A night at the museum

Debby's Blog

One of the good things in London is that there are lots of great museums. My favorite is the National Portrait Gallery. It shows portraits from way back to Henry VIII (or even further back) untill now. Not all the pictures and paintings they have are on display, but they do change things from time to time. The entrance is free, accept for special exhibitions. One of the good things of the museum is that it is open of Thursday and Friday evenings. Good for a rainy Summer evening or a cold Winter one. I wondered around a few times in the winter time. The museum is nice and quiet, or at least, the times I've visited it. The National Gallery is around the corner, and there for the National Portrait Gallery is overlooked in my opinion. It is great to walk around and watch the old paintings. There is room to sit and watch, or study the paintings or pictures. If you are lucky, one of the volunteers of the museum is giving a lecture about one of the paintings, and you learn lots about the featured painting. They hide lots of secret messages. I ran into a lecture once and it was very interesting to see how the painting was explained to the audience. My favorite time to visit is the evening. Especially in the winter, when it is cold and dark on the London streets. Just one warning. make sure you are out of there before closing time, because when closing time is near, soomeone is ringing a bell, and the noise it makes is unbelivable. I know this from experience. I was lucky to be just outside the building, but I jumped a feet up in the air.I even found my own Mr Darcy at the museum, but the last time I've visited the room where my Darcy could be found was changed, so there was no more Mr Darcy for me. The man in the painting was the sort of man I would have choosen to be Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. One look at the painting made clear to me that this was the right person. Alas, I didn't remember who it was, so I can't check the museum site, where they have a lot of paintings/pictures that are not on display in the museum, in a digital archive. One of the most impressive "picture sessions" I saw hanging there was the one of the late Princess Diana. The pictures were very moving and it showed how she grown from shy Lady to a Princess with selfconciousness. The museum still have a wonderful portrait of her on display. She is very young, I think just engaged to Prince Charles. It is one of my favorite portraits. A tip to close this blog. The Portrait museum has a restaurant, and the view over West Minster is great. You can see the Big Ben watching over the people of London. The National Portrait Gallery is a treasure that I discovered, and am still discovering. Make a trip back into history, it won't disappoint you. Especially on a winter evening. Leicester Square is around the corner, and also the theatres are close. So it is a good stop before visiting a pub, play or musical. You can go back whenever you like, as the museum visit is free. The National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum are free aswell and are open at evenings. If you want to know more, please visit the sites of the museums.

Posted Date
May 13, 2011 in Debby's Blog by Debbylynley