I’m a huge fan of the MJT, it’s pure genius. I try choose my guests wisely because not everyone will “get” it, and I try to tell them as little as possible before visiting.
Not really a “bizarre” museum, but if you’re at all into technology, the Deutsches Museum in Munich is not to be missed. It’s sort of a cross between the Exploratorium and the Smithsonian. They have an amazing musical instrument collection as well as a great collection of cars, bikes, and motorcycles, plus some life-size tunnel-making exhibits and a big faraday cage you can climb into and get zapped with 100,000 volts while dangling 30 feet above ground. What’s not to love?
In Florence there’s a great museum of beautifully crafted Renaissance-era scientific apparatus. As a bonus, they also have on display Galileo’s middle finger.
The Musee Mechanique in San Francisco has a great collection of old arcade games, pinball machines, carny games, and mechanical dioramas. Admission is free and most of the games and devices cost a quarter.
I’ve been trying to get up to the Steam Engine Museum in Vista – in fact we almost went today but the day got away from us.
