So today we went to the Albany Institute of History and Art to look at the artwork of Thomas Cole and Frederic Church. We looked at a slide show with a few examples of their work, though it looked nothing like the original pieces. On our way up to the third floor, we got to stop at the mummy exhibit on the second floor. It was very unfortunate though that we were not allowed to take pictures here. This was my favorite exhibit, I find ancient Egypt to be fascinating. I read about the history of the Mystery of the Albany Mummies. It is interesting to know that they thought one was a female and one was a male, this was wrong they were both male as proven through cat-scan and x-ray. They know that one of the mummies was Ankhefenmut from the 21st Dynasty; this is the one that they said was a female in 1909. The interesting story behind this mummy is that the top and bottom portions of the coffin have not been together in over 100 years. Now they are together in the Albany Institute along with the body of Ankhefenmut. The second mummy in the exhibit could not be identified with a name, however the institute knows that it is a male and a priest Ptolemaic period. The process of mummification amazes me. Also in this gallery was a replica of the Rosetta Stone, and how to write hieroglyphics.
Albany Institute, View from third floor to second floor
Once we got torn away from the mummy exhibit, we proceeded to go upstairs to look at what we really came to see; paintings by Thomas Cole and Frederic Church. These two artists based their work around the Catskill area. This is pretty cool considering I have lived in Saugerties (which is only 5 miles from Catskill) all of my life. It is a strange concept to think that someone could live in the same place all of their life and not know much about the history of that place.
Ruined Tower by Thomas Cole
An added bonus to the Institute was the garden show that was taking place on the same floor as the paintings. Some of the beautiful pieces of art are showed in the following pictures.
Garden Show flower arrangement
Garden Show flower arrangement
Garden Show flower arrangement
The Van Rensselear Manor House by Thomas Cole
Garden Show treasure chest exhibit
House Arrangement on 3rd Floor
Hand Painted Clog
When we left the Institute it was about lunch time. Instead of going back to campus, we went where every college student dreams of going, Prospect Park. Yes this is true we went to the playground like the bunch of five year old that we really are. We played on the Swings, went down the slide, and went on the evil merry-go-round. Why is it evil you say? Well, while I was pushing Krista and Michelle, the merry-go-round attacked my arm. Yes this is true, I have the bruise to prove it.
Katie at Prospect Park
We even got this gorgeous view of Troy from where we parked.
To end our day we went to Book club, but more importantly we had pizza for dinner. The book club book that we read was Down From Troy by Richard Selzer. It was a very nice book, and it was interesting to read what Troy was like back in the 1930's. He described second street and fifth street which are right by Russell Sage. All that I ever hear about Troy is it's glory days. It's refreshing to know that Troy was not always the best place to be. All in all it was a great day and tomorrow should be great too. Can't wait for the hike.
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