One of my most enjoyable visits to a museum was during the evening -
Arriving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a Friday evening was
wonderful.  The foyer was bustling with activity - it almost felt like
a railway station.  I met a friend, sat and drank a glass of fine red
wine (well ok wine - it wasn't from New Zealand), and then we
meandered around the museum for an hour or so before departing to go
out for dinner.

There was something quite wonderful about the atmosphere in the
evening - it had both a relaxed quality that it lacked during the day,
but also, paradoxically a slightly charged air of excitement, as
people made plans for where to spend the rest of the evening.  But
overall the air was one of enjoyment.  Didactic education seemed to
have disappeared with the daylight, and the museum was open to
serendipitous encounters.

(Having said that I should add that I went on an educational tour on
contemporary art on another occasion - and it was marvelous.  The
guide was very skilled, so that people who know nothing, and people
who knew a fair amount felt similarly engaged and satisfied.)

Lucy Alcock
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