Underwater Art Museum

Where: Cancun, Mexico

This exotic and the world’s largest underwater museum is located at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, between the Cancun coast near Punta Nizuc and Isla Mujeres. Its exhibit consists of about five hundred life-size stone human figures created by contemporary British sculptor Jason Decaires Taylor. The museum was officially opened in 2011, and the first sculptures were installed in 2009.

The exhibits can be viewed by snorkeling or scuba diving. The sculptures made of durable cement and stainless steel, installed in an area of 420 m2, are very realistic: the artist created them from real models of different ages and nationalities. He invited more than 90 residents of the neighboring fishing village of Puerto Morelos to participate in the casting, and therefore each stone man is unique, with its own appearance, facial expression, a certain pose. However, aesthetics is only one of the purposes of this museum; the second, according to its creator, more important, is environmental. The exposition is designed to become a platform for the formation of a new biosphere – corals, which, in turn, attract a variety of marine animals. So the exposition of the museum is constantly renewed, but in a natural way.

The museum is divided into two galleries: Salon Machones, at a depth of eight meters and accessible both to divers and those who prefer snorkeling, and Salon Nizuc at a depth of four meters, which is allowed only with a mask. One of the most famous exhibits – the composition “Silent Evolution” weighing 120 tons and consisting of more than 400 statues.

Ernest Hemingway House Museum

Where: Key West, USA

The coastal town of Key West, now called a hippie rich man’s paradise, was made famous worldwide by Ernest Hemingway, who settled there with his wife Pauline in 1928 after returning from Paris. The city was chosen almost by chance: it was supposed to deliver a new Ford Roadster car ordered by Pauline’s uncle, but the dealer delayed delivery, and the writer, then working on the novel Goodbye, Guns, decided to stay in Key West for three weeks, during which – to everyone’s surprise – finished the work. Soon the couple made new friends who were attracted to Hemingway deep-sea fishing, and the classic of American literature decided to choose Key West as a permanent place of residence. In 1931, Uncle Pauline bought the young couple a two-story house on Whitehead Street. This beautiful Spanish colonial-style mansion was built in 1851 and at the time of purchase was in a rather poor condition, but the writer and his wife carefully restored it, turning it into a true national treasure, which today carefully preserves the writer’s furniture, personal items, photographs and manuscripts.

However, the museum will be interesting even for those who have not read any of the Nobel laureate’s novels: the most unusual exhibits here are the living cats. Once upon a time a white cat named Snow White, presented to the writer by a ship captain, lived in this house. The animal had a rare gene mutation – polydactyly, due to which the front paws instead of five fingers have six. Such six-toed “cats in mittens” (the separately protruding sixth finger makes it look as if they had mittens on their paws) served as a symbol of good luck for sailors. They were often kept on ships because it was thought that their unusual paw structure gave them a better balance when rocking and they were more adept at catching mice. Today the mansion has from 40 to 50 descendants of Snow White, many of whom passed on her genes. The pony-tailed ‘artifacts’ roam free through the house and garden, and local guides jokingly name them after celebrities who were once in the house on social occasions.

Mini Bottle Gallery

Where: Oslo, Norway

The world’s largest museum of the world’s smallest bottles: Doesn’t it sound a bit strange? The three floors of the museum showcase a small world of 53,000 bottles, 12,500 of which are on display and another 40,500 in the basement. Bottles from all over the world don’t just rest on the shelves, but form 50 themed installations that are cute and whimsical, hilarious and strange. For example, on the first floor you can see a large five-meter aquarium, in which rests a sunken world of mini-bottles. There is nothing less than a bottled version of the universe, as well as its own “Hall of Fame” – a separate section with bottles donated to the museum by various celebrities.

It is curious that among the exhibits are not only canonical bottles-shots with alcoholic beverages, but also, for example, with berries or fruit, and some are filled with quite unexpected substances – worms, mice… By the way, there is a separate horror room for children.