Muse at a Museum

May 18 is International Museum Day.

“Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”

Read more at The International Council of Museums here.

As a certified museum nerd, I visit art and history museums whenever I get the chance, plus belong to the feeds of many museums around the world.

Am sure the smallest museum I've visited is the Serpent Mound State Memorial, in Peebles, Ohio: what a fantastic place!

Image from History.com

The largest museum that my feet have been in would be The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, which is ranked #4 on the list of largest museums in the world.

Have also visited #5: American Museum of Natural History, also in New York City, and #6, The British Museum, in London, UK.

Artist: William Merritt Chase (American, 1849–1916).

Subject: James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903).

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The more unique museums that I've enjoyed so far:

The Queen Mary, Long Beach, California

The Lucky Cat Mewseum, Cincinnati, Ohio

The Roman Baths, Bath, UK

International UFO Museum and Research Center, Roswell, New Mexico

Trinity College of Dublin Library, Book of Kells, Dublin, Ireland

Mothman Museum, Point Pleasant, West Virginia

Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC

Troll Hole Museum, Alliance, Ohio

There is always something new to see and to learn at the museum!

~~~

Henry Update:

*in a whisper*

*Henry has been eating steadily, as he only receives INABA Churu Meal Mousse Adult Wet Cat Food, Tuna Variety, and this is NOT an ad for the product.*

*Have found that he doesn't respond to the canned food that Da Boyz get, nor did he enjoy the fresh, ground turkey that The Hubby recently cooked, which should make Trout Talkin' Tabbies happy.*

*Do not want to type any of this out loud, 'cause ya know, everything can change in a heartbeat!*

~~~

Let's Hop!

Trip Recap: Bath and Avebury

Trip Recap Posts:

I'm Back!!!

What I Brought

The Travel

Cat Art

The Food

Bath is a remarkable city; we took a train from London, which lasted less than 2 hours.  Bath is known for it's semi-circle buildings, of which the most famous is the Royal Crescent; architect Christopher Wren, who built many important UK buildings.  

The Circus, in Bath

Hot air ballooning is
a favorite pass time in Bath

We rented an apartment for the two days we were in Bath, with it's own garden and private entrance.  It had a full kitchen, a shower room, a full bathroom, and a lavatory just off the foyer.  All of the pleasures of home!

Our apartment, above the art gallery

This was our private garden

Of course, we made a tour of the Roman Bath, that has been carefully preserved.  The water is no longer healthy for humans, since bacteria has infiltrated the underground spring.  The Romans used the baths for business, pleasure, and felt it was necessary for healthy living.  The entire ancient complex is quite large, however much of it was built upon long ago.  

Ancient Roman Bath

Roman Statues

Notice how the walkway is suspended above
the old stones

On our last day in Bath, Sunday, one sister and niece attended a service at Bath Abbey, other sister and niece visited with friends (who recommended Bath as a destination and they were RIGHT!), so I nabbed a quick train to Swindon, then a short bus ride to Avebury Henge and Stone Circles.  Avebury is only upstaged by Stonehenge in the minds of the average person, but Avebury is accessible; you can touch the stones, walk the entire perimeter, and feel the power for the formations!  I took many photos, but you cannot grasp the size of the monoliths unless you are there.  I've included some images taken from an old travel brochure too, so you can get a sense of the scope.  Look, there is an entire village in the middle of it...that's one big, honking circle!

Avebury World Heritage Site

This grouping in the old guide...

...and my photo!
The couple standing in front give you a sense of size

Map of Avebury

Standing stone

From the guide

It was fantastic!

Many folks had tried to dissuade us from visiting Stonehenge, saying you only get to see the remaining stones (you know that many have disappeared or fallen over in the past thousand years?) from a walkway.  Seeing Stonehenge was important to me, being an archaeologist and historian, but wait...I can walk up and TOUCH the stones at Avebury?!?  'Nuff SAID!  And what a beautiful day I had; truly, one of the highlights of the entire trip for me.