We arrived at the Museum
Center around 10 and had a little time since our pre-purchased tickets for
the mummy exhibit were for 10:45. We
were happy that we had purchased our tickets in advance. Not only did we avoid standing in a line to
buy tickets but we got the tickets at nearly half price using our museum
membership. Since we had some time, we
visited a small but informative exhibit on the last
passenger pigeon, Martha, who died at the Cincinnati Zoo one hundred years ago
(1914) making the species extinct. It
was interesting to learn the factors that caused the birds, once so plentiful
that flocks would black out the sky, became extinct in such a short time.
The Mummies of
the World Exhibit was outstanding.
Since photos were not permitted, promotional images are linked in this
blog entry. The exhibit emphasized to
visitors that the mummies on display are the remains of humans and should be
treated with respect. Most people think
of Egypt when they think of mummies and the ancient Egyptians were certainly skilled
in preserving the remains of their rulers and aristocracy. However, mummies can be found in many areas
of the world produced by intentional mummification processes or through natural
effects of climatic conditions. Displays
at the exhibit included actual mummies from Egypt, South America, and even
Germany and Hungary. Once mummy on
display was preserved in 1994 at the University of Maryland in Project MUMAB. A collaboration of scientists used materials,
tools and techniques from ancient Egypt to preserve a donated body as a modern
mummy. We also saw the mummies of a
baron, baroness and their infant child from Vac, Hungary. The bodies of the Orlovits family were placed
in a family crypt in the early 1800s.
The movement of cool air through the crypt cause the bodies of the three
family members to be well preserved to this day.
In a macabre way, it was fascinating to learn that mummies
were so common in Egypt that they were sometimes burned as fuel in locomotives
or home furnaces. Visitors to Egypt
could purchase a mummified human hand or foot as a souvenir. Pulverized mummy bodies were sold to artists
as a pigment in paint making a color called “mummy brown”. Entire mummies were sold and used at “unwrapping
parties” where the mummy was taken apart at dinner by the guests.
Another exhibit covered shrunken heads that were made among
certain South American tribes of indigenous people. Some cultures collected and prepared the
heads of enemies to wear in battle and as part of ceremonial rituals. More recently, these Indians shrunk heads for
sale to tourists using traditional techniques.
The exhibit included mummies from the mountains of South
America and arctic regions of the world that were preserved by a natural freeze
drying process due to the low temperatures and humidity of polar or mountainous
regions.
By noon, we were all hungry so we left the museum for nearby
Findlay Market where we knew we
could find something good for lunch. The
market was busy, as it is on many weekends, but just before Christmas, it was
especially busy. After a walk through
the market, we settled on Aretis Gyros. We were amazed at the size and quality of
their gyro sandwiches, especially at the $5.50 price. Since there was no place to sit at the busy
market, we ate our gyros standing at an exit near the Kroeger and Sons Meats. While we were there, we purchased 8 sausages
made by Kroegers
to take home. Fortunately, we had a
cooler and ice packs in the car. On our
way out we stopped at Dojo Gelato for
dessert. Ian & Emily had a split of
Rum Egg Nog and Dutch Chocolate while I opted for just the Rum Egg Nog. Mary had a ginger cookie from a nearby booth. We all enjoyed our lunch then drove on to the
Cincinnati Zoo.
Since the zoo doesn’t get busy this time of year until after
dark, we had no problem finding a nearby parking spot on the street and walked
a short distance to the zoo entrance where our membership got in free and half
priced tickets for Ian & Emily. We
saw the five Maasai giraffes including the youngster that is now about a year
old and the two toed sloth that is always napping when we are there. Since the weather was very nice for mid-December
in Cincinnati, we saw many of the animals outside. Mary was pleased that the red pandas were
actively feeding on some fresh bamboo that was placed in their enclosure.
Sarah joined us at the zoo after she got off
work and walked around through the insect, cat and nocturnal animals
houses. We sat by Swan Lake for the
first 15 minutes of the light and music show that was even better than in
previous years. The light show starts at
5 pm after the sun has set enough to make the light show more visible. We left the zoo about 5:15 and headed for
dinner. We were happy that we were
leaving the zoo and not just arriving since there was a flood of visitors
coming into the zoo as we were leaving.
Sarah had made reservations at the German restaurant Mecklenburg Gardens which is a short
distance from the zoo. Sarah was waiting
on us when we arrived after finding a parking spot on the street. Mecklenburg Gardens is a 150 year old
Cincinnati biergarten on University Avenue that serves authentic German food
and has a selection of good German beer on tap.
We enjoyed kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes) and warm rye bread while we
surveys the menu choices. Ian had
goulash with a Dunkel Hefeweisen, Mary had spaetzle with vegetables and grilled
chicken, Emily had a weiner schnitzel with rotekraut, Sarah had a sauerbraten sandwich
and I had a chicken schnitzel sandwich. We
shared a cream puff and apple strudel for dessert. Everyone was pleased with their meal and we
were impressed at the good value of our meal.
After leaving the restaurant we gave Sarah some of the grapefruit that we
brought and started driving back.
We dropped Ian and Emily off at their Georgetown home around
8:30 and arrived back home by 10:30.
Since our day started before 6 am, we were both very tired and slept
well.
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