Undercover Tourist: The Mapparium

If you have never heard of The Mapparium, don't feel bad, because either had I. Mykah had taken a trip there with some friends from home and told me it was a must see.

Yeah, I wasn't going to fall for that. What Mykah "Learning is Fun" Murphy passes for a good time isn't always rootin-tootin, and considering that the Mapparium is basically just a big map I wasn't entirely sold. Turns out, I was wrong, learning can be fun.

It isn't an expensive trip, or a lengthy one, but The Mapparium was certainly worth a look. It's located in the Mary Baker Eddy Library, a big repository for all of Eddy's work, and is literally a three story tall glass globe that you walk into. The best part is you need to walk through the Hall of Ideas, yes, the Hall of Ideas, to get there. Then you just answer a secret riddle and ride a unicorn to get through the Doors of Wonder.

The Mapparium is not a modern map, but rather the same map from from the year it was made, 1935. Apparently, at some point, there were plans to scrap all of the old stained glass in there and update the information, but due mainly to budget reasons it never happened. Now the exhibit stands as a very large and incredibly breakable historic document, as well as a testament to being a cheap bastard.

                                                             Source: Wikipedia

Now, as you can expect, standing in the center of a giant glass sphere also has some cool acoustics. After a short presentation of the map and all of its map-like features, the guide encourages you to try out the different tricks you can do with your voice. That means either standing on the edges and whispering all the way to the other side or standing in the middle and hearing your voice bounce around like the voices in your heard that tell you to burn things.

So go. I wouldn't say go out of your way to see it, but if you are even in the area you should totally swing by. Its like, 5 bucks, and if for nothing else it's kind of like being Professor X and controlling Cerebro in X-Men.

Only, you know, not entirely freaking awesome.