio head-set (another $10) – but to take not one but two of the topic specific tours ($17 each). I’d say we’d Vanderbilt out! The Butler’s tour was up first – and our cheerful and extremely knowledgeable guide lead us upstairs and down – showing us the room where the housekeeper lived, explaining the intercom system, letting us admire the freight elevator that even the staff couldn’t use, and letting us peek into Edith Vanderbilt’s toilet, bath and shower. One oddity – there was no sink. In those days – servants brought you water in a pitcher and you washed in a bowl. Kept people employed I’d imagine.

After the tour – we ate lunch in the Stable Cafe – in a horse stall of course. I shared a huge bowl of Mac n’Cheese with my sister. It was totally yummy. Then it was on to the audio tour of the house itself.

While the butler’s tour was interesting and informative – the house tour left you stunned. How could people imagine such a place – then execute it. Four floors plus a basement, glorious art, stunningly beautiful views (it was a great day – I’m sure that helped), huge pieces of furniture. The main dining room – used for family meals as well as banquets was huge – 3 stories high, hung with tapestries bought from Europe, and for musical entertainment – a huge organ.

We toured the bedrooms, admired the wall coverings, gasped in delight at the books in the library, admired the magnificent tile work in the indoor pool, and wondered at the distance between the master bedroom, the wife’s bedroom, and the childbirth room. I suppose if you have to change clothes 4 and 5 times a day – you need a lot of private space. (Oh I can’t wear that – it’s for eating lunch – and I’m going to stroll in the gardens – how silly of you!)

Our tour us through the kitchen, the pastry kitchen, and most interesting – the laundry room. I particularly loved the drying racks for sheets. Ever wonder how often they changed the sheets in those days? We did – and we asked. Daily was the answer! Imagine a team of laundry people whose only job was to keep the bed linen cleaned. Can you imagine – and no electric washers and dryers either. All done by hand.

We took so long – they closed the house around us – and we got to watch the highly trained and extremely informative staff get searched before heading home.

As the security guard explained – it’s for their benefit. If something goes missing – I can say – I searched them – they are clean.

We finally got up sufficient umpf to leave – but realizing that we hadn’t seen the gardens, or even finished up touring the house – we decided to take the $10 next day option. We shall clearly be Vanderbilting again tomorrow.

Heroes of Korea’s Golden Ages – Admiral Yi Sunshin and King Sejong


“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797)

I think Edmund was onto something here – Knowing the past (not worrying about it – that’s different) isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing if you use it to help in the present!

And Koreans love their heroes – and two of the most famous, and most revered are King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sunshin. There are statues of them here and there, just about every museum mentions something about them, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they each rate an entire free exhibit, interestingly enough located in the basement of the Seoul Museum of Art. I’d seen signs for these exhibits when we’d first hit Seoul – but it took us almost our entire visit to get up the energy to go. I’m really sorry we waited. The exhibit on Admiral Yi Sunshin is fabulous, and while King Sejong’s isn’t quite as outstanding – it is remarkably informative.

First King Sejong. He was the fourth King of the Joseon Dynasty, he reigned from 1418 to 1450 (31 years!) and is most famous for having created the Korean alphabet (Hangeul). Just imagine that – until King Sejong – despite having their own language, Korean were using the Chinese pictogram system with its thousands of different images. King Sejong declared that Koreans deserved something better – and he created it with the help of advisers. He even wrote books and music in the new alphabet to help make it popular.

The Koreans went from having to learn tens of thousands of different symbols to learning just 28. Those 28 symbols (only 24 are in use today) were created by King Sejong, based on the way Korean is spoken. They are said to resemble the way your mouth moves when you are speaking Korean.

This I knew from countless other museum exhibits – what I didn’t know about the reign of King Sejong was that it was a golden age of invention. Under his inspiration, uniquely Korean musical instruments were created, uniquely Korean music was born, rain gauges were invented to help farmers, he had a manual written in his new alphabet to help farmers, there were multiple military advances, he inspired people to create astrological instruments, etc., etc.

Comparison note: Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1533 to 1603 – 100 years later!

King Sejong passed many laws that were – for the time – extremely revolutionary, including one that allowed new mothers, even if they were slaves, time off work to care for their babies.

If you are inspired to learn more about King Sejong – and can’t hop on a plane to fly to Korea and visit this exhibit – at least check out the Wikipedia article about him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejong_the_Great
He is amazing. Exhibit was pretty good too.

But it was the exhibit on Admiral Yi Sunshin that I found the most intriguing. Remember – the Intrepid Traveler is a Docent in Montreal – so how museum exhibits are designed is almost as important to us as the information they are trying to convey. This exhibit neatly demonstrated almost all the newest ideas about how to ‘teach history’ – in one relatively tiny space.

Quick history – Admiral Yi Sunshin lived from 1545 to 1598. He created the ‘Turtle Ship’, a completely new warship and was instrumental in defeating the Japanese at sea during the Imjin War (the Japanese Invasions of Korea 1592-1598). In one of his most famous sea battles – he faced 131 Japanese war ships with only 13 of his own – and won. Not only did he win, but he didn’t lose a boat – and his ships destroyed 33 of the Japanese vessels before the Japanese retreated. Clearly an outstanding strategist.

He was demoted several times (not the easiest guy to get along with I’m thinking), he was actually stripped of his rank and imprisoned at one point, and yet he came back again and again to fight for his country. He was killed by a bullet during his last battle.

But it’s not this history, neat as it is, that made this exhibit so impressive – it was how they tried to make it interesting that most impressed me.

There was an interactive electronic picture book that was appeared in the language of your choice, and was read to you – in your language, as you ‘flipped’ the pages electronically. Cool.

There was an interactive game that put you and a friend on the rowing oar of a ‘turtle ship’ – invented by Admiral Yi Sunshin – chasing a fleeing Japanese vessel. There was a wooden model of a turtle ship (50% size) that you could enter to see what if felt like inside (very claustrophobic), there were 2 very realistic guns and 2 slow loading cannons of the period that you could ‘fire’ at attacking ships, there was a movie about one of his famous battles with sound effects on multiple screens with English sub-titles that ended with the screen disappearing and the model of the turtle ship suddenly appearing (remember – it’s huge), in front of you – as if you were being attacked.

There was even a 4D battle movie, about 8 minutes long, that featured puffs of air, water spray and moving chairs while you watched a naval battle unfurl in front of you. Well worth waiting to see.

2 Impressive Exhibits – both free, one opened on October 9, 2009 (Hangeul Day), the other opened on April 28, 2010 in honor of Admiral Yi Sunshin’s date of birth – and both running continuously since then. I’d rate these a must see if you visit Seoul – and I wouldn’t be alone there – they have had at least 230,000 visitors since they opened!

Signing off to go watch a Korean version of Glee (see tomorrows blog) – The Soup Lady and the Intrepid Traveler