Every summer, my mom and I turn our visit to see my Grandfather in Sidney into a little mini holiday with the kids. This was made especially easy this year by getting to stay at the Hotel Zed. We also managed to pack in Miniature World, the Bug Museum and a trip to the Royal BC Museum.
The current special exhibit right now is Vikings: Lives Beyond the Legends. Caity was quite keen to see this due to her deep love of Skyrim and thanks to Marvel’s Thor movies as well as the How to Train your Dragon franchise. This exhibit was a great way to see what inspired these games and movies. The kids also loved seeing where the names of our weekdays come from.
It is a nice little exhibit. The artifacts – jewellery, tools, swords, etc – are truly exquisite, but what is great is how nicely the exhibit gives you a glimpse into the lives of a culture long gone that still inspires much of our imaginations and interest. From their religious observances, their clothing, their farming and their bravery at sea, there was a lot more to the Vikings than horned helmets (a myth) and raping and pillaging. Produced by the Swedish History Museum and MuseumPartner in Austria, the exhibit features 500 rare artifact, many not seen before outside of Scandinavia.
They have a load of fun activities planned around the exhibit including a ‘Night at the Museum,’ and Viking ‘yoga,’ to name a few. Check out their website for details.
I haven’t been in the museum in a while now. The admission rates are not cheap, but children 5 and under are free, so that does help, as does their family package. But it is a super place to spend some time. Tara loved the Natural History section and she and her big brother poured over the exhibits about the Mammoth and the life on our shorelines.
The Old Town and Gold Rush areas of the museum are still amazing and Adam was the only one who had ever seen them with a school field trip. It was great to see everything again through their eyes.
If you haven’t been in a while or have visitors coming over, take em to Victoria, stay at the Hotel Zed and get a ride in Doris to the Museum.
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