If you have two teenagers at home, it can be difficult to get them out of their laptop or phone. However, we have found a very nice outing, which was also very instructive. My tip Ripley's believe it or not Amsterdam.
I don't know about you, but I have two teenagers here who don't like museums. At least that was the case during our last vacation in 2014. We visited the Deutsche Museum in Munich and some museums in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, boredom soon set in and the children were not having a good time.
When we went to London for a week and strolled through the streets, we passed Ripley's believe it or not. We were actually curious and were eventually persuaded to pay the rather steep entrance fee for four people. What a relief to finally see our children enjoying a museum visit.
The Oditorium, Museum of Curiosities was founded by Robert LeRoy Ripley (December 25, 1890 – May 27, 1949). The American was a cartoonist, entrepreneur and amateur anthropologist. His work as a cartoonist for a newspaper soon became known to many, not least because he always incorporated photos and material from readers. This was not just any material, it always concerned rarities, such as vegetables with a special shape or animals that had a deviation.
Yet it was his interest in other people, their customs and rarities that led him to make his first world trip in 1922. During his travels he continued to make comics, but this time about the sometimes bizarre customs among local populations and cultures. He was soon discovered and his comics were posted in the major New York Post, where he had an even greater reach. It is estimated that over 80 million people worldwide have enjoyed his comics. A record if you consider that there was no internet at that time and people were dependent on buying local newspapers.
Over the years, Ripley started to become a real celebrity and even started working as a radio host. The collaboration with a TV producer led to the first episodes of Believe it or Not! from Warner Bros. Until his death in 1949, Ripley enjoyed working for radio and TV and drawing his famous comics.
He not only made drawings of all the rarities he encountered along the way, he also collected many things and took them back to America. Incidentally, these did not only have to be products, people with abnormalities also belonged to his 'collection'. The first oditorium was opened in Chicago in 1933. Now his readers could see with their own eyes that Ripley didn't make things up, but that they really existed.
For us, these are often things we already know from history:for example, lotus feet of Chinese women and African women who have whole bowls in their lips, but at the time this was just bizarre.
If you're looking for a mishmash of rarities, yet learn something from history, but from a very different angle, then Ripley's believe it or not is the place to be. Ripleys believe it or not London consists of five floors where you can encounter the most bizarre things. How about real human heads shrunk to 1/5 of their original size? Or torture devices? You can't think of it that crazy or it will find it at Ripley's.
Actually, I'm not sure if you can call it a museum or a collection of rarities, but hey. The fact is that we spent over 3 hours at Ripley's believe it or not in London. The children were very enthusiastic and it was certainly worth repeating.
Ripley's Believe it or not! in London
There was great joy in the house when it turned out that I had won two tickets for Ripley's believe it or not in Amsterdam. The original plan was for my husband to go to Ripley's with our son. Ideal, because my son travels with his students for free on weekdays and my husband has an annual subscription for his work. My daughter was very disappointed, however, because she also wanted to go to Ripley's. The tickets were only valid until the beginning of January, so we decided on Christmas Day to head to Amsterdam on Christmas Day with the whole family.
Two remaining tickets were purchased as well as three train tickets (with a discount!). It is about a 10-minute walk from Central Station to Ripley's believe it or not. Nice to see a little more of Amsterdam (especially for the children for whom this is all new, since they more or less grew up in Suriname). Too bad it was only quite cold, so my son was not very interested in the area (could also be due to his age).
Arriving at Ripley's, the children were unstoppable. Once through the entrance, I set out to investigate with our daughter, while my husband and son enjoyed themselves. And here too we came across all kinds of rarities such as torture devices, people with a bizarre appearance or abnormalities and much more. Of course we took a lot of pictures. Below you can see a small selection.
You always start on the first floor and are directed to the top floor via a certain route. On the second or third floor there is the option to choose a narrow or standard route. Three guesses what our kids chose. By the way, you can take pictures and film everywhere (very nice), there are even special selfie spots. In addition, quite a lot of things are also allowed to be touched.
Of course it is a museum and you can also learn a lot. In Amsterdam, for example, a section has been set up with things such as a piece of the Berlin Wall, barbed wire that separated East and West, but also part of an old Trabant can be found there. In this way, visiting a museum becomes a lot of fun and things also stick with children more easily.
All in all, it took us just over 2 hours (it's slightly smaller than Ripley's in London anyway). On the top floor you can also sit and eat and drink something. There are also special combi tickets where, in addition to entrance, you also get a bag of popcorn and a drink.
Do you just have a little more to spend? Book a separate ticket for the 5D cinema and a unique experience with VR glasses (we didn't do this, so unfortunately I can't say anything about this).
Would you like to visit Ripley's oditorium after reading the above? Here you will find general information about opening times, address and much more.
Address
Ripley's believe it or not museum
Dam 21
Amsterdam
Phone:020 – 3697120
Email :[email protected]
Website :http://www.ripleys.com/amsterdam/
Opening hours
Daily from 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM (other times on public holidays!)
Entrance
€17.95
€ 13.95 (children up to 15 years)
(Sometimes you can get nice discounts through websites like Groupon)
Have you ever been to Ripley's believe it or not! been to Amsterdam? Or are you planning to visit the oditorium after reading the above? Let me know.
