tenthumbs

bookmarking as well..........we took my daughter on the ABC tour (Another Bloody Cathedral) on our last European trip (in which we planned WAY too many activities), so It will be difficult to get her back into many more, no matter how lovely they may be. This will be something for her to enjoy~thank you, Peter_S!

annhig

we took my daughter on the ABC tour (Another Bloody Cathedral) on our last European trip (in which we planned WAY too many activities), so It will be difficult to get her back into many more, no matter how lovely they may be.>>

forgive me if I've posted this here already - [i don't think that i have but you never know] we used to play the "spot the ugliest baby" competition. There are some real corkers. why all these great painters suddenly forgot how to paint when they got to the Christ-child I have no idea. it certainly kept our two interested, and as one had/has ADHD, I think that was quite a feat!

dfourh

We had fun in Venice with my god-daughters ages 14 and 16. One of them had an insatiable craving for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes that she saw at a Coop supermarket. We spent the rest of the day finding ways to interject the image of Tony the Tiger, with her casually displaying the box, in other people's tourist photos.

zeppole

Am I the only person who doesn't find any of this amusing? I'm not talking about Peter's original treasure hunt post (which I confess was too long for me to read all the way through) but all of these ways to teach kids that art and architecture is crap, a bore, to be laughed at and regarded with hip cynicism -- or, topping the cake -- having fun on *your* vacation means trying to goof up other's stranger photos.

I dearly wish many people would let their children who have no interest in sightseeing -- especially art -- simply stay home, do something else, whatever, instead of trying to dumb down masterpieces and letting kids be rude to other travelers. Shocking thought, I realize. Other people to think about, maybe even put ahead of your privileged kids.

Peter_S_Aus

People travel for a heap of different reasons, to see different things.

Some people just HAVE to go to the Maserati, Ferrari or Porsche factory, others would avoid it like the plague. EuroDisney attracts some, and repels others. Some people are into Art, others are into art, some don’t care either way. Some people have detailed plans, lists of things they want to see, Others make it up as they go along. Diversity, difference, variety – which is what the human condition is all about.

You can visit any city and seek out the big ticket items, the Brandenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie or the Vatican. These might interest your average teenager, or maybe said teenager would be happier exploring on their own, or getting into photos with a box of breakfast cereal. Or spotting ugly babies. The fact that they are not into art or architecture, would prefer Macdonalds to pasta marinara, prefer Facebook to the Frari, Coca Cola to Chinotto is no big deal.

If people can just get a taste of what another place is like then they are the richer for it. If they can be seduced by the art and architectural heritage of places, then they are even richer. If they can do some exploring on their own, then they will create a connection at least, and that will maybe draw them back.

Which is why I wrote the treasure hunt – a little gift to a bunch of unknown kids.

annhig

well, Zeppole, I like the think that though our kids would not necessarily have chosen to visit museums and art galleries when we started taking them, by the time they'd seen a few spread over a number of years, they began to see the point.

our hope is that in future years, they will see the point of visiting these places by themselves, even if it isn't until they have their own kids.

if not, well, we tried. and i don't think that a little "ugly baby spotting" hurt anyone.

ladylawyer42

annhig, I totally agree. DH and I are artists ourselves and love art, but we are in no way above making snarky remarks about ugly babies, particularly in Italian paintings. (We were told by a tour guide in Florence once that there were actually standards for how to paint the Christ child that had to be adhered to. I have no idea why, but ever since we've made it a point to look for the ugly babies.)

Let the flaming commence.

annhig

hi ll,

i have occasionally asked those who purport to "know" about art how come so many great masters made such a pig's ear of painting the baby Jesus. Barely one is the right size and shape [ie resembles a real baby]. The rules you mention clearly didn't include "making the baby look lifelike" as one of the criteria!

PS - does your screen name mean that you are the 42nd lady lawyer here? I could be the 43rd!

ladylawyer42

Hi annhig -- I don't know if I'm the 42nd lady lawyer here, but I'm delighted to know I'm not the only one! (The "42" is a literary reference -- want to guess?)

YvonneT

ll42 ... if 42 is the answer, what is the question?

annhig

if 42 is the answer, what is the question?>>

I don't know but i do know to bring my towel with me.

tenthumbs

Alot of what constitutes "art" baffles me, especially modern art. In my mind, a box covered in burlap with an offcenter rip in it isn't art. I don't have a degree in art appreciation; therefore, I like pretty stuff~like Renoit, Monet, and those types of things. The other stuff~I'm one of those people who tends to make fun of it. My family and I often take photos of what we consider bizarre art and make captions for it.

So zeppole, I'm afraid that, yes, you appear to be the only one..........