Let's Explore the World

Via These Virtual Field Trips

April 21, 2020

I remember when we first signed up to the internet in 1993 or 94 and not having any internet site addresses or no way of finding any either and being stymied on what to do with the net. We knew we could see and do a lot of things, if we only had a way of finding those addresses in order to get to those places. Back then there was this awesome magazine called ".net" I believe and it was filled with all kinds of addresses, a lot of which I visited and some of them just stuck in my mind forever as they were so extraordinary. Even having been on the net since then (almost 30 years now), those sites still stand out in my mind as being extraordinary. Back then though a lot of the add-ons for sound and animation weren't included in browsers and had to be downloaded and installed separately. Today most browsers accommodate those things, so all you really need now are the addresses, in order to get there and see these awesome sites. The sites that were online and that I visited back then were the Sistine Chapel tour and the Chicago Field Museum, that at the time had a wonderful animated dinosaur exhibition that my kids loved. I am not sure what exhibits these places have now, as I only just rediscovered their addresses and thought I'd share them with visitors to the blog.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did (the last time we were there) or will, for the ones I haven't visited yet. Be prepared to spend many hours wandering around each tour. Some even have interactive activities for visitors to try. So enjoy the break from the doom, gloom & loneliness:

Virtual Tour "Sistine Chapel"  This is the tour for the Sistine Chapel itself but if you click on the "Virtual Tours" button in the sidebar, you'll be treated to other tours of various sections of the Vatican. 

Field Museum  This is the link to the Chicago Field Museum, a museum about natural history - the one that had the dinosaur exhibition that my kids loved, back when the internet first became available to us. I don't know if they still have a dinosaur exhibition there or not, but you can check it out to see, if you'd like. 

How to Virtually Explore the Smithsonian From Your Living Room  This is an article in the Smithsonian Magazine, explaining how to tour the various exhibitions and tours set up by the various factions of the Smithsonian museums, with links to everything from Human Origins to Men of Change and National Air & Space museum exhibits. There's a lot there to choose from so there ought to be something to pique everyone's interest. 

14 World-Class Museums Offering Virtual Tours Right From Your Laptop  If art museums are more your taste, then this list of the 14 top art museums might be your preferred virtual field trip itinerary.

Walt Disney World Resort Virtual Tour  I have never been there and didn't even know they had any virtual exhibits or tours until just a few minutes ago, when on the off chance I decided I'd like to see if they did and googled for it. Sure enough they do. So I will be visiting this one for sure as I'd like to see what's there, for the little kid in me.

Explore the Entire World–from the Comfort of Quarantine–with 4K Walking Tours  Once you get into this site you aren't ever apt to leave, it has so much to see, do and learn there, I doubt us seniors will live long enough to get through it all. It has the virtual walking tours of various parts of the world, so you can visit places like Venice, or London or Times Square among other places. Once you've roamed the world with them, you can take any number of free courses online in virtually anything, read free books, avail yourself of free movies/videos and music. Find free art - if you have a need for such. I'm sure once I get in there I'll never get out again. 

More field trip days planned in the future so stay tuned.