Museum Hopper

today i went to the forbes magazine gallery with a friend from college. i have wanted to go for a while since it's close to where i live and it's free! the museum though is not open on sundays, which has hampered me a little bit lately. so museum is very accessible. when we walked in, the security guard was arguing with a delivery guy. this was slightly awkward. i just wanted to ask where the bathroom was! we ended up going through the museum backwards although this did not matter much for this museum. they have some very unusual stuff. they have a collection of monopoly boards. some of these were custom made for the forbes family; others are just unusual. they have a huge collection of model boats including some of the sinking titanic. they had some sample battle scenes. now this is all fine and dandy and sort of cohesive. the other temporary exhibits in the museum were completely random. this was a bit confusing at first. they had a jewelry exhibit, kimono...

i went to the fashion institute museum last week with my sister who was visiting. the museum is free, which is great. the museum was easy to get to and was really easy to navigate. it is very obvious where the front is and the exhibits flow very nicely. when we visited, it had two exhibits (we think). when we left the first exhibit though, it was not immediately apparent if we were another exhibit or the end of the museum. the first exhibit that we saw was called " arbiters of style: women at the forefront of fashion. " it focused on how women had affected the current fashion focusing primarily on female designers. the exhibit was chronological starting in the eighteenth century to the present. they had a variety of types of clothing ranging from wedding dresses to suits to day outfits to ball gowns. the outfits were very well selected and beautiful. even as someone with very little knowledge of fashion designers, i recognized the majority of the designers. thi...

i went to the cloisters with my sister who was is currently in town. we took the subway. it was actually running as an express train, so it only took about 30 minutes to get up there. it was beautiful since all the flowers and the trees were out. it was relatively cool inside the museum, which was ideal since it was 98 degrees outside. another good visit. times visited: 2 average time in the museum: 2 hrs overall: A

hampton court palace was a last minute add on to the trip. it is a ways out of the city, tube --> express train although i ended up having to do tube --> express train --> bus. i went with one of my coworkers who works in london. he'd never been either, but it's decently close to where he lives. it is quite the estate. manicured lawns, wild fields, beautiful buildings. a friend had recommended the maze warning that it was quite tricky. yes, my friend has a PhD. we definitely took a solid half hour in the maze, but getting to the end is great! we did a couple of the laid out tours. you tour through king henry viii bedroom and suites. you also can see queen mary ii and her husband's, william iii. they have a collection of about 10 tapestries, a mirror and maybe a painting that are second in value to the crown jewels. the one thing, we didn't get any type of audio guide, which might be helpful if they have it. most items weren't really marke...

i went to kew gardens with a coworker and his girlfriend. ordinarily, kew gardens should be pretty easy to reach from the city. it is accessible from the tube line. the day i went though, part of the tube was broken, so...let's just say it took me a while to get there. it is a great relaxing open space at the edge of london. they have a huge hot house (while really two). they also have other indoor gardens as well like one that is "dedicated" to princess diana. they are also famous for the pagoda, which is built in a japanese style. i am not really sure what the purpose is, but it is a beautiful structure. overall worth a visit if you're in london for an extended period! times visited: 1 time at the gardens: 3 hrs overall: A-

the tower of london is a must-see. it was one of the three places that i repeated on my recent trip to london. getting there is pretty easy. there is a "tube" stop and the bus goes right there too. the tower is not a place to go if you have problems with unequal flooring like most of the places in europe. when you get there, you have the option of taking a guided tour with one of the famous beefeaters . do it even if you have to wait a little bit for the tour to start. they make it a lot more informative and are great public speakers. crown jewels are also worth a stop, obviously. the first time i went, i was suprised as how much i really like it. perfect especially once kids have learned european history. it's great to reinforce that. times visited: 2 time in the tower: 1 1/2 hrs to 3 hrs overall: A

i went to the neue gallery with my roommate when she decided she needed "culture." they had a new jewelry exhibit, which klimt used to gift to his patrons with and is seen in many of his paintings, which was a really interesting to see side by side. they also have received a gift of two sculptures that were originally shown with a klimt painting. they were separated during world war II. they have now been reunited in the original formation. very nice as usual. times visited: 2 time in the museum: 1 hr overall: B+