Well, we spent Saturday playing tourist and showing Dave, Crystal, and Audrey Hunt around some of downtown Boston. We tried to get a Duck Tour, but they were all sold out. So, we rode the T all over and went to the New England Aquarium, the Museum of Fine Arts, rode the Beantown Trolley, and did an interactive thing called TOMB.
The Aquarium was really cool. They had a ton of penguins in an open exhibit, just chillin' and swimming around. They're really amazing animals. Audrey loved seeing all the fish. We saw all sorts of things: fish that looked like seaweed, eels, snakes, sharks, fish whose eyes glowed in the dark (crazy!), huge sea turtles, and fish of all shapes and sizes.
We looked at the musical insruments, Egyptian, and South American collections at the Museum of Fine Arts before Audrey started getting tired of being quiet. They had harpsichords built around the time Mozart was composing, crazy instruments from around the world (a rattle drum made with human skulls and a trombone that had a dragon head, complete with moveable tongue, for example), old pianos, and organs... They had a ton of mummys and other things from ancient tombs. They had jewelry, pottery, carvings, and even a wool and cotten "cape" that was over 2,000 years old from South America. It was interesting to see the symbolism in these ancient cultures (the "key of life" the Egyptian high priests held; the Quetzocoatl god of the Americas; etc.). They also had a huge painting of George Washington that was painted and displayed some time after the Revolutionary War. It pictured him life-sized on his horse; the whole painting was probably 20-30 feet tall, and at least as wide. The museum was in the process of restoring it, complete with the extremely ornate, gold-leafed frame. Our tickets will get us back in a second time within 10 days, so we look forward to going back and spending more time.
We got off our feet for a while and rode the Beantown Trolley around, learning a whole bunch of cool stuff about Boston. We drove through Chinatown, past the harbor, by Faneuil Hall and Quincy Marketplace, and some other stops. The guides were knowledgeable (we assumed) and funny; it was great to just sit and learn stuff.
Then we went to TOMB. We joined a group of about 15 other people. Our guide introduced us to the tomb and gave us our "mission." A renowned Egyptoligist had disappeared on the dig; we were to find our way into the tomb, find the Egyptoligist, and then get out alive. We had to figure out how to ented the tomb, then once inside--having awakened the Pharaoh--we had to solve his challenges before time ran out... We had to find markings on the wall, replay a musical pattern, move a pyramid, push a huge statue, line up markings on columns, bend light to illuminate the pharaoh, and solve other challenges along the way. It was really fun. The group worked together really well, and there was usually someone (different each time) who stepped up to help lead the scenario, having had some experience with the challenge or some directions to give. I think we made it out of there pretty fast. We had a lot of fun, but poor Audrey was tired and the noises were pretty loud, so she and Crystal slipped out the back part way through. While none of the puzzles were extremely hard, they did make you think. It was actually a really cool experience.
After that, we took the subway home and had dinner. Everyone was pretty tired. We put Audrey to bed and then played Spy Alley and Jeopardy.
What a great day! We were really glad the Hunts came out to visit for the weekend.
