Taipei Story House and a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts and National Palace Museum were on our itinerary. The Story Museam was a bust – not about Taipei’s story except for contemporary dance (the boys weren’t impressed) theatre whose dance studio had once burned down. The Museum of Fine Arts, however, was brilliant. We regretted not getting to tour the Pompidou Centre in Paris and were delighted to see an exhibit featuring many of the pieces on loan (Picassos, Cezanne, Braque, Miro’s, etc.). Next stop: The National Palace Museum. One new problem: There was a National Air Defence Drill and the entire island state of Taiwan was shut down. Actually it went smoothly and we rather enjoyed our taxi driver's sense of humour when trying to get us to the Palace Museum before the the drill commenced. He stayed with us for the drill, hence the photo.
The National Palace Museum is one of the four major museums in the world based on the quality, age and shear quantity of artifacts contained therein (the others are: British Museum in London, Metropolitan Museum in NYC, Le Louvre in Paris). The boys, Deb and I have visited all of them without realizing this special distinction). We took the English tour and were treated to viewings of ancient Dynasty pottery, jewelry and weaponry. The most fascinating was the 17-layer Mystery Ball carved from a single tusk of ivory. Next to this was the display of jade, the most impressive being the revered, ‘Green and White Cabbage Jade’. Somehow, one can easily imagine being in the Emperor’s court being astonished at the fine quality and originality of these pieces – not to mention the unbelievably difficult craftsmanship! After the museums, we abandoned the notion of heading to the Aboriginal Museum and went to the American Club for a swim. Anita then impressed all with an amazing dinner as only she can. What a hostess! And all Brendan safe (we think he has never eaten better than on this trip).
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