I am in Wisconsin before I start a cruise of the Great Lakes, so I took the opportunity to tour another state capitol. I am sad to report that this tour was one of the worst ones I have taken. Virginia remains the worst state capitol tour I have ever taken. The reason this was bad is first because the Assembly room was closed for some special event, so it could not be toured, nor could you go in the galley. Second, the tour guide was rude, but more importantly, she was not a very good tour guide. More on that later.
The Wisconsin capitol is similar to many other capitols. It has a large rotunda with decorated dome. It was constructed with a whole lot of beautiful stone, which our tour guide spent a whole lot of time talking about. It has a whole lot of decorations. Some of the decorations clearly had symbolism as our tour guide discussed it, but there was other decorations that the tour guide didn’t discuss and didn’t really allow for questions while walking way too quickly to various rooms. [Hence one of the reasons she was a bad tour guide.] An example of this, is there were some wall decorations featuring leaves and branches of some type, but I couldn’t find out what type and if there was a symbolism for that specific type.
I liked the layout of the building in that it essentially has four wings, and in the four wings are the Assembly, which is the equivalent of the House I think, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and an extra meeting room. Another thing the tour never mentioned was the Governor, and if the Governor has an office or any type of room in the Capitol.
Finally before presenting the photos, I feel the need to explain why I think this tour guide was bad. I have been on enough guided tours, and I personally know enough tour guides, to strongly believe that the number one responsibility of a tour guide is to know where are all the people on your tour are and make sure they can find you and hear you. The guide did not seem to think any of this is true. When we started the tour, she asked if everyone could use the stairs. We all said yes, so we started up the stairs. Very soon after starting, my mom decided that for various reasons, she felt safer taking the elevator. At this point, our guide was already near the top of the stairs, not looking back, and completely out of ear shot. My mom turned around and was able to find a nice police officer who had been near tour desk, and he was able to help her. Meanwhile, I was slowly making my way up the stairs. I can climb them, but I am slow. By the time I got to the top, the tour guide and all the people had not only made it to the top but were nowhere to be seen. I basically had to wander around until I found them, then immediately turned around to try to find the elevator and my mom. She and the police officer came a minute later, and we rejoined the group. When we rejoined the group, it was clear that not only had the tour guide either not noticed or simply did not care that not everyone was there, but she had not stopped talking. Hence my mom and I missed at least five minutes of her tour. About half through the tour, she said she now needed a count of the people on the tour. Why would you wait until halfway through? Perhaps if she had counted at the start, she might notice when people are not able to keep up with her. She also never once bothered to ask if people in the back could hear her. I could go on, but I won’t. It just left a bad impression on me, which is ironic because ever since I arrived in Wisconsin, everyone I have met has been really nice, and when they learn this is my first visit, they have all volunteered information of places to visit and where to eat.
Wisonsin State Capitol
Rotunda
Dome
Just below the dome, on four sides are fours beautiful glass mosaics representing the four parts of government: Liberty (shown below), Justice, Government, and Legislation.
Liberty mosaic
Badger statue
There is an extra meeting room that was evidently designed as an extra room. All the murals depict transportation.
Meeting room
In the Supreme Court room, there are three murals that depict scenes when great decisions were made.
Supreme Court
Senate Chambers