Have we forgotten what a Planetarium is?

During a rainy day on our trip to Athens, I took a suggestion from a guide book and took the family to see what was described as “one of, or possibly, the BEST planetarium in Europe.”

Well, let me tell you. Europe must have some horrible planetariums.

First of all, this was not a planetarium show. The only two shows available for us were something about a cartoon polar bear and “Death of the Dinosaurs.” We’d already paid to take a taxi there, so we chose the dinosaur film. That’s right – FILM.

Shouldn’t planetarium shows be about space and the galaxy? I have the same complaint about the one in Sweden, but at least they don’t call it a planetarium. Just make an IMAX theatre then!

This particular show turned out to be a very badly digitized animation film shown on the rounded planetarium screen. Even worse, we bought headphones to plug in for the English translation, which was apparently recorded by someone half-deaf on a microphone with the volume setting stuck on LOUD. Every word was painful. The Greek narrator on the screen would start talking and my body would tense up because I knew the translator was about to scream in my ear again.

Το 90% των δεινόσαυρων εξαφανίστηκε

NINETY PERCENT OF THE DINOSAURS WERE WIPED OUT!!!!!

The only good review I can give the Planetarium was that they had modern bathrooms where I could actually flush toilet paper down the toilet.

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3 Replies to “Have we forgotten what a Planetarium is?”

  1. ksbeth

    that is crazy! do you think it might have been a repurposed planetarium, or were they just taking liberties with the definition of planetarium?

    • hjonasson

      It’s apparently a fairly new planetarium and seriously billed as “one of the best in Europe.” I love planetariums and the space shows so it’s really annoying that the one there and the one here in Stockholm basically just show IMAX movies on the rounded screen. I just don’t see the point.

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