This museum, which covers the history of technology, focusing on the late 18th to mid 20th century, is probably the best museum in the world for a few people, an interesting enough visit for a larger group, and torturously dull for the majority of potential visitors. To help you determine into what category you might fall, I’ve crafted a description of the Mettiyay family, every member of which enjoyed their visit. In my mind. Anyway:
- Dad: A man who possesses a full set of screwdrivers and can occasionally tell what’s going wrong with the car just by listening to the noises it makes. He’ll love the section on early automobiles as well as the models of workshops and collections of neat-o machines through the ages. Sample quote: ‘Look honey – this car has a propeller!”
- Mom: An intellectual dabbler who watches a lot of documentaries. She’ll appreciate the insights into technological aspects of her favorite arty areas, like photography and architecture. Sample quote: “Oh, so the dissemination of mass journalism was possible only after the invention of more efficient wood pulping machines as well as the cylinder press!”
- Rebellious Teenage Daughter: A smart girl, but going though, you know, a phase. She’ll be secretly entrances by the aesthetic of the museum as a whole – it’s like the concentrated essence of steam punk: elaborate brass and rosewood machines! creepy 19th century protective masks! airplanes hanging in the nave of a deconsecrated church! Sample quote: “Well, I guess that this room of automatons sucks less than everything else on this stupid family vacation.”
- Kid Brother: What started as a toddler’s love of Thomas the Tank Engine has blossomed into a full-blown obsession with all things mechanical. Sure, he’ll lose interest when puberty hits, but at the moment he’s able to decipher the slightly too-technical signage for the benefit of the rest of the family (though in return he’ll demand to spend all afternoon in the section on the history of heavy construction equipment). Sample quote: “So the final refinements of the waterwheel occurred only after the popularization of steam power… fascinating!”
Hope that helps!
