| rev:text
| - Disclaimer: I've been spoiled by the free Smithsonian museums in DC. It makes me a bit reluctant to pay more than $10 USD for museums in general.
My friends and I bought Citypass to explore Toronto, and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) was one of the attractions included. We originally did not plan to visit ROM, but we figured that since we were in the area and already had the admission tickets, we might as well head in to explore a bit and enjoy air conditioning, if nothing else.
After taking some photos of the architecture, my friends were lazy and just plopped down onto a comfy sofa - there were quite a few scattered around, which is nice for a museum. I went off and explored the exhibits, from the Asian gallery to the Canadian First Nations, stared at the ceiling of the rotunda, and then went off to look at dinosaurs. The dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals exhibits were fascinating, and crowded with families. The ROM has an excellent display of dinosaurs. To me, the museum feels small compared to DC's Museum of Natural History or NYC's American Museum of Natural History, but ROM does have exhibits that span the ages and continents so the basics are covered.
Aside from the dinosaurs, my favorite part was the gift shop. It was huge! It could be an exhibit in its own right. They've got an extensive kids section, selling all sorts of animal plushies, from t-rex to squid (yes, you read that right). Then for the adults, there are samurai sword umbrellas, t-shirts, Tibetan singing bowls, books, small bottles of gold, and of course your standard magnets and cards.
|