toomanybooks

Just back from a few hours at the Field Museum. Extremely crowded; couldn't even get into the Pompeii exhibit. At least fifty people in line at the members' desk and for the Corner Bakery. Many were speaking foreign languages, so I guess we are getting some good tourism these days.

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE had an article yesterday on preparations for the King Tut exhibit opening in May. Even though tickets don't go on sale to the public until January 24, they have already presold over 40,000 to members and groups.

To get some ticket preference as well as discounts, there are the usual museum memberships available as well as some special Tut memberships.

So you might want to plan well ahead if you are thinking about visiting this one.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/servic...,7317500.story

http://www.kingtut.org/

Sweet Willie

I have my tickets already, looking forward to this exhibit. ^

toomanybooks

Bumping my own thread to update.

Tickets to this exhibit are going fast. As of ten days ago, they had sold about 147,000 of a projected 950,000. May/June substantially depleted.

The weekend of July 29-30, for example, when I was trying to buy some, is virtually sold out for members. There are scattered pairs and singles available. I ended up having to get them for Monday morning.

Be aware that the "member tickets" for $10 and the "general public" tickets at $25 come from different allocations. The former for a specific date and time may go before the latter. This info is straight from the people who do nothing but sell member tickets.

If you buy now and can't use them, I doubt you'll have any trouble laying them off on somebody, through ebay if nowhere else.

Hotels are advertising packages for about $165 - $229. Saw a Hyatt ad yesterday; also the Hilton and Starwood hotels and more. Usually a room, 2 tickets, extra amenity/breakfast, maybe a shuttle to the museum. If you aren't a Field member, this might be a decent deal. Google for "'King Tut' Chicago hotels"

DavidDTW

I saw the Tut exhibit in Ft Lauderdale on a Monday morning in January, and the crowd was about 80% kids. Lots and lots of school groups. I assume the crowds in Chicago over the summer will be more mixed, but I am glad I saw it when I did. The special exhibitions at the Field never seem to be spacious enough, always way too crowded no matter the time or day.

toomanybooks

Yes, the Field special shows are often very crowded, with rows of people in front of you continuously. Early in the day and during the week should help.

How did you like the show? Hoping it was good.

DavidDTW

I liked the exhibit, but focused on the objects rather than their context. The show starts off with an intro to ancient Egypt and then a pre-Tut era gallery. I have seen other exhibits covering those time periods, and found this part repetitive.

The setup of his tomb and the artifacts displayed are by far the highlight of the show, and well worth seeing. Then the final gallery tells about the excavation and discovery of his tomb.

The main result of my seeing this show was confirmation that I really need to go to Egypt and visit the Cairo Museum!

Sweet Willie

We had tickets for the 8am showing this past Sunday morning. We arrived at 7:50am and there were 60 people ahead of us. We were told that the last showings can be lighter than mid day as well.

The inlaid work was amazing as was the container for Tut's liver.

I had not seen any Egyptian items for quite awhile so I really appreciated the context that this exhibit provided.

--

Gargoyle

Did they bring all the Tut stuff from Egypt on Lufthansa/United (*Alliance) or on SkyTeam? Tut is lifetime gold, so that would indicate SkyTeam. Maybe he flew AF, since they still have First Class, he certainly isn't a mere Business Class type.

Or perhaps Emirates? That seems most likely.

Wanderbug

We visited the Field Museum in mid-June and found the King Tut exhibit beautifully presented (and very crowded, even on Thursday at midday) While the presentation of this exhibit was excellent, there are other Egyptian exhibits in Chicago (including the other exhibit at the Field) that were not crowded and considerably more detailed and in-depth, although some of the artifacts weren't as outstanding. If you have time and want to explore more, take some time to go through the Inside Egypt exhibit at the Field, and also go to the Oriental Institute, (free, or voluntary donation) which has some very interesting exhibits from the entire near east region. These were much less crowded and very detailed and informative. I think we saw five people in total at the Oriental Institute.

toomanybooks

Agree wholeheartedly on the Oriental Institute (my wife is a professor at the U of C and I have been there dozens of times). One of the great almost-unknown treasures in the whole country if you are interested in ancient history.

The renovation of a few years ago really helps. Before it was always overheated or stuffy or cold.

You can take the Metra Electric commuter train to within a few blocks; same stop (55/56/57th) as the Museum of Science and Industry (opposite direction). And Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, considered one of his greatest works, is a block from the OI. Several good used bookstores on the way.

ChiFlyer

I must have missed this originally. I am American but my family is from Spain and we speak Spanish with each other. Why do you assume that because someone speaks a foreign language we are tourists? We just happen to converse in a foreign language with each other but use English with others.

toomanybooks

Because there was a LOT more of it happening than under normal conditions.

This should strip out any potential bias of the kind you mention.

Or to put it another way, if I hear one person speaking Spanish in Chicago, it doesn't mean much. If I hear 15 different people in one afternoon in Chicago speaking German, Polish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, etc., it starts to mean something.