Where am I?

Have you ever been teased for being short? Well, then maybe a trip to the Kingdom of the Dwarves in Yunnan, China would make you feel better. The Kingdom of the Dwarves is a theme park where you can watch over 100 short people sing, dance, and perform comedy sketches for your entertainment. There's only two job requirements: you must be between 18 and 40, and you must be under 4'3'', or 130 cm ( that's shorter than me!)! Don't worry; the mushroom houses in the background are just changing rooms and decor, not actually homes. This kind of sounds like people are making fun of the short people, but with all the unemployment in China, this is just a thing to raise money for their families.

Have You Ever Tried Garlic Ice Cream?

Okay, I gave up sweets for Lent, but would it count if I had onion flavored ice cream? I don't know, but I do know where you can get onion flavored ice cream, along with 859 other flavors. At Cormoto Ice Cream Parlor in Merida, Venezuela, the flavors of ice cream, however ordinary they look, are anything but ordinary. Yes, of course they do have the regulars, but behind that glass is a lot more than chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla: garlic, chili, avocado, beans and rice, sweet corn, onion, tomato, cream of crab, mushrooms in wine, pork rines, smoked salmon, macaroni and sardines-in-brandy, ham and cheese, and beet root are just a few. They normally have 70 to 80 flavors at any one time, depending on what the workers can find in local markets and stores. They started with only four flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and coconut. The first weird flavor was avocado. The hard part is that every time a new flavor is invented, a funky name has to be erected to accompany it. I wonder if any mothers have had to force feed the ice cream to their children!

Crystals of Mystery

I'm sure all of you followers have some kind of jewelry made from Swarovski crystals or have at least heard of Swarovski. But do you know the true creativity, the playful side, the artistic half of the Swarovski company? You need to see Swarovski Kristall Welten(translated from German, it means "Crystal Worlds"), the stunning exhibition of the company that makes the world go round. Each exhibition is stunning and unique in it's own crystalline way. For instance, one exhibit is a crystal dome, another is a giant crystal kaleidoscope, and so on. Some exhibits have less to do with crystals than others. One exhibit has robotic manequin legs walking in space. You need to see the website(I must comment on their website) to see all the little details of every exhibit; I would take up a lot of your time if I were to post a complete list!

There's something for everyone: if you just care about buying crystals, there's a Swarovski shop, if you like making your own exhibitions, you can make jewelry and wire sculptures with wire, string, and colorful beads, and of course, if you like the weird, mysterious, the rich, and the modern, there's the museum. It has attracted over 900,000,000 visitors by date. A giant head that is made out of hedges and who's mouth is actually a fountain lures wandering tourists into it's location in Innsbruck, Austria, a little more than an hour away from Munich, a great city. Whether you're rich or not, you're sure to love this place!

p.s. This was meant to be Saturday's post, but we accidently spilled a glass of water on our computer(advise to followers: NEVER put a glass of water anywhere near your computer!) and you know how electronics do not go with water. We just got a new keyboard(50$) and I was then able to blog.

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

Have you ever wondered if you could walk in the the belly of a whale? Or was it in your New Year's resolutions to see a two-headed snake? Ever climbed up a giant slinky? Well, you can do all that(and tons more) at the City Museum in St. Louis, a collection of salvaged junk(one man's junk is another one's treasure!) transformed into the ultimate jungle gym. It used to be an old shoe factory until they changed it into a museum. They still have a small factory that makes shoe laces and you can suggest styles, buy laces, or see the machines if you have time.

The first thing you'll see is a huge maze of giant slinkies, bridges, and platforms looping and swirling around two Saber 40 aircraft fuselages, a fire engine, a castle turret, a 25 foot cupola and plenty of other larger recycled things. It is called MonstroCity and if you ever go to the museum, do not skip it!

Inside the museum, there's way more: there's the Museum of Mystery, Mirth, and Mayhem*, a collection of oddities like a Big Boy and featuring the World's Largest Underpants. Then there's the Enchanted Caves* which used to be a shoe-shaft but is now a large network of caves filled with fantastical beasts.

