Sunday, November 08, 2009

A hard day's n8

Yesterday I went to my third consecutive Museumnacht. And, as always, it was frenetic. The hardest part is to decide what's unmissable, and plan a route which allows you to get to them all without wasting too much time moving from one place to another. A valuable trick is to avoid queues. If there are too many people queuing to enter, it's better to move on to somewhere else: there are so many open museums, and life's too short, and the night is even shorter. 7 hours sound a lot, but they run out quicker than you plan, and you have to plan that. So, among others, Foam, Artis and Geelvinck were simply skipped. What was left:
- failed attempt to find the Huis Marseille (nobody noted down the address...)
- Archaeological museum
- Huis Marseille (this time with the help of the brochure with the correct address). Very interesting, if a little shocking, exhibition about refugees around the world
- Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst (a letdown)
- City archive (been there 2 years ago, yet always a pleasure)
- Skipped Hermitage because of the queue
- Portuguese synagogue. When candle-lit in the night it's spectacular.
- VOC ship
- since it was 0:45, made a second attempt at the Hermitage, and this time the queue was shorter! 2nd tip: leave the most crowded places for last, so you get there when most people are already sleeping. Hermitage is a beautiful museum: new, light, spacious... the only letdown is the collection: it was mostly a description of the tsar's times, with no "real" art. Time to plan a trip to the real one in St.Petersburg.

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