Finding My Place in the World

So I think I’ve finally had time to digest all the mappy-ness I was exposed to this weekend. Not only did I get to listen to Kianga’s tour, I was privileged enough to see Maps: Finding Our Place in the World at the Walters on Friday night. (It was the Member’s Preview and my connection at the Walters scored me admission – I felt like I got the “royal” treatment.)

After all the anticipation and waiting, I was afraid the exhibit wouldn't live up to my expectations. But it did. The exhibit totally blew my mind. Looking at the maps online is cool. Seeing them first-hand, all up close and personal is very, very cool.

One of the really interesting things is the scale – the John Smith map of Virginia is smaller than I thought, while Smith’s “map that changed the world” is really quite large.

Being around so many maps, large and small, that are so important and full of history helped me better understand where my place in the world is.

There were so many maps – from Tolkien to Leonardos (yes multiple!). The whole thing made me a little dizzy. I wasn’t sure if I should spend my time looking at the HUGE Coronelli Celestial globes or gazing into the heavens of the Hubble images. It was total map overload, so much in fact that I think I will have to go back and see it again. I mean what if I missed something!