Scottsdale, Arizona - Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

This is one of my favorite places to visit and I have several posts. The photos won't spoil it because a big part of the experience is listening to all of the music.  We went for the Bastille Day events.  I took Beth to China to see the kinds of things that her mother saw on the last trip.

The exhibits show the country, so there is not too much to say about these.

Beth and I sat in on a "pleine aire" drawing class.  I didn't know what a "pleine aire" class was, but now I know.  It is sketching in the open air.  Wikipedia explains it to great lengths.  I am not a pleine aire pencil sketcher, but I do enjoy pleine aire photography as well as closed air photography!

 On to the displays.  We put our headset on and off we went.  I was soon texted by Karl and Michele. Set off to find them.  Then we all mingled and viewed.

 Nose flutes always intrigue me ever since my father and son came marching out of the back rooms playing harmonicas with their noses.

 The Beijing Opera gave a presentation at our tour dinner the last night in Beijing.

The man on the left has flags on his back.  Click the link below to see a better view of his costume.

(Click HERE and see the blog post where I am standing with the Beijing Opera artists.)

 The exhibit shown below illustrates "The Silk Road".  The eastern end of the road was in Xi'an.  Click here to see our visit to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, shown below.

I was distracted by the other exhibits, so left Beth to explore on her own.  Here are some other countries.

Beth stayed for more viewing because she was going to a party later with food. Michele, Karl and I went to enjoy a French inspired lunch in the restaurant, then all went our separate ways.

I love this museum and visit whenever I can.  Highly recommended.  www.mim.org