All MIMsy

We planned to have our own breakfast this morning – cereal, yogurt, fruit – rather than the hotel’s offering. And yet we were miffed when we weren’t even given the opportunity to turn down the included breakfast; it never even appeared! Kirsten did take the precaution of unplugging the phone after 11pm last night, so perhaps they tried to contact us at some unsociable hour again, and no response = no breakfast.

We passed a laundry yesterday, so this morning we took a bag of washing along to see if they could do it before tomorrow. No problem (ready by 4pm), but for once it wasn’t a per-kilo pricing system but a fixed sum for one machine load; $4,000.

Then on to our nearest Metro station eight blocks away (one month from now they’re opening a string of new extension stations, one very close to our hotel, but that was of no use right now). To the interchange joining the red line to the green line, and then south to Pedrero station. My internet research advised us to get off here, then take a colectivo taxi no. 5066 to the Punta Arenas entrance to the Museo Interactivo Mirador – or MIM for short.

But once at the station, we saw no taxis and couldn’t work out which way to head. The second local we asked for help pointed us towards bus stop no. 2 where we should take bus E05. (The first local simply advised us to walk.) So we got on the next E05 – and promptly realised that we needed a special ‘BIP’ card to pay for our journey. But the bus was on its wy by now, so a kind fellow passenger bipped us on her card and we repaid her in cash. Another passenger said she’d show us where to get off (as that was another concern of ours).

The only problem was that we were deposited at the Sebastopol entrance to MIM, which only functions at weekends. So we had an 800m walk to the other entrance where we could buy our tickets. Fortunately it was a grey day so not too hot.

So at 10.20am we managed to get into the museum, along with a constant stream of little ones from all the surrounding primary schools, it seemed. I quickly booked seats for us in the 3D cinema (the history of the universe) but the first available time was 12.45pm – probably the final showing of the day, as the museum closed at 1.30pm on Mondays.

In the meantime we browsed the interactive exhibits on offer; good fun for the girls and for grown-ups as well. Indeed, during our three hours there (including the film and lunch) we didn’t quite manage to get round every room. There were themed areas; light, sound, fluids, mechanics, electricity, the Earth, etc. Chaotic pendulums, vortex rings of air, Bernoulli beachballs, colour mixing with light, wavy mirrors, a giant weighing balance (Kirsten and I had apparently lost 10% of our pre-trip mass, but we don’t know if this was an accurate measurement), a pedal car with square wheels, a mirrored cube offering reflections to infinity, variations on Pepper’s Ghost, ferromagnetic fluids doing their hedgehog thing, zoetropes, music from around the world, a ‘bed of nails’ to capture the shape of your face, body and hands.

El Museo Interactivo Mirador (MIM).

Too many ice creams…

Accidental tourists.

Flat tyres.

Film star.

Pillars of society.

Metamorphosis (no photo editing involved).

Timfinity.

At the appointed time we reported to the 3D cinema (those flat 2D ones are a devil to squeeze into, aren’t they?) and took our seats in the second row. School parties filled up all the other rows, the older ones at the back. Funny big polarising glasses on, and ready for the show.

No stereotypical mad scientists here…

Unfortunately it was the history of the universe with added big bangs (of the audio variety) and gratuitous scary bits, so Ellen cowered in Kirsten’s arms for much of the time. Asteroids zooming out of the screen and into your head, a shark and a T Rex coming for you, jaws wide open. We could see the children behind us grasping in the air for the flying objects (e.g. man’s landmark artefacts over the last 2000 years which for no valid reason were made to speed towards you like moths into a windscreen at night).

There was a fair amount of sound information in the film, but if anything the 3D effects distracted and detracted from the message. And not that much of it was about the universe; the first few minutes only, then we got onto life on Earth, especially the big, scary animals. (Not many rabbits or kittens scampering about the auditorium.)

A bit more time in the museum, then it shut and we were asked to leave. We ended up walking back to the Metro station because we couldn’t find any buses or taxis; not too far, as it turned out.

As we travelled back on the underground, Kirsten felt faint so we got off for a while. Then as we attempted to squeeze on to the connecting train the doors suddenly closed on Ellen’s head (without the usual warning beeps) so we retreated and waited for the next one.

At Escuela Militar (our destination station) we took a different exit and fortuitously found ourselves near a nice pastry shop. So we paused there for a drink and a small Berliner before walking the eight blocks back to the hotel. On the way we picked up the laundry (ready by 3.15pm) and once back we flopped for a while.

Out for supper to the mall, where Kirsten took the opportunity to buy a new pair of shoes to replace her broken, hurty pair. Shoes, bags and other leather goods are very good value here, but books – especially English language ones – are alarmingly expensive.

A Subway sandwich for Ellen and burgers for the rest of us, then back to base. We bought too much food (sadly not main meals) at the supermarket on our first day here, and we won’t manage to get through all of it, unfortunately. We’ll take some to Easter Island if possible, as all food is understandably pricy over there.

Some packing tonight, ready for a 6am start tomorrow. Taxi at 7am with our flight due to leave at 9.30am. See you in the South Pacific…