Árbæjarsafn Open Air Museum

A few weeks ago we visited Árbæjar Open Air Museum.

It put us in mind of both Colonial Williamsburg and Greenfield Village in Michigan. If you haven't been there, Greenfield Village is a part of The Henry Ford [museum]. Henry Ford went to different areas of the US, collected notable buildings like the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop and Thomas Edison's laboratory, and moved them to Greenfield Village so that people could visit them all together as a picture of American history. Well, Iceland's Árbæjar museum is a collection of Icelandic buildings that were moved to one location with the same sort of idea. You get a sense of Icelandic living standards changing over time by walking through the turf houses, ...

...timber houses, barns and churches of various eras.

It was a special event day, so many people were dressed in the traditional national costume, and there were performances of dance and music involving kids and adults. Everyone looked like they were having fun.

There were also displays about raising sheep and using their wool.

You could even visit with some sheep and feed them some grass.

Check out the horns on these guys. Two seem to be growing upward and outward from the temples, and another two come out of the area right next to the ears and curl downwards. How many horns does one need?

Photo a day - Machinery & art, together

The city of Rome owns so much ancient art that it has run out of places in which to display it. To create an amazing showcase for these old and beautiful pieces, the city converted an old, unused power plant into an art museum. It's especially interesting because they did not remove the power plant equipment. It's all still there, surrounded by 2000+-year-old sculpture and mosaics. The place is called Centrale Montemartini, and I highly recommend a visit. Photo taken in March 2010.