Polar Museum

Dome in roof

Our walk from home to the Engineering building takes us by the university's Scott Polar Research Institute every day.  Several people at Pitt had recommended the museum, so today we went in.  It is small but quite interesting.  The first room is on native cultures of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Greenland, Scandanavia, etc.  The second room is on all the expeditions, particularly to Antartica.  Having just seen Scott's ship Discovery (in Scotland) last fall, this was a nice complement.  There were lots of artifacts from the ship (including chocolate wrappers/tins as that was essential for keeping up morale).  The letters Scott and his crew wrote when they knew they weren't going to make it were particularly poignant.

Inside OLEM

Inside OLEM

On the way back home we went into the big Catholic church that we pass by every day (and where we heard change ringing once!) - Our Lady and the English Martyrs (OLEM).  It is a dramatic 19th century Gothic Revival building and we admire the outside every day.  The inside is equally impressive and includes  a 16th-century wooden statue of the Virgin Mary from the original Dominican priory that became Emmanuel College.  The church also serves the Polish community as illustrated by the Madonna.