Waterworld Part II

In stark contrast to Universal Studios and its teeming hordes of thrillseekers, this weekend we ventured forth about a mile down the road to the Kobe Water Science Museum. Along with about fourteen other people. Which is a little sad, because water is far more important than Woody Woodpecker's missus or a rubbish Kevin Costner film.

For a refurbished rapid filtration plant, the Water Science Museum is actually quite a grandiose appointment. Quite why it was deemed necessary to engage celebrated architects - in this instance one Kozo Kawai - to design sewage works is a bit of a mystery, but he did a nice job. To add to the general feeling of bewilderment as you approach the building, there is a quite impressive sculpture of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Immediately outside the museum there was a splendid opportunity to take arty photos...

Not to be outdone by the likes of Universal Studios, you rather suspect that the local municipal authority had spent a small fortune on their own lovable hosts - in this case it is the Mi-ckle Family, the "fairies of the water".

But then, especially considering it's approximately a fiftieth the cost of Universal Studios, the Water Science Museum stands its ground well. There were plenty of things for Jessica to press, push, pump and squirt, and even though everything was in Japanese (something which, so far, we've not found to be the norm, to be honest) there was a discernible point to everything. And from a purely personal point of view, I found that there was at long last a discernible point to Mr Rhodes' achingly dull Geography lessons at school - this was the first time I had ever seen an Archimedes' Screw, even if this one was made out of polythene hosepipe, as opposed to being fashioned from wood and bronze, as he told us it was.

All in all, 200 yen well spent then...