Day 4 - 02/09/2022 - San José and Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

Alchemists called copper "the harlot of metals." This has got to be one of my favourite sentences I have ever come across at a museum. Apparently it's because copper combines so readily with other metals. As someone who enjoys spending her free time writing YA fantasy novels about witches, I was very excited to see that the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (I went back today after seeing their gardens) had an exhibition about alchemy. While I got some ideas for the decor of my future house, I can't say that I have fully understood how the process of alchemy was meant to work (there are seven operations in total and neither of them struck me as being particularly simple), so if I ever want to use it for a novel I will evidently have to do considerably more research on it.

While I enjoyed this exhibition, the highlight of the museum for me was, without a doubt, the tomb replica, which was modeled after several rock-cut tombs found at the Beni Hasan cemetery site in Middle Egypt. I thought the entrance to it looked fun enough, and I was all the more excited when I saw people entering it and realised that there was more to it! I felt a little like I was in The Mummy (a movie this museum reminded me I still need to watch!), even if the massive red signs saying "EXIT" did shatter the illusion ever so slightly. It reminded me of other immersive exhibits at other museums I like, such as the Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool (I don't care if it's a replica of an Egyptian tomb or of a yellow submarine, I enjoy my museums with a side of movie set).

The museum isn't very large; the tomb connects you from the first room of the museum to the next, with the exhibit on alchemy in a separate, smaller room, but the tomb itself made it worth the admission price of $10. I returned to the gardens at the end of my visit and saw red dragon flies for the first time!

In the evening, I went back to downtown San José with Joseph for the South First Fridays street market (I love a good market!), where I got to meet some really amazing local artists. We had dinner at Petiscos, a Portuguese restaurant Joseph has drawn a mural for - their broa (Portuguese corn bread) was amazing! After that we went down for a drink at Haberdasher's, which I was super impressed by - their bartenders are expertly trained and it was incredibly satisfying to watch them prepare our drinks (a watermelon waltz for me, which was amazing!). After that, it was down to Cash Only, a honky tonk bar that is Johnny Cash themed, with a jukebox (sadly out of order) that only plays Johnny Cash songs. I'm completely sold on downtown San José!

The tomb!

The inside of the tomb, which made me feel like I was in The Mummy

I was very proud that I managed to capture one of the red dragonflies!

The Johnny Cash jukebox at Cash Only.