My Favorite Museum - New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art

 I don't claim to be an ardent museum goer. I have been to some world famous ones like The Louvre, MOMA, and The Van Gogh Museum. And most recently the small Fjord Museum in Gerainger, Norway. I don't mind a bit of time in a museum but it's probably not at the top of my list. But I do like visiting them sometimes.Especially if you can learn about a place that you're visiting. And I still have many on my list that I'd like to visit. But my all time favorite museum is The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The Met on Fifth Avenue showcases 5,000 years of art from around the world. (There is a second Met location, The Met Cloisters, that I haven't yet visited) In 1866 in Paris, France a group of Americans gathered to "create a national institution and gallery of art". On April 13, 1870 it was incorporated and in 1871 174 European paintings entered the collection. The Museum opened to the public at it's current location in 1880. Expanding over the years, including the Great Hall designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the museum now includes one of the greatest collections of European paintings in the world. Other collections include arms and armor, asian art, European sculpture, Greek and Roman art, and modern and contemporary art. Today tens of thousands of objects are on view in the Museum's two millions square foot building.

My favorite room at the Met houses the ancient Egyptian art collection.There are more than 26,000 objects of Egyptian art with more than half being derived from archealogical work in Egypt done by the Met over a period of 35 years. A gift from the Egyptian government is the Temple of Dendur, awarded to the Met by President Johnson, which was rescued by UNESCO from flooding caused by the Aswan High Dam. The temple is presented brilliantly in the Sackler Wing with a large glass wall to let light in.

Another fantastic collection is the Museum's collection of Greek and Roman Art. With 4500 works ranging in date from 4500 BC to AD 312, this collection primarily focuses on art from Greece and Italy. The highlight is a skylit display of Hellenistic and Roman art with a two story atrium.

Another highlight of The Met is The Met Rooftop Bar which is, obviously, situated on the roof of the museum. The bar is open only when the museum is and offers sweeping views of Central Park and beyond. It's a fantastic spot to go for wine, cocktails and light bites. (Prepare for heavy crowds - it's very popular)

I could go on and on about all the treasures here at this museum. You could visit everyday for years and not see it all. In fact, the author Gretchen Rubin has done just that. She has visited everyday that the museum is open and that she is in New York (where she lives) since the beginning of 2020. And she's still going strong. This started as an experiment for a book but she loved it so much that she is still visiting(The last time I visited I discovered The American Wing which has period rooms displaying 300 years of American domestic life.)

So I hope if you've not been, and you like museums, and you're in New York, you might give it a try. I have been twice and I hope that I can get there again soon.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art visiting tips:

Adult fee $35 Seniors $22 Students $17 Children under 12 Free

NY, NJ, and CT residents: Pay what you wish

Hours 10 to 5 Fri and Sat 10 to 9

Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, January 1 and the first Monday in May

Dining: Eatery, 2 Cafes, Roof Garden Bar, Dining Room, and Lounge

How about you? What is your favorite museum?

Linking up with: My Corner of the World at Photographing New Zealand!