After more than a year at home, punctuated only by grocery shopping and outdoor walks, we made a step toward normality by visiting some indoor sights in the Monterey area. There are lots of places on our list, museums, the famous Monterey Aquarium, the Carmel Mission, and the many historic houses that predate the USContinue reading “We step into museums again”
Tag Archives: Museums
Indoors in Charleston
We wanted to avoid the heat of a late summer day and find something interesting to do in an indoor, air-conditioned place that was not a shopping mall. The Charleston Museum seemed to fill the bill. We could have walked, but with high humidity and the temperature hovering around 90 (F.) we decided to saveContinue reading “Indoors in Charleston”
Auckland in Three Meals
We stopped in Auckland on our way back to the US. We didn’t need to, there are direct flights from Brisbane to the US, but we saved a mint, so decided to do it. We arrived on Monday afternoon and left on Wednesday morning, taking a brief culinary tour during our stay. We began withContinue reading “Auckland in Three Meals”
Dodging Showers at Tweed Regional Gallery
The recent rains are supposedly abating and we planned an indoor/outdoor day to hedge our bets. First stop was the Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre in Murwillumbah, a 25 minute drive from our house. Not large, but very lively, this young institution aims to be a hub for cultural activity and seemsContinue reading “Dodging Showers at Tweed Regional Gallery”
Sydney through the eyes of painters
The forecast was rain, putting museum visits at the top of the day’s activities. We have visited both the northern and southern extremities of Botany Bay and Sydney Harbor, so when I read that a painting of the view from the North Head was newly installed in the National Library of New South Wales, itContinue reading “Sydney through the eyes of painters”
Movies in Melbourne
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image is right in the middle of Melbourne, on Federation Square across the street from the main train station. This vast center(re) offers a schedule of movie screenings every day, along with permanent galleries, and temporary exhibits. We spent all day there and ended up with visual overeload whileContinue reading “Movies in Melbourne”
MONA: The Museum of Old and New Art
MONA is a new phenomenon just outside Hobart, a huge museum meandering up and down over three floors built into the side of a hill. Visitors arrive via ferry from the city, getting a great view of the Derwent River and the MONA facade as they arrive. Drivers walk down a path beside a bandContinue reading “MONA: The Museum of Old and New Art”
Visiting Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula
My mental map of Christchurch is a triangle. The city center is near the top. The lower right corner is the Banks Peninsula, an ancient volcano that on the map looks like a huge pinwheel. The lower left corner is Lake Ellesmere, a very large, shallow lagoon that is barely connected to the sea throughContinue reading “Visiting Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula”
Wonders in Wellington
Wellington is not a large city and though it is hilly, the downtown is along the water and easy to walk. Even driving on the left it wasn’t too difficult to navigate. We’ve always been able to find parking and figure out how to pay for it. There are about three coffee shops on eachContinue reading “Wonders in Wellington”
Northland, New Zealand
We wanted to see the far north of New Zealand. We didn’t get to Cape Reinga, the tip of a long finger of land that points north from the rest of the island, but we got to the knuckles, around Doubtless Bay. One long sandy bay after another stretches along the north end of NewContinue reading “Northland, New Zealand”