museum day!
Two things I won’t hesitate to spend money on while traveling: good food and museums. I haven’t really shut up about the food I ate on my last trip, so I thought I’d shake things up and tell you about my favorite foreign museums.
The Tate Classic, London. Museums in London are free, so you’d feel like a big dope if you didn’t visit at least one or two. I wasn’t overly impressed with The British Museum, but fell head over heals for the Tate and spent a good half hour held captive by Waterhouse’s Lady of Shallot. You have to see this one in person to understand.
The Reina Sofia, Madrid. You’ll have no idea of the power behind Picasso’s Guernica until you see it in person. Just don’t get too close to the barricade - the alarm is piercing and tourists seem to set it off once every few minutes. This, though, is by far my favorite painting in the place. I didn’t know Dali could be so charming.
The Prado, Madrid. I spent hour upon hour in the Prado when I was a student in Madrid. It was hardly an optional activity, but though I grumbled, I loved it. My favorite painting is Las Tres Gracias (celebrating ladies with cellulite? yes please!), by Rubens and my favorite room is in the basement where the Dauphin exhibit was hiding - a bunch of Louis XVs treasures that make you pretty sure you’d have grown to resent the French monarchy, too.
The National Cinema Museum, Turin. That one gets its own post.
The Doge’s Palace, Venice. Pay the entrance fee, whatever it is. This is, perhaps, the most fascinating site in all of Venice, especially if you take the time to do a bit of reading before you visit. My favorites? The gilded ceilings and the prison, where the legendary bad-ass Casanova was once held captive.
The Vatican Museums, Rome. Psych! I don’t know what my problem was, but I was so bored in there, that even the Sistine Chapel almost didn’t rouse me from my museum coma.
What’s your favorite museum?
The Gemälde Galerie in Berlin is one of my favorites. I love Cranach the Elder and they have his Fountain of Youth - its beautiful and witty and fabulous.
Yes! I was so disappointed in the Sistine Chapel!! And everyone looks at me like I’m nuts when I tell them how anticlimactic it was. But, seriously? It took us about two hours to get through the museum, and then we were in the chapel for all of three mintues as we let the wave of people move us from door to the exit. I don’t even think my feet touched the floor.
For my money, it’s tough to beat the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Gorgeous building, and such an exhaustive quiantity of art that there’s something there for everybody!
Most Russian museums are pretty nice, though. The Russian Museum in St. Petersburg features only art by Russian artists, which is interesting from a cultural perspective. Same with the Tretyakov gallery in Moscow, which has a pretty amazing collection of icons in the basement.
I have to agree about the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. My favorite part is seeing the rooms where people used to live, though of course the art is incredible.
Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg is really incredible too–the mosaics and the stonework on the columns.
London. I second the Tate Classic, but London has so many museums to chose from and as they’re all free (except for special exhibitions), it’s hard to go wrong. The British Museum is as overwhelming in its vast collection as the Louvre. You either have to limit yourself to the “highlights” or devote a day or more to it. I like the National Gallery better because, although it has a very rich and deep collection, you can wander through it in a morning or an afternoon and not feel as though you’ve missed most of it. I’ve seen some wonderful things at the Tate Modern, but I would tend to reserve that for a special exhibition that calls to you. The Victoria & Albert is often overlooked, but it may be my favorite. Where else in the world can you see Trajan’s Column and the David while standing in one spot?
Paris. I’ll take the Musée d’Orsay over the Louvre. If you love Monet, the Marmaton is not to be missed. The Picasso Museum in the Marais is worth a morning or an afternoon. The scope of his work is stunning. The Rodin Gardens are a wonderful place for a picnic.
New York. MoMA. Hands down. An absolute must.
I too loved the Tate in London…and walked many miles to get there.
I also loved the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. His work is captivating and I could have spent all day just wandering aimlessly around the museum….*sigh*
Though Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists, I found the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam uninspiring. It certainly missed my expectations. The Orsay’s collection of Van Goghs is stronger for being limited almost exclusively to works from 1888 and after. Though there’s historical interest in Van Gogh’s early works, there’s not much art in them. And the museum in Amsterdam is full of his early dark, brown paintings…
1. The Rodin museum in Paris. It’s a “maison particulier”, with beautiful gardens and plenty of light, airy spaces inside showcasing Rodin’s sculptures. (Some of Camille Claudel’s works are also there…)
I would have to agree with the Reina Sofia in Madrid. I would go there on free days just to do homework or read becuase I loved being around there so much. its a nice change to see the modern spanish artist compared to the older art in the Prado.
My favorite small museum is the Botero Museum in Bogota. It’s not crowded, the art is all from his personal collection or his own work, and you can get very close to everything without setting off alarms.
The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, for the architecture (including the harem, so very sultan-ish), the exhibits (religious relics, jewels) and the views. I spent a day being absolutely fascinated there.