Magellan Trip : A Magical Exhibit and A Magical Moment at McGill University

On this action packed day I went to the Redpath and McCord Museum due to their close proximity to each other in downtown Montreal. The Redpath Museum (which is not the Redpath Hall pictured in the next couple photos as I originally thought) is owned by and is part of the campus of McGill University. Unfortunately but interestingly, I accidentally chose to visit the university during its graduation ceremony for its students. I felt that I was intruding on a proud but private moment, but it was amusing to see the bagpipe player lead a procession of new graduates through the streets of Montreal. I actually got trapped for about twenty minutes on the steps of the Redpath Museum since I thought it would be incredibly rude if I were to try to break through a graduation procession. I treated it like a funeral procession and I refused to get in the way, and so I simply watched them pass by and snapped a few photographs and a video.

After I escaped McGill, I felt bad and bought a hat from a student merchandise tent they had set up, and then it was on to the McCord Museum. Slightly less eclectic than the collection of the Redpath that included taxidermy animals, fossils, minerals, mummies, and even some Etruscan urns, the McCord had three exhibits at the time. Native Peoples and their culture through their clothing, a collection of magic advertisement posters from the Golden Age of Magic, and a collection honoring the forty-year career of a political cartoonist named Terry Mosher (more about him when you get closer to his exhibit's photographs).

Petrified Wood from our very own Petrified Forrest in Arizona

River Otter

Arctic Fox

My favorite Grey Wolf...you'll be seeing way too much of him.

Woodland Caribou

Caribou

Polar Bear

Bald Eagle

Short-tailed Weasel

Arctic Fox

Failed attempt to take a selfie with the Polar Bear in the background

I really liked this Grey Wolf

Wolverine with terrible glass glare

A shot of most of the Redpath Museum's collection of taxidermy animals (there is another section on the stairs on the way up to this section)

Look at that dead Grey Wolf's gaze into the distance...it's inspiring

This is the section from the stairs as mentioned earlier. A Leopard and I think a gazelle and something else.

Gorilla

I think this is a Greater Kudu and me (I think)

Lioness

Striped Hyena

Hippopotamus Head

The majority of the taxidermy collection on the stairs

The next photos are all Egyptian artifacts or other eclectic cases about African, Ancient Greek, and Roman cultures.

View of the third floor and with some of the animals visible from the second of Museum Redpath

Large, gross Anaconda skeleton

Full gross skeleton of the Anaconda

Seriously, that wolf was my favorite part of my day

This next part is not for the squeamish...

This section of four photos had to do with African's and the meaning they place on their hair.

Dinosaur

I had to get a better photo of this gorilla on my way out.

The Redpath Museum is located on McGill University's campus. I had to respectfully wait on the stairs of the museum in order to let their graduation procession pass. I snapped a few photos and a video of the procession led by a bagpipe player.

A photo of what looks like McGill University's chapel

Exterior of the Redpath Museum

Some views of the city from the campus with the graduation tent in the background.

Random sculpture they had on their campus

The rest of these photos are from the McCord Museum which consisted of three exhibits on three floors. First, the First Nation's and how they keep their culture alive by their connection with their clothing. The second floor was a series of magic show advertisements and lithographs from the "Golden Age of Magic" that they had obtained over 600 posters from one man's collection. The third floor honored the fantastic forty-year career of political cartoonist for the Anglophone Montreal Gazette whose pseudonym is Aislin (real name Terry Mosher). His political cartoons were especially beloved during the terrifying 1960s and 1970s when the Quebecois separatist parties took power and greatly upset the English-speaking newspaper's readers.