WALKING UP STAIRS IN VICTORIAN TIMES

                                              Victorian know how

       Of all the palaces I’ve visited  on my travels three are at the top of my list: Warwick in Warwick, England, Yusupov in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Wurzburg Palace in Wurzburg, Germany. Each deserves a full long post of its own---another day.

    Standing at the foot of the beautiful grand staircase in the Wurtzburg Palace I listened to an excited flamboyant female docent describe the proper way to walk up stairs---at least in Maria Theresa’s day.

     We’re talking 1700s here and the docent explained, “Stand tall with your head slightly turned up so you can look down just a tiny bit. Your right hand would grasp your long skirt while your left hand would be bent at a 90 degree angle at the elbow. But the pinkly finger must be extended upward toward the ceiling while the rest of the hand is gently closed.”

     Standing at the foot of the stairs in front of our group I listened carefully to the docent’s instructions. As she turned to ascend the stairs I turned to my friend asking, “Are you ready?”

      “You’re kidding, right?”

      Feeling a little giddy, I responded, “No, I’m not. Come on now, Make believe your pants are a skirt. Let’s so.”

      We proceeded up the long wide staircase in an elegant slow walk in perfect cadence. We made it to the top without looking down and without stumbling or missing a step. We both giggled all the way up and were the only ones game enough to step back in time to the elegance of decades past---just for a few minutes anyway. It was fun.

     When we all cleared the stairs, one of the fellows said, “You plucky ole gals did a pretty good job. I’m surprised your bifocals didn’t trip you up.” 

     Neither of us has ever done it again, but it is a one of a kind fun unusual memory.

ECO-MUSEUMS

                                                 Fun Places to Visit

      During my travels I have visited several eco-museums. I always look for something new and different.

     The Hungarian museum is located along the Danube River not far from Budapest. Established in 1967 and opened to the public in 1974, it replicates a village from the last century. At the old cemetery the docent asked us to note the different colors of the wooden markers, then explained that blue designated a child and black an adult. A male marker was pointed and a female marker was rounded. If a woman was married twice she had two rounded mounds on her marker. The carved wooden markers told a story for those before people could read and write. These markers were certainly new to me.

     Eventually this museum will have 300 buildings in ten units. When I visited it had 10 houses, three churches, seven mills, an inn, school and workshops. The museum will explain history and illustrate social differences. It was an interesting visit.

     The eco-museum in Las Landes, Bordeaux, France was established in 1970 and covered 10,000 square kilometers. A train delivered us to the entrance of the museum.  Sheep added much fertilizer to the sandy soil so grass was able to grow. Maypoles were explained to us. The aromas wafting from the outdoor ovens made me hungry for the fresh baked bread inside.

    Ballenberg, in Switzerland, was the first eco-museum I visited and probably my favorite. Set in a lovely wooded area, well maintained winding paths led from one house to the next. I was practically interested in the apothecary and the hand lace makers.  There was a large restaurant at the  edge of the grounds where we enjoyed a delightful lunch to bring this museum visit to a close.

    In Stockholm, Sweden the eco-museum, Skansen means little fortress. It is the oldest such museum having been established in 1891.  Its 150 buildings are located on one of Stockholm’s islands where it and the zoo occupy the entire island.  In the old schoolhouse we saw the rabbit tail erasers that were used to clean chalk boards. With no electricity the school day was short and the teacher and his wife lived in a room attached to the classroom. 

    Each museum was different and had something new to see and learn about.

An eco-museum is a museum focused on the identity of a place, largely based on local participation aiming to enhance the welfare and development of local communities. Eco-museums originated in France, in 1971. The term  refers especially to a new idea of holistic interpretation of cultural heritage vs the display of items and things of traditional museums. Many such museums are located in Europe.

    There are many such places around the U.S.; we just haven’t adopted the term eco-museum instead we call them interpretive, open, village etc.