Casey, Phill, and I went to the Melbourne Museum in Carlton Gardens on Sunday. Not being a history buff or museum connoisseur, you may be surprised to hear this was actually my idea. I surprise even myself. The museum is in the modern building, and the older more ornate architecture is that of the Royal Exhibition Building across from the museum, which is on the world heritage list and hosts international exhibitions and other conventions.
The museum had an exhibit on The Great Wall of China. It was really interesting to learn about how the wall was constructed. The wall was 20 feet tall and length estimates range from 1,500 to 4,000 miles. Some parts of the wall are stone, and some are earth fortifications with clay or brick lining. It was amazing to learn that a compacted earth wall would take six men two days to construct a 5' high, 6' long section of wall. Casey got excited about the clever tactic to direct all drainage to the protected territory to support vegetation growth on only that side.
Phill's excitement came later when we came across a set from the TV show "Neighbors" in the Melbourne section of the museum. Phill was beyond ecstatic to stand in their kitchen set with script lines on the countertops. "Neighbors" and "Home and Away" are two wildly popular series here (they seem like ridiculous soap operas to me, which is scoffed at by adorning fans). The section on Melbourne/Australia was probably the most interesting part for me, but my peak excitement came when we concluded our exhaustive tour of the museum (we also saw the Aboriginal history, forest, mind & body, science & life, animals, and the all important children's galleries). The whole museum was filled with kids and their lethargic parents prompting them to move it along. The worst parental offenders were nearly passed out in the children's gallery. It was really humorous. I empathized. Nearly four hours in a museum was beyond my quota (definitely for the day, probably for the month and maybe even for the year). Check.