The Everyday Circus is a circus where talented kids can perform. The Skateless Park is a skateboard park without the skateboards( you slide down instead). The World Aquarium* is an awesome aquarium filled with exotic fish and features a two-headed snake(named We)! The first floor and Mezzanine is a forest of tunnels, ladders, and creatures where you can squeeze through a giant barrel, stroll in the belly of whale, and pop out of nowhere from a hole in the floor. Climb up a hallow tree trunk to get to the Mezzanine which is pretty much the same. That was my favorite area that I saw because it was really cool following tunnels that lead God knows where and then popping out of some hole.

Also here is the world's largest pencil; it's 76 feet long and really writes and erases! This big puppy is equivalent of 1,900,000 normal pencils! Imagine taking this to school!

On top of the roof is a small park with a ferris wheel, a pond filled with stepping stones and a giant rope swing. You can go inside of the school bus that sticks out of the building and helps you know that you are at the right place!

Fortunately (very) my aunt and uncle have moved back to St. Louis, so this summer I will be able to go visit this junky treasure again.

p.s. Do not go to the Circus! Although it was interesting, there are so many other cooler things to see.

*I didn't get to see this.

Pigs of The Abyss

Why does this creature here have a face? Because it's a Piglet Squid, of course! That cute little smile is really a line of freckle-like spots and those "beautiful" lochs of hair are really tentacles. This cute little guy, who's actually the size of a Dill pickle, lives deep in the ocean where the word "light" is not in the dictionary. When it feels threatened, our little friend sucks up water through his snout so that it blows up like a water balloon (now the size of an apple). If that's not enough, it will spit out all the water so that it shoots back away from danger. Okay, it's not that scary but hey- it's a start!

Art Haven- the World's Capitol of Art

What do you get when you mix a tropical island with an art museum? Naoshima Island, Japan! Naoshima is a ten square-mile (in area) island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea that is covered completely with art. The cool thing about it is that you stay there over night! There are two amazing museums: the Benesse House and the Chichu Museum, plus a third museum still under construction. The modern Benesse House, the main museum, also serves as your hotel and features over 350 pieces of art. You have a choice of staying in the museum, in the Park, on the Beach, or in the Oval, which is an egg-shaped building on one of the island's tallest hills, with a stunning view of spectacular water falls and forests and is accessed by a monorail that you control! The other museum is the Chichu Museum which is underground. It features many works including Claude Monet's original water lily paintings. To get to it, you go through a beautiful garden with trees, flowers, and ponds modeled after Monet's paintings.

Also, some of God's own art work is displayed here: miles of hiking grounds with rocky cliffs and lush forests. There's lots of outdoor art work, too. Other mysterious artworks include a pool of water that jiggles like Jell-O, a temple with glass stairs that lead down into a cave, and flags made of colored sand that are actually ant farms. Doesn't that just make your mouth drop???

The Beginning: Tarot Cards and....Sculptures?

We will begin our journey in a funky and eccentric sculpture garden in Tuscany, Italy. It is called El Giardino dei Tarocchi (translation: The Tarot Garden). It's a beautiful sculpture garden where 21 sculptures sit making tourists say "WOW". Each sculpture represents a different tarot card and has a special meaning. On the website, you can see their meanings. Do you see that big lady with the blue hair in the front? She was actually the artist's house (Sadly, the artist is dead.). If you like this style of art, you should see the Niki Museum in Nasu, Japan (The artist's name was Niki de Saint Phalle.). It features over 470 pieces of her art, which is mostly very big, alongside descriptions by Niki herself. I would love to see this place!

p.s. My favorites are The Devil, The Emperor, and The Sun (see website)!

p.p.s. Special thanks to the Schaeberle's, my German friends, for sending me a postcard from Italy. If you didn't send it, I wouldn't know about it!