Gothenburg – deutsch, bitte!

Visiting museums while on vacation is not appealing for some people, and I can understand that, but as I grow older, I find myself drawn to them more and more… especially on days when the weather isn’t good. This past January, on our traditional every-18-months trip to Sweden, we ended up spending an afternoon at the Universeum. I’ve been to Gothenburg enough times that I’ve seen quite a bit, but had still never made it to the Universeum. It made sense though, as it’s a fantastic place to take kids (and there were three of them in our gang), and it was a warm escape from the cold, rainy day outside.

The Universeum reminded me of San Francisco’s Academy of Sciences, in that it had a lot of different sections and didn’t focus on just one thing. There were animals divided up into a freshwater section, an ocean section, a poisonous section, and a rainforest section. Then there was an exploratorium-like area where you could play with brain teasers, do running and climbing activities, and learn about science-y things, like movement and space. Finally, there was a special exhibit that was all about the brain and the mind.

I definitely would have had a lot of fun there on my own, but it was extra fun to be with my brother and his family. Seeing the kids get excited about the different animals and activities made it exciting. Also, as I told M., it’s nicer to visit these places with kids because then you don’t feel like so much of a jerk when you’re using something that someone else’s kid wants to use, because you have an excuse… or am I the only one who feels bad about that?