After a couple of hours at the Children’s Museum, we decided it was time for some culture. We put Mark in the stroller and headed to the “Special Exhibitions” floor.

The first one was about—I kid you not—snow. Well, more exactly “Snow, a source of passion, creativity and ingenuity” and the way it shaped Canadian’s identity. Leave it to Canada to feature a winter-themed exhibition in the middle of August!

According to the informal survey at the entrance, most people declared that they “love to get out when it snows.” Seriously, people!

The exhibition shows the ways Canadians contend with snow and features winter gear and artifacts, most of them very familiar to us—snow tires, winter coats, boots, etc. It was fun, though.

The second one was called “The Empress of Ireland” and I had no idea what it was about until we stepped into the ship-themed room. “The Empress of Ireland” turned out to be a transatlantic ocean liner bound to a tragic faith: en route from Québec City to Liverpool, the ship collided with the Norwegian coal ship Storstad in the St. Lawrence River, and sank on May 29, 1914. In less than 15 minutes, an estimated 1,032 souls—passengers and crew—perished.

The exhibition takes visitors through an atmosphere of celebration at the docks of Québec, the confused encounter in the fog, the fateful collision and the desperate rush to escape the sinking vessel. It’s actually pretty stunning and I couldn’t believe I had never heard about the greatest maritime disaster in the history of Canada.

Apparently, despite the scale of the tragedy, The Empress of Ireland never achieved anything like the Titanic’s fame or enduring fascination because the ship wasn’t as luxurious, and it sank so close to the outbreak of WWI that attention shifted to graver matters.

Did you know about the disaster?

Feng at the "Snow" Exhibition
Feng at the “Snow” Exhibition
At the Museum
At the Museum
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
What Canadians Think of Snow (Apparently... They Like It?!)
What Canadians Think of Snow (Apparently… They Like It?!)
Getting Around
Getting Around
Snow Gear
Snow Gear
Snow Gear
Snow Gear
Snow Gear
Snow Gear
Snow Gear
Snow Gear
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
Winter Tires
Winter Tires
Winter Carnival (Ahem... in March?)
Winter Carnival (Ahem… in March?)
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
Snow. A Source of Passion, Creativity and Ingenuity
Snow-Themed Movies
Snow-Themed Movies
Canada's Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada's Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada's Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada's Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada's Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Canada’s Titanic – The Empress of Ireland
Parliament Hill from the Museum
Parliament Hill from the Museum
Interprovincial Bridge from the Museum
Interprovincial Bridge from the Museum
Ceiling of the Canadian Museum of History
Ceiling of the Canadian Museum of History
Souvenir Shop
Souvenir Shop

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10 Comments

  1. I Say Oui August 20, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    Ha ha love the title of the exhibit.

    Reply
    1. Zhu August 20, 2014 at 6:21 pm

      … Only in Canada!

      Reply
  2. Martin Penwald August 20, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    Rhââaa, yes, snow ! I’d like to have a little bit of it here instead of 38° under sun and humidity.

    Curious, I’ve never heard of the « Impress of Ireland » too. It is as tragic as the sinking of « Titanic » , but the international context was a little bit different.

    Reply
    1. Zhu August 20, 2014 at 6:21 pm

      I had never heard of it either!

      Reply
  3. petite yaye August 22, 2014 at 11:10 am

    I want the same snow gear !!!!!!!

    Reply
    1. Zhu August 22, 2014 at 10:38 pm

      … we can trade place this winter 😉

      Reply
  4. Holly Nelson August 22, 2014 at 9:05 pm

    Snow! Bah – mine would be firmly under ‘I prefer to stay inside’, but only because there isn’t an ‘ideally I would drive south and keep driving til it got warm’ option! I love that pic of Feng! Never heard of the Impress of Ireland.

    Reply
    1. Zhu August 22, 2014 at 10:39 pm

      Same here for snow!

      Reply
  5. Lynn August 26, 2014 at 7:54 pm

    We went to the Empress of Ireland exhibit too and I found it so moving and sad. I didn’t know anything about it beforehand at all. It was well worth checking out although my older kids had a lot of questions about what happened and were a bit worried about it.

    I love, love, love that painting on the ceiling of the Museum of History. I wonder if you can buy a print of it?

    Reply
    1. Zhu August 26, 2014 at 11:45 pm

      Good question! Never seen it in the souvenir shop.

      The exhibition was indeed very moving and very real, through the testimonies.

      Reply

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