Inspired by stories and spaces

Ottawa has such a wealth of museums that I had to be selective and with a museum pass you can visit three for a great price. I chose the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian War Museum and the Natational Gallery of Canada. I spent around four hours in each - there was so much to see, read, watch, interact with! The history museum was my favourite, although all three were so impressive.  The histories of the First People was particularly poignant and what stood out to me was their understanding, appreciation, respect and relationship with the land (linking back to Forest School ethos again!) The artifacts were incredibly intricate and so diverse.

Museums are of course a place for stories to be told, whether it is through a painting, photograph or atifact. Two stories that particularly pulled me in were of two men; Terry Cook and his inspirational marathon effort and Mark Isfeld, who was killed by a land mine whilst serving in Croatia. Read more here: http://www.hpicanada.ca/izzy-dolls/mark-isfeld/

That’s what travelling is about; collecting and telling stories and on this trip alone I have gathered so many to retell about people, sights, moments to remember and moments perhaps to forget!  

Lastly, I want to add that the space these stories are told are just as important - again a link for me to education and the spaces we create for the children to listen, tell and share stories.  The three museums I visited all had a very different feel to them, created by the different architecture and design of the buildings. Enjoy the pictures...