Mrs. Selfish and I have been to dozens of museums throughout the course of our Selfish Year. The British Museum. The Louvre. The Trick Eye Museum in Seoul. The Sydney Modern Art Museum. The Port Arthur Museum. None of these could prepare us for Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art.

The MONA was built and owned by David Walsh, Tasmania’s millionaire gambler, who earned his fortune by developing his own horse racing gambling techniques. The museum opened in January 2011 and holds hundreds of pieces, ranging from ancient Egyptian pieces, to modern art pieces showcasing the work of Madonna, to a machine that simulates the human digestive system and poops twice a day.

It’s fun. It’s shocking. It’s thought-provoking. It’s cutting-edge. In Walsh’s own words it’s the “subversive Disney World for adults.”

Even the building is awesome.

Getting there and tickets

The Mona has a ferry that departs from the dock area of Hobart. To visitors that haven’t done any online research, the ferry is probably the first indication that this isn’t your typical museum.

Ferry-goers have two options for tickets. A $20 normal round trip ticket, or the $50 posh-pit option. Guess which one we chose.

Boo yeah.

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