Tuesday 19 October 2021

Traveling the world

In lack of travel plans these Midterm Holidays, I took the kids up to the Expo2020 yesterday for a first visit for them. It's only an hour drive away, and students go free all throughout the season, so I guess we will be coming back several more times - it really is a great day out!

We started in the Sustainability part this time as well, and managed to visit quite a few pavilions during our 5,5 hours at the site. Here are "a few" photos! Started by being greeted by Opti, one of the friendly robots that roam the Expo site:


We had to visit Sweden of course, it's right by the entrance of the Sustainability part, which makes it a good first stop:


Then we entered Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion itself, situated smack bang in the middle of the district. I missed this last time so was very excited. First we started by walking through the Wadi and the Courtyard, where we learnt about the science of our planet through huge installations inspired by fairground attractions:



Then we went down the two immersive paths, first the ocean path, very, very cool!




And then the forest path, also incredibly impressive! I will come back to this pavilion for more exploration for sure, impossible to experience it all in one go!


Of course we went to the Kiwi pavilion:


Spain, which apart from having this very cool staircase, also focused a lot on their age-old ties to the Arab world. Really interesting read.



Italy, which showcases both education, culture and science.


Admired the 3D-printed replica of the famous David sculpture by Michelangelo:


We took a little trip on one of the yellow Expo Explorer trains, thinking it would give us a bit of an overall overview. It went way to slowly for us (because there was just so many people) so we jumped off again as soon as we could, and continued walking instead.


The Expo site is especially beautiful at night I think, when all the lights come on!


The Luxembourg pavilion, super cool design based on the Möbious strip, and - with a 21 m tall slide on the inside!




We went to the Brunei pavilion, and they were so happy to hear that we had lived there, so we had a long chat with them! Felt like coming home, lots of familiar pictures exhibited!




We happened to walk by the China pavilion just as their light- and drone show was about to start. Oh my, we really are living in the future..! This. Was. The. Most. Amazing. Experience. I have no words... I just stood there looking up, with my mouth open - super impressive!


Can you see what this is, ears and all..?


The Expo fountain was also extra impressive at night, with all the lights and the music, so different to the daytime experience I had last time:



In the evening the crowds arrived and the queues to enter the most popular pavilions got quite long. On our way back out to the parking, we managed to visit one last pavilion for the day - the Dutch pavilion. It took us inside this cone-shaped vertical farm, where we enjoyed a multi-sensory show displayed on our umbrellas! Very innovative!


We had a fab day at the Expo2020! We are all already looking forward to our next visit, making lists on the pavilions we must see next time. There is just sooo much to explore - will six months opening be enough..?

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