An article from Traveling Pat!
Patricia is a regular contributor. She has an adventurous spirit with a love for travel. Follow along with Pat as her journey takes her around the world.
Tourist for a Day in Tucson
It was an icy start to the morning, exceptionally cold for Tucson but appropriate for our excursion to the Titanic exhibition. As Aaron and I and our friends Kay and Dave strolled past re-created state rooms, and slightly eerie photos of the grand staircase I cast my mind back to the movie and saw Leo De Caprio looking so very handsome and debonair in his tux and I stood right there with him as he declared himself to be the “King of the World” (Kate Winslet was nowhere in sight for my little day dream.) Back in the real world we drifted by displays of interesting artifacts. There were personal items, dishes, silverware, musical instruments, all manor of things, as well as touching stories of the passengers. It was quite a poignant experience for me and I was aware of how much the world is still fascinated by the tragic events leading up to the disaster. The Titanic was a huge footnote in history and an unfortunate testament to man’s arrogance. 1517 souls perished that night April 14th 1912. Something that gave me pause was that more people died in 2nd and third class than in1st class…. When we purchased our tickets we were given a bio of a person or family that sailed on the ship. At the exit there was a wall plaque listing the names of the survivors, and those that perished. My bio of the family of 10 were third class passengers and unfortunately did not survive.
Titanic’s icy grave
We opted now for a change of pace and made our way to the
TUCSON MINATURE MUSEUM
The miniature museum though small in scale was big in impact. Immediately we were dazzled by the dollhouse displayed in the lobby and were curious to know what else awaited us.
Entering the gallery we were transported into times both historical and imagined and the artifacts on display allowed us a captivating glimpse of days gone by. The enchanted realm held a special appeal for us as grandparents. We just knew our grandkids would love to see the fantasy miniatures and collectables.
Details from little rooms to entire villages delighted us at every turn. The exquisite craftsmanship was evident in the creation of woven tapestries, intricate lace and re-productions of famous oil paintings, all done to a precise scale. No detail was too small or unimportant to be left out.
There we were …two mature world traveling couples noses pressed to the glass in awe of the artistry and skill employed in creating the teenie, weenie itty bitty (did I mention small?) dioramas of castles and villages and every day scenes.
Life in the old days
We chuckled to ourselves as we spotted the guys. Our “manly” husbands bent over, carefully inspecting some little aspect of a general store or a child’s bedroom. We were almost overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work so naturally our next step was to find an Italian restaurant and have a glass of wine and some yummy pasta end off our great day.
Cheers everyone.
