Dear Excursion Group,
I had a great time in all of Liverpool and the Lake and Peak Districts. However, the best part for me
was the World Museum Liverpool. This
museum exhibits living fish and insects in an aquarium and terrarium, dinosaur
bones and other quaint parts of the natural world, as well as objects from many
different human cultures ranging from the Inuit to the classical Romans.
What made this museum so special, besides the diversified
range of displays, were the areas where you could touch things, solve riddles
or read in more detail about things you were interested in. What shocked me
most were an original shoe and some pictures of 19th-century Chinese
women who bound their feet to make them look smaller. Such small feet were the
ultimate sign of beauty in China
until it was forbidden to bind them in 1911. The shoe which was shown was so
tiny that you began wondering what it was for, then realized there was an
explanatory folder next to it, and while looking through the folder you suddenly
you saw these horrifying pictures! What's more, the text compared this to how
women starve themselves today just for the sake of beauty, which is as
indifferently accepted in society as feet-binding was in China. I think
this critical thinking about the subject is much more interesting than just
plain exhibition of an object. In this way, many objects were described and
explained. The final show in the planetarium was very informative and relaxing,
completing a great day in the World Museum of Liverpool.
Laura