Saturday, July 7, 2012

Tutankhamen Exhibit in Seattle (07-07-12)



Akhenaten
Hatshepsut
At the end of our cruise to Alaska, Gary and I went to see the Tutankhamun exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

It was an amazing experience, to walk among precious Egyptian art treasures. I saw a sketch of a duck done in graphite, and admired its precise and smooth lines. Such beauty, so fragile, all that is left of someone who walked the earth many centuries ago.

I could have spent all afternoon lost among the haunting beauty of the dark exhibit hall, but was told that sketching was forbidden (!); so I only have this sketch of a small statue of Queen Hatshepsut.

A work in progress
  I find it difficult to explain the awe one feels, to be so close to artifacts tied to Tutankhamun one has heard about for years, to get a view of some of the contents of Tutankhamun's tomb... such as, -most worthy of mention-, gold sandals that were found on Tutankhamun's mummy, modeled on reed woven sandals with extravagant bows on top of the foot, so beautiful...
Gloriously beautiful sandals of a dead king

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Craigdarroch Castle and Blue Fox Cafe (07-05-12)

A splendid day in Victoria, British Columbia!

Gary and I walked from the cruise ship terminal into downtown Victoria, and from there on to Craigdarroch Castle, altogether about a 45 minute walk. Nice weather, many people. We took a self-guided tour of Craigdarrogh Castle, the most amazing and grandest house I have ever been in (Stained glass! Woodwork! Moldings! Marble!..). It put our local, usually impressive Pittock Mansion to shame.
A Victorian dream house, found at last!
Afterward, on our way back to the cruise ship, we stopped by a very cool restaurant called the Blue Fox Cafe. From the sidewalk, we could see that there were many people inside, none of them obvious tourists, so we took this as an indication that the locals liked the place. And we were right about that: the food was delicious. I can't remember what Gary had, but the Moroccan Chicken Benny I ordered was delicious! What a pleasant meal we had...
Blue Fox Cafe