Museum

September 26, 2015

Zuiderzee Museum – Story of a Rich Culture

Our trip to the city of Amsterdam was coming to an end. We witnessed some of the great historic places of the city along with its amazing museums which made this trip for all of us a great success. The food and beverages at various cafes and restaurants of the city also needs a special mention. Before heading back to India, we went to pay visit to a last attraction and an important museum of the city known as Zuiderzee Museum.

zuiderzee museum

Zuiderzee museum | Image Resource : wikimedia.org

The Zuiderzee museum is one of the most captivating museums of the city which is divided into two parts the open air Buitenmuseum, and an indoor Binnenmuseum. The first section which we visited inside the museum was the Buitenmuseum which was opened in the year 1983. The section showcases how Zuiderzee life was between the years 1880 – 1932 by assembling all their houses, farms and sheds.

The inhabitants of the Zuiderzee tribe are dressed in traditional dresses and also have real bakery shops, chemists and sweet shops. The basic purpose of this section is to preserve the culture of the Zuiderzee people which the Dutch seemed to lose while chasing Modernity and development.

The next section where we visited was the Binnenmuseum. This is an indoor museum and is in a form of home and a warehouse of the Dutch Shipping Merchant. The displays inside the museum include paintings, prints and other materials which relates to fishing and farming industry of the city. Some of the cultural artefacts and symbols of Dutch are also on display at the museum. Artefacts like Jewellery, costumes, stones, porcelain; silver and gold are put on display signifying the Dutch wealth during the era.

The museum is a great place to learn more about the transition of the Holland journey toward development and Progress and also how its indigenous people used to live. The way museum is organised and divided into some of the interesting sections is worth an admiration.

This visit to the Zuiderzee museum was our last in the city of Amsterdam. We were now getting ready to go back to our homes taking some of the profound memories of the place and its culture.

September 10, 2015

Destination Of The Week : Frans Hals Museum Netherlands

frans hals museum netherlands

Frans Hals Museum Netherlands | Image Resource : netherlands-tourism.com

Summarization : Another popular tourist destination in Netherlands is the Frans Hals Museum Netherlands. It is named after the famous 17th-century Frans Hals paintings. The museum is located in the Harlem city of Netherlands. Though it was established centuries back, it is one of most well maintained and updated museums around the world.

September 3, 2015

National Museum Of Ethnology Netherlands

national museum of ethnology netherlands

National Museum Of Ethnology Netherlands | Image Resource :  outpie.com

Description : National museum of ethnology Netherlands is another popular tourist destination of Netherlands. It is also called as the Rijksmuseum Van Oudheden Netherlands in the local Dutch language. The museum houses ancient archeological displays of various regions and eras. Being the national museum it is quite huge, it can easily take a few hours to truly explore it.

September 1, 2015

Anne Frank Museum – Depicting the Pain and Trauma of Jews during 2nd World War

The visit to the Dutch railway museum was very informative and a pleasant one. We got to know a lot about the history of railways and how through the colonial channels the railway as a technology visited the Asian nations. Though the Dutch railways is now modern with all the technical and modern facilities the railways in our nation still lags far behind their European counterparts. The next place which we visited in Amsterdam was the Anne Frank House.

Anne Frank House

Anne Frank House | Image Resource :pinimg.com

It is basically a historical and biographical museum which is dedicated to the Jewish wartime diarist known as Anne Frank. It is said that during the Second World War, Anne Frank and many other Jews hid from the Nazis in the rear of this 17th century house. Though she didn’t survive the war but her diary was published later on and the whole house was preserved later on by the Anne frank Foundation.

This museum was opened for the public in the year 1960 and still preserves the hiding room of the Jews. The museum also has exhibitions on the life and times of Anne Frank as well as on topics like inequality, discrimination and racism. The museum is a very famous location in the city and is third most popular museum after the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum.

One can see and feel the pain and trauma of those Jews who were hiding here by just seeing those small rooms where hundreds of them hid to escape the persecution from the hands of Hitler’s forces. It is also the same place where Ms Anne Frank used to write her diary and talk about the trauma of the war and persecution of the fellow Jews.

