This is an observatory...

in Zagreb!

I LOVE this humble effort at bringing a bit of space exploration, star gazing and cosmonauty to the region.

I don't know if you can tell the scale in this photo exactly (there was no one actually inside the museum, making proportionality not so easy to deduce), but this observatory, located inside the national Museum of Technology in Zagreb, is about the size of a really generous playhouse with a dome on top.

The museum itself is a wonderland of kitsch. Hard to know where to start. From the poorly groomed model horses demonstrating the horsey part of horse and buggy, to the extensive amount of space given to the Fire Extinguisher History exhibition (I couldn't make that one up), to the Tesla, Tesla, Tesla ! (read like 'Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!') vibe, it was a visual feast in gotcha museumology.

I don't mean to mock too hard (but certainly a little) because what would a glorious space like the Griffith Observatory or the Franklin Institute be were it not for efforts of countries with less investment in public science education, but with a history of massive contributions to the sciences (that they won't let you for get for one hot second)? And really, how boring would it be if all the museums of the world were well funded, I mean cookie cutters. Stumbling upon socialist era gems like this one that somehow manage to survive, if not thrive, is so much fun. On the other hand, it would be nice to think that all science and technology museums were awesome.

Until then, go learn a little something about the fire extinguisher. It may save your life one day you know.