Night at the Museum

During my time in New York, I probably didn´t do nearly as much cultural / artistic / worthwhile activities as I should've done. I left the MOMA unvisited, the MET was not high enough on my hitlist and the Guggenheim didn´t get me too interested. I almost made it to the David Zwirner Gallery (based on a recommendation by a charming art student on the bus into New York), but the queue was all the way round the block, and I´ve made a promise to myself to limit my time in lines as I´m getting older (life is too short to spend it queing).

Museum wise, I did get to the Museum of Native American History, only because I stumbled across it by Battery Park. It was a worthwhile visit though as it has an abundance of information and exhibits about the whole variety of indigenous people, from both North and South America.

Later that day I made my way up to Central Park to visit the Museum of Natural History. I had planned to get there later in the day as I´d heard that it was free for the last hour. Now I´m not a cheapskate (well, maybe sometimes), but as a sense of British pride, I begrudge paying to visit a museum where its counterpart in London is always free. So ten minutes before the witching hour of 4.45 I arrived at the mighty building. I was excited before I even got in as they had dinosaur shaped Christmas trees outside (what would Ross make of those?). And then as the clock ticked to the free time, I was let loose!

It really gives you a sense of urgency with a strict time frame. I think there´s a gap in the market for speed-museuming. You bypass all the bits you´re not really interested in and get to the good stuff!

And what some good stuff they have. My personal favourite was the car-sized skeleton of a giant tortoise. If Doug ends up like this, we´re all in trouble!

The museum also gave me a chance to see some of the wildlife I´d missed out on in Canada. Finally saw a Moose, Buffalo and a few varieties of Bear. The North American displays were possibly the most interesting as they gave an insight into the wildlife habitats that I hadn´t really learnt much about previously. I shall be on the look out for cougars and such like as we cross the desert in the New Year.

Although I only had a limited time, I thoroughly enjoyed my night at the museum. The limited time made me concentrate my plan of action on the areas that really interested me. Also, I didn´t leave with the usual museum-leg fatigue. As the security guards ushered me out (I really used every minute) I left smiling, especially as night had fallen and on exiting I was gifted with the most glorious view of the Manhattan skyline across Central Park.

I headed down towards the bright lights, but a little part of me wondered what was about to happen behind the locked doors of the museum.