A trip to this museum gives the visitor a slight idea about how horrific the Second World War was to the European nations and to one particular community. Once we were done with the visit to the Anne Frank Museum we headed for our next place of visit which was the Westerkerk. This is the biggest church in the country built in the year 1631 and translates in English as the Western church.

June 30, 2015

Museum Of Vancouver – The Largest Civic Museum In Canada

After having a great time at the Classical Chinese garden the next destination that we headed towards was the Museum of Vancouver which was formerly known as Vancouver museum. Both my kids were very eager to visit this civic museum of Vancouver as they are always keen to know more about the history. Established in the year 1894 this local museum situated in the Vanier Park of Vancouver is of great significance as it is the oldest museum in Vancouver and also holds the honour of being the largest civic museum of Canada.

Museum of Vancouver

Museum of Vancouver | Image Resource : 48hourvisit.com

The museum was built long back but has gone through major renovation recently in the year 2008. The museum holds exhibitions and programs that focus on the past, present and the future prospects of the Vancouver city. The permanent exhibits of this museum narrate the history of Vancouver from the early 1900s to the late 1970s. The contemporary exhibits of the Vancouver museum are really groundbreaking. The museum shares its resources with the H. R. Macmillan Space centre.

Bicycle in Museum of Vancouver

Bicycle in Museum of Vancouver | Image Resource : vancouverisawesome.com

Located at the 1100 chestnut street in the Vanier Park this museum is easily accessible from all parts of the city via public transport.  The museum shares its park with the Vancouver Academy of music, the Vancouver Archives, Vancouver Maritime museum and the Bard on the beach. Built by the Art, Historical and scientific Association of the city of Vancouver this museum aims at relishing the beauty and refinements in life. This museum has been affiliated to prominent institutions namely the British Columbia Museum association, Virtual Museum of Canada, CHIN and CMA.

Animals Statue in Museum of Vancouver

Animals Statue in Museum of Vancouver | Image Resource : kitsilano.ca

The building of the museum of Vancouver was designed by the famous architect Gerard Hamilton and incorporates a planetarium as well. The roof of the museum is distinctive as it resembles the shape of a woven basket hat. The artefacts that are kept on display in the museum tell the story of the golden past of the Metro Vancouver area. The museum houses more than 65000 entities in its collection which can be searched online on the website of the MOV.

May 30, 2015

The Swedish History Museum : The Rich Culture and Heritage on Display

Once we were done with our visit to the Royal Opera House at Stockholm, Sweden, we visited the History Museum of Sweden located at Stockholm. The museum is one of the largest in the country of Sweden that has covered all the themes from Swedish history to archaeology from Mesolithic age onwards. As a lover of history I was quite fascinated and excited to visit the place. The museum houses some 10 million artefacts from across Sweden.

The museum gave us good knowledge and information about the history and culture of not only Sweden but of other Scandinavian nations like Norway, Finland and son. The history of the Royal family of Sweden is also captured by the museum. We had a lot to learn about the different races and traditional knowledge of Sweden from this museum.

swedish history museum

Swedish History Museum | Image Resource : en.wikimedia.org

There were also artefacts which showed about the horrific effects of the two world wars on the European nations. The main attraction inside the museum was the Gold Room, where a huge quantity of Gold and Silver artefacts is put on a display. These are very old artefacts some dating 1000 years back.

treasure finds in the gold room of the swedish history museum

Intricate Muslim Architecture At The Paigah Tombs In Hyderabad | Image Resource : panoramio.com

The museum is also a good site to see objects and find information about the Vikings. There were subtitles in English on all the displays. We had taken an audio guide in English for this trip to museum in order to understand the traditional artefacts and its history. The rich culture and heritage put on display at the Natural History Museum of Sweden has a lot of knowledge for the seekers and for those who are simply interested in learning about the culture of Sweden.

The gift shop in the museum has many important and interesting artefacts to buy and keep as memory of this Swedish trip. We also had a delicious coffee and some sandwiches at the restaurant of the museum. The staffs of the museum were very friendly and the best thing was that this museum was maintained very well by its authority.

coffee and sandwiches

Coffee and Sandwiches | Image Resource : yelp.com

After this delighting trip to the History Museum we planned for our visit to the final destination of our trip to Tyska Kirkan at Stockholm, about which I will be sharing in the following post.

