The Globe that Bucky Built

Today was culture day for us here in Montreal.  We went to the Environment Canada’s Biosphere, Montreal Science Center and the McCord Museum of Canadian History.

Okay now you are wondering about the title of this blog entry.  Well the Biosphere seen below was designed by Buckminster Fuller (Bucky) as the US pavilion for the 1967 Montreal Exposition.

When it was completed the sphere had a white plastic skin covering the metal frame.  In 1976 workers were welding some of the framework and the plastic caught on fire… Now you have a naked sphere. All the exhibits inside have to do with the environment and ideas on how to better take care of our planet.

Many of the activities inside are geared for children, to help spark their interest in ecology and saving the planet.

Of course the big kids were allowed to play too! You can’t see the line of people behind me waiting to have a go at this. So I took a photo of them.

We both really enjoyed the Biosphere and spent more time than we planned to. Our next stop was the Montreal Science Center.  Again we found lots to see and do. We didn’t get any photos of the center but we stayed until closing and they kicked us out. 

Our last stop was the McCord Museum of Canadian History located in the Heart  of the city.

The best part of this museum was reading about the cold snowy winters here in Montreal.  It’s amazing what they do.  They have a winter carnival where they take blocks of ice from the St Laurence river and build a castle that is over 120 feet high all from the ice.

We have seen some strange sites

and sampled some crazy food

But we are having a great time. We also enjoy meeting some of the local families while we out and about in the parks.

Let’s hope tomorrow brings us as much fun and excitement.