Love the past? There’s a new website for you

by Sean McLachlan on

Hotels have review sites, restaurants have review sites, heck even strip clubs have review sites, so why not ancient monuments?

The folks at Current Publishing, who publish two of the UK’s most popular archaeology magazines, Current Archaeology and World Archaeology, have started a website so people can review archaeological attractions in England, Scotland, Ireland (North and Republic), Wales, and the Isle of Man. Reviews cover everything from museums to stone circles and there are interactive maps based on subject, region, or managing organization. There’s a special section for Stonehenge and its surrounding area, as well as Hadrian’s Wall.

There’s also a section reviewing archaeological digs that accept volunteers. Volunteering on an excavation is a different and rewarding way to spend a vacation.

Called I Love The Past.com, this site has a nice, clean layout without a lot of the flashy features that distract the reader and clog up bandwidth. It’s simple to navigate and the maps make it easy to discover places near where you’re traveling. The downside is that as a new project, most sites only have one review, and some important sites are not yet covered. There’s nothing on the archaeologically rich Orkney Isles, for example. A forum would be a nice addition too, as it would encourage discussion and probably lead to more reviews being posted. Still, it’s an interesting concept and different than the flashier and bigger Heritage Key, which focuses on articles and well worth a look if you have a fast connection. If you’re a museum or ruins junkie, I Love the Past has some potential.

Walk amid the butterflies in London

by Sean McLachlan on

London is a big city, and after being there a while visitors feel the urge to experience some nature. A new exhibit at the Natural History Museum lets you do just that.

Butterfly Explorers features a lush butterfly house with hundreds of species flying free. The house is divided into four different zones: Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. An outdoor garden features the butterflies of England and gives tips on how to attract them to your own garden. There’s a feeding table covered with fruit where you can see butterflies eat, and a hatchery where you can see tropical butterflies hatch from their chrysalises.

The Butterfly Explorers exhibit is especially geared for kids, although adults will like it too. The museum itself has lots of interesting permanent exhibits and is highly recommended for anyone interested in nature and science.

If the butterflies weren’t soothing enough and you still need some peace in the big city, try some of these quiet spots in London.

Butterfly Explorers runs from April 8 to September 26, 2010.

The secret garden of the Rubens’ House Museum, Antwerp

by Annie Scott on

Peter Paul Rubens bought a house on Wapper Street in Antwerp back in 1611. The beautiful residence served as his home and studio, and though it changed hands many times after his death in 1640 and eventually fell into disrepair, in 1937, it was fully restored to its original glory and glamor — including the astonishingly beautiful courtyard garden.

Even if you’re not big on museums, it’s worth visiting the Rubens’ House Museum just to stroll in the Italian palazzo-style garden. Images from The Secret Garden and even The Labyrinth will saturate your mind as you wander through, digesting the works of Rubens and the world’s largest collection of paintings by Jan Bruegel the Elder, including an entire subcollection of gallery paintings (example), all of which I would like to have in my house. If you would rather not see the collections, you can ask the guard to let you directly into the courtyard, as it comes at the end of the house tour. You’ll probably get a funny look, but it will be worth it.

Though I couldn’t photograph the rich, dark wooden interiors of the house, I was able to get some great shots of the courtyard. I can only imagine what it looks like now, as the flowers begin to bloom. Consider this your daily dose of romanticism:

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My visit to Antwerp was sponsored by Tourism Antwerp and Cool Capitals, but the opinions expressed in the article are 100% my own.

Swinging new art exhibit comes to Vienna Museum

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you want to see one of Gustav Klimt’s pieces, you’ll need to cross through a world that may make you uncomfortable … and you’ll probably need partner. Haven’t figured it out yet? The Secession, a contemporary art museum in downtown Vienna, has plopped a swingers club between the museum and the Klimt – part of a project by Christoph Buechel, an artist from Switzerland. During the day, you’ll find mattresses, a bar and a whirlpool, as well as photos to make you blush. At night, of course, it becomes Element6, and anything between two among as many partners as you can assemble goes.

The project, which runs until April 18, 2010, is intended to recall the controversial “Beethoven” Frieze by Klimt that was exhibited first in 1902. Though it’s now thought to be one of Klimt’s most important pieces, it was originally considered to be pornographic (I guess the Austrians didn’t “know it when they saw it” back then). This time around, the Austrians aren’t offended. The right-wingers aren’t crazy about it, but the general public doesn’t seem disturbed. Gerald Adler, of the Kent School of Architecture in Britain, tells The Associated Press, “He’s putting it in a place that’s an accepted venue for avant-garde art, so it loses its effect.”

Museum attendance surged in 2009

by Tom Johansmeyer on

What did you do instead of travel last year? Well, according to the American Association of Museums, you probably caught an art, science or historical exhibit. Museum attendance shot up last year, according to a survey of 481 of them, with more than 57 percent of them reporting gains in attendance. More than 40 percent sustained “significant increases” of 5 percent to more than 20 percent year-over-year. Science and technology museums were most likely to see the upside.

The reason cited for the change in visitorship shouldn’t surprise you: the recession. With wallets being squeezed mercilessly by the economic climate we’ve endured since the September 2008 financial crisis, fewer people have been going out on the road, even despite the deep discounts being offered by airlines and hotels. More people are staying home – and visiting museums. This is consistent with past recessions, when museum attendance grew.

Yet, not all museums benefitted: 23 were forced to close their doors.