May 12, 2015

Skansen Open Air Museum : A treat for all lovers of history

The Djurgarden Island was a vast place with many places of interest like the amusement park and museums and places. One such place of interest on the island was the open air museum of Skansen. The museum was tribute to the traditional and cultural heritage of Sweden. The museum was built in 1881 and while whole European societies were undergoing an Industrial transformation in the 19th century, Sweden was no exception. So in order to preserve some of the lost cultural and traditional heritage of Sweden this museum was built.

The history of the museum is very interesting for any lover of culture and traditional knowledge. The founder of this museum, Arthur Azelius, it is said travelled throughout Sweden to bring and transport 150 houses, shipped piece by piece to this museum in order to preserve the picture of traditional Sweden. They feared that this rapid industrialization will take over the rural aspects and give way to modernity where the traditional knowledge will be lost forever.

skansen open air museum

Skansen Open Air Museum | Image Resource : onlyworth.wordpress.com

the skansen open air museum - natural exhibitions

The Skansen Open Air Museum – Natural exhibitions | Image Resource : bestourism.com

The museum used to be a part of the Nordic museum but since 1968 it was an independent building. The open air museum spans an area of 75 acres where different craftsmen display their skills from time to time. There are open fields growing different crops and yields. We saw one such field growing tobacco which is used for the making of cigarettes.

The open air zoo was the favourite area of everyone inside the Skansen museum. The museum houses rare Scandinavian animals like brown bear, moose, gray seal, lynx, otter, and red fox and so on. Watching these animals was joy in itself. The farmsteads inside the museum too have housed many rare farm animals.

brown bear in skansen open air museum

Brown Bear in Skansen Open Air Museum | Image Resource : francisnordictrip.travellerspoint.com

moose in skansen open air museum

Moose in Skansen Open Air Museum | Image Resource : philip.greenspun.com

There were quite a number of tourists from mixed races inside the Skansen museum which suggested that tourists from around the world visit this unique and one of a kind museum in this part of the world. All of us seemed to have been thrilled with the visit to the open air museum.

The next place in our visit was the Monteliusvägen, a beautiful and scenic pathway along the astonishing Lake Malaren.

April 30, 2015

Djurgarden Stockholm : A Fairytale Island

After our trip to the historic Vasa museum it was now turn to visit the famous island situated in the central area of Stockholm known as Djurgarden. The Djurgaden Island, is home to many historical buildings, amusement parks, museums and one of the favourite recreation points of the people in Stockholm.

djurgarden stockholm

Djurgarden Stockholm | Image Resource : en.wikipedia.org

The island of Djurgarden belongs to the National City Park and was opened for the public in 1995. The amusement park of Djurgaden is the most visited of all the places in the island. The kids were very excited to visit the place and it was their special request to stay in this place for a little longer than usual.

abba museum djurgarden

ABBA Museum Djurgarden | Image Resource : telegraph.co.uk

Our trip to Djurgarden began with a short trip to the ABBA museum, a museum which is solely dedicated to the pop music group ABBA. The next place we visited was the Grona Lund amusement park, the favourite of all the kids in the island. The place was thronged by children and one could really see the joy on their faces.

The amusement park had roller coaster riders along with many other swings and merry go round. Apart from these there were many other rides for children and toddlers alike. The place was liked too much by them. This so far had been the place where they had enjoyed the most.

There is also a scenic lake called Isbaldskaret. We sat beside this lake for half an hour and the joy and serenity watching the birds was quite an amazing experience. We also went for a short trip to Nordic museum which I had requested, being a lover of history. The museum houses all the socially relevant artefacts from the history of Sweden. it was a good informative trip to the museum.

rosendal palace djurgarden

Rosendal Palace Djurgarden | Image Resource : linneabylinneanilsson.wordpress.com

skansen museum djurgarden

Skansen Museum Djurgarden | Image Resource : no.wikipedia.org

Other places which we visited included the Rosendal Palace and an open air museum called Skansen. Overall the trip to Djurgarden was an experience of a lifetime. We took many memories of that place which we will fondly remember and cherish all our life.

