Visiting the Dinosaur Park

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Last Saturday we made a trip to the new Dinosaur Exhibition in Thessaloniki with our kids and friends. I shoot a lot of pictures, and so I wanted to share with you our experience!

The place the exhibition was set up is the same place where the International Fair of Thessaloniki takes place. We arrived there just a little too late (as always) but since there were many people as late as we, they did let us in. At first, it was not that impressive and we grown-ups did have a second thought about whether it would be worth the money spent. But the kids were all super-excited and looking forward to seeing the dinosaurs, so we waited in line to get the tickets and get started.

Once inside, you could see some dinosaur skeletons and interesting fossils. A guide began to talk about the dinosaur era to the kids and then took us to another room, which was a black light room (so everybody with white clothes was lit up…) and we had a “time travel” experience. Well, at least that was the plan, but unfortunately, there were some technical problems and we didn’t experience it, ha! But, time travel is a difficult thing, after all! We managed though to move on to the main exhibition area, where they had all the life-sized dinosaur replicas and that was where the fun really began!

The kids were losing it over how big the dinosaurs were, and since they had motion added to the replicas, they really looked alive! Our guides would tell a story for each dinosaur, describe it in form of a fun tale and incorporate much interesting information into the stories, along with some funny points. It was really entertaining, both for kids and adults!

After seeing many of the dinosaurs, we ended up seeing the king of them all, the T-Rex! 6 meters tall and 14 meters long!! Well, you wouldn’t want to meet this guy ever! Although, you might be able to dodge him, given how small we are compared to him!

All in all, there were about 25-26 robotic dinosaurs displayed and all were explained to us by three different guides. At the end of the tour, there was a “living” tree waiting for the kids (another robot), which told them a story about trees, nature, and dinosaurs.

Lastly, we were guided to a room where the kids were able to be paleontologists for a brief moment, trying on a safety hat and digging around in a sandpit filled with “dinosaur bones”. They had a little party and were given a “paleontology diploma”. After that, you could buy some souvenirs or a picture of your kid on a special dinosaur displayed there!

All in all, it was a really informative and fun experience, especially for the kids, of course! They had a great time, learned a lot, and got to see their friends, too! What more can a kid (or a parent for that matter) ask for?