A Non-Traditional VIP Tour of the Met Museum

Hi everyone! I hope you’re having a great week so far.

I apologize for being sporadic with my posting schedule here on the blog lately. Moving and settling in is really taking a toll on my normal routine … whatever “normal” is, right? That, and yesterday was my birthday!

I spent the morning prepping for a job interview in the city and the night celebrating with friends. I’m sure I’ll be back to share the highlights from our adventures, but first, let’s back up and chat about the weekend.

I was delighted to receive an invite to attend a VIP Museum Tour of the Met Museum Friday night!

Considering we have only been living in New York for a few weeks, I was elated to see an opportunity in the city pop up so quickly. Thank you for the warm welcome, Museum Hack!

Scott has visited the Met a few times, but this was my first official visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was really looking forward to a behind-the-scenes look at some of the pieces.

I wasn’t told much about the VIP tour except to meet in the Grand Hall upon arrival and to expect to have a great time. Scott and I took the subway into the city and arrived fifteen minutes before the tour was scheduled to start.

(Note to self – VIP doesn’t always translate to wearing a dress and heels … especially if you plan to stand and walk around for hours at a time. Ouch. #newnewyorker)

We found our tour guides right away, and we were each given an audio guide to use throughout the three-hour session.

I could tell that our tour was going to be a fun one as soon as our guides introduced themselves. Michelle and Jen were both equally as funny and sarcastic as they were informative.

We only had a few hours to tour the museum, so they polled the group with personality questions to see where we should start and then bounce around. It was interesting to find out that all of their tours are different.

Our tour guides weren’t concerned with hitting everything in the museum, and instead focused on about twenty or so pieces. They came prepared with stories about the art and artists that were quite entertaining. Michelle was especially quirky and humorous with how she described what seemed to be going on in the art.

I had been on museum tours before, but I have to say that this one was the most unique. Every so often, we were asked to play an interactive game that helped us get to know the art in the room. My favorite was “Buy, Steal, Burn” where we teamed up and had to pick a piece of art from the Free Storage room that we would essentially like to buy (love it), steal (really love it), or burn (hate it).

(We had a little too much fun with this.)

We were asked to plug in our ear buds and listen to stories during the crowded or echoey areas. It was neat to hear about the statues, all the while listening to popular music tracks in the background.

We were taken through The American Wing halfway through the tour, and our group was warmly greeted with wine and water for a brief intermission break.

I loved that we didn’t feel hurried, but we didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything, either. Our three hours of touring went by at the perfect pace.

We saw a lot of impressive things throughout the night, and some of my favorite highlights took place near The Arms and Armor Exhibit.

(I loved learning about the suits of armor and why they wore certain pieces – very intriguing!)

They took us to a room filled with Indian treasures and surprised us with a live Indian musical performance put on by another tour guide named Priya. She was extremely talented and has been studying the movement and improv-style behind classical Indian music for thirty years!

Next up was one of the better-known pieces, Washington Crossing the Delaware. It consumed an entire wall and was impressive in its size and details.

Of course, Michelle “ruined” the photo (I’m using her words, not mine) by sharing everything that is unrealistic about it. We all had a chuckle and were really enjoying ourselves.

The most impressive exhibit came at the very end with a trip over to The Temple of Dendur. It was nearing closing time by this point of the tour, so we were asked to disperse and view the room as individuals while we listened to the stories via ear buds.

Jen shared a lot of fascinating information about how the temple got there (thanks, Jackie Kennedy!) and made sure that we fit in as much as we could before they kicked us out.

Eventually, our group made it back to the entrance and we closed our night with a friendly competition outside. It was a great time!

I owe a big thank you to Museum Hack for inviting Scott and I on a complimentary VIP Tour of the museum. If you’ve never been to the Met Museum before, or if you have a desire to see it from a new and fun perspective, I highly recommend purchasing tickets to a tour through Museum Hack (we did the VIP Night Tour).

This tour is for people who have a sense of humor and want to enjoy art with some laughs, but it may not be for everyone. They curse, they make fun of things, and they require group participation in games throughout the night, but it’s worth it. We gained knowledge in a non-traditional way, and we had an absolute blast!

 

Question of the Day

• Have you ever been on an interactive museum tour?

• Have you ever visited the Met Museum?

 

Now that we’ve gotten a great introduction to the Met, I’d love to check out the MoMA. I feel very lucky to be in an area with so much to see and do all the time!

Disclaimer: I received two complimentary tickets to attend the VIP Tour of the Met Museum, courtesy of Museum Hack. While I was not compensated for this review, I was asked to share my honest perspective and experience. As always, all thoughts and opinions remain my own.

I hope some of you get out and enjoy the tour! Please let me know if you do.