I had only been to Iolani Palace once in my whole life. It was for Kamehameha Schools' Explorations program way back in 1974 when I was 10. I only remember going in and seeing the room with the thrones in them.Recently, Iolani Palace displayed pieces of King David Kalakaua's royal jewelry to commemorate the 125th anniversary of his coronation. The exhibit was only going to be for a day. There were some pieces in the collection that even the palace curator hadn't seen because they came from a private collection.
There was a long line of people when my husband and I arrived. The line snaked from the bottom steps of the palace down to almost the pavilion. (You don't see the line because everyone was in the shade). It was a beautiful sunny day and I didn't mind waiting one bit.
I love to people watch and today was no exception. There seemed to be more locals than tourist there that day. There was an older couple who had brought their grandson with them. I don't think he really cared about seeing the jewels, but had really seemed to like getting out of school early and being with this grandparents. The group in front of us were having a discussion of overthrow.
We got the "mini tour" because there were so many people who were going to go through the palace that day. We didn't even have to wear the booties! The staff were very kind and helpful with the information that they shared.
The collection that was shown was much more than I imagined. There were many pieces that were given to King Kalakaua during his reign. There were many medals and ribbons that he wore. What was amazing to me was that a lot of the jewels in the pieces were very large. Kind of the big bamgucha sized marbles we used to play with at recess as well as the cat eye size as well. I'm glad that I had a chance to go and see these pieces. I got to see a part of Hawaii's history that I hadn't seen before.
After we left, my husband pointed out that I still hadn't been on a full tour of the palace. I guess I'll just have to leave that on my list of things to do.
1 comments:
Found your blog by clicking "next blog", saying hello.
Hi, I always watch the Travel Channel's shows on Hawaii, never been but am planning to. The thing about their shows is that it's geared towards tourists and I like your blog because it gives some insight on native life as well. Thanks and keep it up!
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