What to do on a rainy day?

We have certainly had our share of rainy days. So what to do when your sister, niece and great niece are visiting and it just rains? Well, no worry. We spent an afternoon at the Modern Science Museum 'Centro de Ciência Viva de Sintra'- only 500 meters by foot down the hill from Casa do Valle. This interactive center is one of the 'new' museums of Sintra, opened just a few years ago. I confess, I had never been, though I had been in the large ones of Chicago and Helsinki. This one is a small one. You spend between an hour and 3, depending on your age and weather...

What do you see? Actually, what do you do? You can make a simulation of wave energy movement; make up your genetic DNA and find out how many people are out there with your combination of eye- and hair color, nose and jaw shape etc; test your short-term memory and reaction skills by part-taking in games that use sounds and colors; take a picture of your body to find out which parts of your body are warmer/colder than the others... You can practice walking and throwing balls while your sight is impaired and play music jumping on a huge keyboard on the floor... Lots of things. And there were more - all water related and interesting looking. But outside and it was raining. So we skipped that. A reason to go back.

What did we like most? The 4 year old and her mother could have stayed on the attached side-by side swings: it was enough for 1 to work on gaining speed, the other would naturally follow. I liked the memory games and the wonderful architecture of the converted garage of the Sintra trams - my sister liked looking at the Sintra mountain with the 360º telescope.... We spent an easy hour and plus with no-one getting bored (and missing the water-part), but we were all sure that a 10-year old would entertain himself for at least 1 more hour than us, easily, being able to discover the science as well, instead of just having fun. Everything was written in Portuguese and English.

There is an internet coffee shop with a terrace as well, which works great, I am sure, if some of you want to relax while others are still entertained in their discovery of science.

An interesting note: right outside the center, there is a stop for the tram that travels between Sintra and the Praia das Maçãs beach in the summer weekends; a hint to combine a visit to the Center with a trip to the beach!

Comments

saloia said…
Hello!

It is me Mary from the Jazz bar near the station.....:)

A great
way to let vistors know what is going on here in our town!

hugs

Mary

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