Mermoirs at the Metropolitan

A story that I was asked to complete in English class. It's about a visit to one of my favorite museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I hope you enjoy my writing!

One summer, while I was visiting my beloved New York – my birthplace – my mother decided to pay a very much anticipated visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It would be very busy in the afternoon, so I talked myself into waking up and had a quick breakfast with my family of bagels, butter, buns and juice. My brother and father were going to visit the American Museum of Natural History – which mother and I have already visited – and so I took the tourist bus to the Metropolitan Museum.

 It was a rather majestic building, having been constructed with pale stone in a becoming fashion. Large banners were wrapped around the building, with quite tasteful design (as compared to the Chinese banners with red background color and white/yellow words that we were used to). It happened to be that we arrived 30 minutes earlier than the assigned opening time, yet very quickly, a long line was formed behind us. When the large glass doors creaked open, what the scene was could only be described as a “stampede trying to line up”. Certainly the Americans lined up and entered, but many rushed to the counter to get tickets. When my mother went to buy some, they wouldn’t accept $100 dollar bills because they don’t have enough change. Strangely enough, the tickets were tiny purple button-like objects which the Museum Logo was printed on. We had to clip them onto our clothes to represent that we purchased tickets.

 Inside the Museum, it was like a huge fortress. It seemed large enough to fit several elephants and still be able to fit in some giraffes. Statues and display cases were scattered around the scene. It seemed like paradise to artists. We headed to the European Art Section first. It seemed like an interesting exhibit from which to start.

 We explored the oil painting part first. It was like labyrinth full of frames. We ventured forth until we collapsed when or feet muscles malfunctioned. My mother was especially interested in a painting of a vase of flowers, the actual painting of a piece she was currently working on at our art studio. She kept complaining how the reference had the color very wrong and the size extremely wrong, and took some pictures, but they were never quite the same. I believe her. I don’t really trust anything done in China.

 It was very dizzying. I ended up half dead in the circular resting couch in every room. So did my mother. But fate drove us on, and we spent some more time in the Renaissance exhibition. After that we went to the Japanese and Chinese exhibits. It was very impressive. There were many interesting and tasteful interior designs (and fountains) in the Japanese exhibit and the garden in the Chinese exhibit had actual koi fish in it! Alive! IT was very different than the European painting section.

 It looked like we had not managed to time correctly. There was very little time to visit the Egyptian section. But once I got there, it was humongous. We quickly skimmed through the sculptures, paintings and sarcophagi, and arrived at the main exhibition lobby. A whole frame of a temple entrance was revealed before our eyes. Certainly there were a few artifacts there, but how on Earth did they get a piece of temple here? I was beyond shocked. Although I had expected something similar to this elephantine Museum, but I hadn’t imagined anything quite as royally pleasing as this. When you went through it, it certainly felt like you were actually in Egypt. I didn’t want to leave.

 However, we had to rush and save enough time for the Gift Shop. And my eyes were momentarily (precisely, 5 minutes) blinded by the wonderfulness of the Shop. Art prints the real size of the painting, mountains of guidebooks, elaborately made notebooks and pens, and most importantly, the postcards were on sale. So we hurriedly bought some posters/prints, postcards (they were on sale) and a pencil.

 I regretted leaving this temple of art, but it cannot be helped. I had a flight to catch. Besides, we didn’t even get through half the Museum, so we still got a bit more than a half to explore next time. This is a must-visit for any travelers who are at New York (unless you’re my younger brother who won’t appreciate art). I hope I get to come back to this Museum next time I visit New York!

 But first I’ll have to talk myself into waking up. 

Author's Note

How do you like it? What do you like best about it?