Bloody Sunday

What can you do for five euro on a Sunday in Siena?

I guess the better question is what should you do... If you are anything like Andrea and me, you would go to the torture museum. I am not certain of what was going through my mind when this seemed like a good idea. We walked in and the woman working the counter was having a lengthy conversation with two other Italians. We just stand there waiting and decide to read the introduction sign to the museum. It starts off by saying “man's need to kill and inflict pain on others is irrepressable... torture is not a thing of the past but of the present. In today's society if a man does not have the ability to inflict pain on another they do so through mistreating their wife and children...”. Right there I should have realized the author of this lovely piece and I are at odds when it comes to world view. At this point the woman is now free to take our money. She was uber chipper and very excited that it is our first time to the museum. The sign posted on the wall showed the student price as 7 euro and the adult price as 10. It also stated the ticket was good for both this museum and another one in a near by town on capital punishment. She could sense that we weren't going to pay that much so she offered us 2 for one. Being frugal and always up for a deal we said yes.

If you have ever been to a disturbing wax museum with velvet on the walls and creepy music... it was kind of like that just add the content of Turture devices. Basically what we learned is that by no means would we want to go back in time to the Middle Ages. I am rather certain they would take one look at me and assume that I was a witch.

“What also floats?”

“ahhhh... wood!”

“Good so that means a witch is made of...”

“WOOD!”

  At that point they would either skin you like a rabbit (I only knew flaying to mean to whip someone... but it is actually the act of removing the skin) stretch you, burn you, or use the vaginal/anal/oral pear. NASTY. I am not one of those people who feels queasy by the sight of blood or what not. But this museum made both Andrea and I want to puke. Many of the signs explained where in the world the torture device in question is still used today. Unfortunately, many of the devices are still in use in Latin America. It is very sad what humans have done to one another and what they are still doing.

  If judging the quality of a museum just check for its sources. In this case- Wikipedia. REALLY WIKIPEDIA. If you are going to put a definition of something on the wall of your museum don't cite the source as Wikipedia.

  Moral of the story: When intrigued by a museum stop and ask yourself- how am I going to feel afterward... enlightened? Happy? Or nauseous?

Cheers,

Kristin