Museums in New York
In general, I’m not a huge fan of museums. I just don’t have a strong interest in history, really old art, or massive crowds. That being said, I still see value in museums and always try to force myself to check them out from time to time. Sometimes it’s a win, and sometimes I drag my feet the whole way and skip out early to get ice cream instead. While in New York City, I had a CityPASS, which granted me access to basically all the museums in New York including The Metropolitian Museum of Art (The Met), the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the Natural History Museum, and the Guggenheim. I managed to make it to the first three.
The Met
My boyfriend Pedro adores The Met. No, that’s an understatement – he is obsessed with The Met. I could never deny him yet another trip to his beloved museum. Plus, what’s a trip to New York without seeing The Met?
We showed up on a Tuesday, hoping to beat the crowds, but for some reason, the museum was outrageously busy. People were swarming everywhere. This was already a bad sign for us. Then, we were singled out and forced to check all of our bags, even though plenty of people were walking around with bags as big or larger than ours. We knew we would never make it through all the exhibits, so we headed towards some of our favorites. The Egyptian exhibit was gorgeous. The massive windows let in natural light and gave the entire area a really calming feel. Considering the large number of people shuffling about (and shooting me dirty looks as if I might try to sneak in line to see a temple thing), I really appreciated the extra dose of zen.
This is the photo with the least amount of people in it.
I couldn’t resist.
We moved onto the weapons area next, because Pedro could tell I was already losing patience with the museum and he knows how much I love weapons. The collection was quite impressive, but with all the texting teenagers and slow moving tourists blocking the view, I couldn’t bring myself to hang around for much longer. In the end, I had to declare the trip a fail, and just go buy myself an ice cream cone. I’m glad I went, and I would love to try it again someday, but it’s definitely something you need to have a lot of patience for. That day was just not my day.
The Natural History Museum
I don’t really care for history, but man do I love me some space and dinosaurs. We started out with a show about stars in the planetarium. It was beautiful, and voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, which I found quite humorous. After that, we made our way to the dinosaurs. I snapped endless photos, and then grumbled about how everything was behind ridiculously reflective glass, making photos near impossible. However, the large numbers of dinosaurs were enough to keep me happy. I voluntarily went to the gift shop (something I usually avoid) and drooled over many dino-related items. Several times I found t-shirts I would have shelled out absurd amounts of cash for, had they come in sizes larger than toddler. I almost bought a dinosaur skull comb, but couldn’t bring myself to spend 11 bucks on it.
Despite the disappointments in the gift shop, my mood was exponentially better than the day at the Met. Pedro and I ran around, picking out extinct animals we would like as pets, creating hypothetical battles between odd looking specimens, and snapping silly photos.
This was a candidate for the extinct animals we would like as a pet.
This is a megaloceros. They regrew their massive antlers every year!
I don’t remember what this is called, but apparently it walked upright like this. Do you think it could take a megaloceros?!
Olmec and Pedro have the same-sized lips.
Overall, the Natural History Museum was a total win. I loved the exhibits so much that even the crowds did not bother me. When I’m surrounded by dinosaurs, it’s hard to get on my nerves.
MOMA
We almost ran out of time and skipped this museum, but I am so glad we didn’t. We only had a few hours on very last day in New York, so we had to rush through most of it because we wanted to see every last bit of the of featured exhibit, Century of the Child.
This exhibit was one of my favorite things ever. Unfortunately, there were no photos allowed for some reason. The entire exhibit was full of old toys, school items, children’s furniture, books, and television programs. I saw everything from tin cars to tiny little school desks. I was both saddened and excited to see some toys from my own childhood, such as Tamagachis. The only place you were allowed to take photos was at the entrance of the exhibit, where they had a massive table and chair set. I adored it and wanted it so badly. It was so great that they created something that allowed adults to truly feel like a child again, with their feet swinging and arms barely reaching the table. It was so simple, and completely wonderful.
It’s a bit blurry, but check out how happy we are!
We didn’t make it to the Guggeheim, but I was pretty satisfied with our museum experiences. Yes, the Met was a bummer, but I refuse to believe the museum itself was to blame. I am determined to go back someday when I am in a more patient mood. If you are planning to visit several museums in New York, I highly recommend getting the CityPASS, which includes passes to all of the museums I visited, as well as the Guggenheim, and several other tourist attractions in New York, so it will most definitely save you some money.
