Thoughts on visiting Museums
When I visit the new city, the first thing I do is to see if there are any museums I can visit during my free time. I love going to museums. They are informative, inexpensive (Some even free), and full of discipline. I haven't visited so many museums in India, but those I saw in South America, America, and Europe were well maintained and they were HUGE. I wonder how to they build and maintain such a vast collection while charging least or nothing.
I reserve special time to visit museums as they are typically open from 9 in the morning to 6 in the evening. In fact I plan to visit 3 museums per day when visiting a city. Unfortunately due to limited time and vast collection, I don't have time to read text next to every object, but that's fine. Even if I visit 5 museums in the new city, I get a sense of fulfillment.
I love taking photos in museums. They're great for collection and rejuvenate memories when I am alone and want to go through them. For each photo I faintly remember when and where I took it and I like the feeling when it seems I am in fact in the city. Besides, I also love to share them with my family (and sometimes friends). That way even they can get a feel of visiting that place. I love to cherish those memories in the form of photographs. Before I visit a museum, I check if photos are allowed are not. If not, I think of alternative place that can be visited. Unfortunately that's the reason I didn't visit Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam last month.
Do introverts like museums more? Cause they're so quiet, disciplined and relaxed? Seems that introverts can be easily stimulated and thus museums are perfect place for them where they can study and learn about objects without external interference? This is not my imagination. All my friends who are extroverts by nature think museums are boring, meaningless and waste of time. I don't blame them. I think bungie jumping, six flags, and sky diving and too risky and life-threatening. At least in my mind being introvert and being attracted towards museums make total sense.
Museums are a great gift to humanity. Thanks to governments, private donors and generous citizens for their consistent flow of help and monetary support - we have more than enough museums in most of the cities of developed world and thousands of people visit them each year. Museums remind us of our past, teach us about things we never bothered to think about, signify the importance of preservation and classification among whole bunch of random things. It's one thing to see and read about things of past in book and it's another to actually visit them in museums.
Anne frank's house, mummies, some holy mask used by tribes in Africa hundreds of years ago, how railway engines looked like 100 years ago, objects used in a American revolutionary war, World-war II, how people lived like 200 years ago, their culture, behavior and daily-life, how some of the extinct (Unfortunately!) animals looked like, and some beautiful artwork by Picasso, Rembrandt, breathtaking sculptures by Greek, Egyptian, and European artists could just have been things I read in the book or watched on TV YouTube.
When you visit museums, they give you goosebumps, put you in the past for a while and then you thank museums and their supporters for making it happen where you can experience these things just by strolling around and casually hooking audioguide in your ears. Congratulations! That was one smart investment with 4-hours of your life rather than going to pub, watching some boring game on the television, or sticking with a video game console.