The next place which we decided to visit in Djurgarden was the Skansen open air museum.

April 23, 2015

Vasa Museum : A voyage to the 17th century

After a good short nap at our Comfort Hotel Stockholm, we were ready to begin our adventure. We have decided to visit all the major tourist destinations of the city, a few which I will be sharing through my posts. The first destination which we visited was the famous Vasa Museum of Stockholm.

vasa museum stockholm sweden

Vasa Museum Stockholm Sweden | Image Resource : en.wikipedia.org

The Vasa museum is a maritime museum which opened first in 1990. The museum houses the fully intact ship of the 17th century called Vasa. Located on the island of Djurgarden, the Vasa museum is home to that 64 gun wartime vessel, Vasa which sank on her maiden voyage. As a lover of history and interesting sites, this museum was quite a treat for all us. The way this nearly 400 old ship had been salvaged and restored as a cultural heritage is fascinating beyond words.

The main hall of the museum houses the ship in addition to the various archaeological findings of the 17th century which were related to the Vasa ship. There have been many architects and technicians who have worked on the beautification and renovation of the ship. The ship has now been fitted with the lower sections of all the three masts and bowsprit.

The building of the museum is equally fascinating which is dominated by a huge copper roof with amazing stylized mast representing the actual height of Vasa when she was fully rigged. The building is covered in wooden panels painted in various shades. The interior was astonishing with a large section been unpainted, bare concrete. The place served as a good point to start with our trip to this part of the world.

Everyone seemed to have enjoyed with this wonderful trip to this museum. There was so much to learn about the history, culture and architecture of the country from this place itself. The place was thronged by so many tourists when we visited the museum that it was quite evident that the museum is one of the most visited places in Stockholm.

After our trip to Vasa museum, we were ready for our next place of visit which was the Djurgarden Island in Stockholm.

April 6, 2015

Amber Museum Kaliningrad : The Yellow Stone at Its Best

Amber is among the most precious and rare stones in the world. Its golden-yellow colour has inspired and misled generations of men and women. It has been at the center of European history. Amber fossils have taken scientists back to pre-historic eras and provided essential information regarding the origin of numerous species. Russia is known for its unique museum and out of the league collection of artefacts. The Amber Museum in Kaliningrad is another example of the unorthodox museums that Russia has in abundance. The experience at the Kaliningrad museum was a memorable and exciting one for me and my family.

amber museum kaliningrad russia

Amber Museum Kaliningrad Russia | Image Resource : mototourism.eu

Museums are generally not very exciting, especially for the kids. The amber museum is by no means a usual museum. It is a masterpiece, a collection of the world’s rarest stones and jewels. 28 rooms of themed artefact based on just one jewel might make you think that the museum would be monotonous, but you will be proved wrong once you start exploring this rare and one of its kind amber museum. The themes vary from room to room starting with the origin of amber, moving on to its importance in art and architecture and then featuring precious jewels.

amber pieces in amber museum kaliningrad russia

Amber Pieces in Amber Museum Kaliningrad Russia | Image Resource : mototourism.eu

The museum also has a section which is entirely devoted to the relevance and use of amber in contemporary art forms. It will certainly make you realize that amber is not just a beautiful yellow stone. The section on amber fossils containing remains of flora and fauna millions of years old was my favourite among all sections at the museum.

amber plates at amber museum kaliningrad russia

Amber Plates at Amber Museum Kaliningrad Russia | Image Resource : whereislarry.com

The museum also contains the second largest piece of amber stone in the entire world. It is astonishing to see a 4.2 kg piece of pure amber, as a businessman I could not stop myself from estimating its cost but I failed miserably. The kids also had tremendous amounts of fun in the fossil gallery while my wife was engrossed in the precious jewels that were worn by some of the greatest monarchs of Europe. The entire trip to Russia was about exploring new avenues and I believe the amber Museum is clearly a unique experience.