HIGHLIGHTS TOUR of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET)

It is a cold, overcast, and just dismal day here in New York. So it is a perfect day to go to a museum. Today I'm going to show you around the Met, short for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I'm going to help you make the most of your visit. I've got to tell you three things before you get into the museum. Number one, the museum is huge. It is the largest museum in America, one of the largest in the world, with over two million works housed in the museum. It's important that you have a game plan. So if you want to see Egyptian stuff, you can focus there in the Egyptian wing. If you want to see paintings, you can spend all your time in there. If you want to see a little bit of everything, just follow me. I'll show you the best way to go. Number two, the museum is pay what you wish. When you walk in, you'll see a suggested donation of $20 to $25. It is just that, a suggested donation. If you can't afford $25, do not let that be a barrier for you coming in and seeing this amazing museum. It was intended to be free. It's still subsidized by the city. The building is actually leased for free from Central Park and the city. So they do have maintenance costs. So definitely pay what you think it's worth and pay what you can afford. But don't feel guilty about paying less if you can't afford the full donation. Better yet, if you live here in New York, get yourself an NYC ID, which is free. And it comes with a free annual membership to the Met. And third, still photography is permitted. Flash photography is not. Tripods are only permitted with a permit. And video is not permitted. It is forbidden twice on their visitor info page. So I am not going to videotape inside. We're going to try stop motion. So be kind in the comments. I have never tried that before. But here we go. Okay, so stand in line, go through security, and immediately grab a map. This is crucial. Normal admissions to the left, members to the right. Put your sticker on and then enter the museum to your right. We're going to start in Egypt. We're going to walk all the way to the end of this hallway. Remember, this is a highlights tour. Don't get sidetracked or you'll be here for days. I've literally spent eight hours in here at once and still didn't see everything. This is the Temple of Dendur. The little body of water is meant to represent the Nile. You'll notice throughout the Met, they've tried to recreate the way things would have looked if you were actually there. You can go in and check out the hieroglyphics and examine the temple up close. And this is probably a good time to remind you, don't touch anything. Head to the American Wing. Check out the lampposts, the bank facade from Wall Street. And turn around for Tiffany's facade and a few of his incredible stained glass masterpieces. Down to your left, more stained glass. Through the doors and you're in medieval times. Check out the armor and then head to your right. Briefly check out the little rooms to your left to see some amazing woodwork. I just can't get over how intricate these wood inlay rooms are. I mean, look at the detail in here. They even made the bench leg cast a shadow. So cool. Anyways, keep heading through until you see a giant choir screen. Go through it and straight out to the Robert Lehman Collection. This is an impressive collection with Pissarro, Renoir, Cezanne, Toulouse, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Braque, Matisse, and the original setting for Soirase's Sunday in La Grande Jatte. It's small. On the way out, pause at the red brick wall. This was the original museum exterior when Calvert Vaux and Jacob Ray Mould built it in 1880. The museum kept expanding and expanding until what it is today. Okay, back inside and through the screen again. Off to your right and check out a few 18th century French rooms. This gallery goes in a U shape, so follow it around and then take a right into the European Sculpture Garden. Along with Perseus here holding the head of Medusa, you can see the original building again and then check out Ugulino's Anguish. Side note, this is where I was reprimanded the second time by a docent telling me not to take video. I learned that you need to put your camera down in between shots or they think you're filming. So apparently that no video in the Met thing is for real. So back to our high speed slideshow. Keep going the same direction you were and soon you'll hit an elevator. This is the only elevator to the Roupe, which is closed throughout the winter and on bad weather days like today, but it's got great views of Central Park and Midtown if you go on a sunny day. Past the elevator and to your right, you're in Modern Art. Boccioni, Jackson Pollock, this amazing mural by Thomas Hart Benton, and there's so so much more in here, but we've got to keep moving. This puts you in the Pacific Islands, in an enormous ceremonial house ceiling. Then you'll pop into the Greek and Roman sculptures. This is different from the one we saw before. Walk past this massive column from the Temple of Artemis, and you'll find yourself back in the Great Hall where you started. You can bail here if you need to, but let's go upstairs for round two. You're greeted by some massive Tiepolos. Take a right and try not to get distracted. You're on a mission. This section is the Old Masters. You're going to see paintings like this one from Caravaggio, the 45 million dollar Madonna and Child by Duccio, and other paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Rubens, El Greco, and lots more. These rooms are more difficult to navigate, which is where your map comes in really handy. You can use the metmuseum.org's web app and their free wi-fi to search the collection, and that'll help you find what you're looking for. I also wrote a blog post with detailed directions through here. The link's in the description below this video, or just search for it on perfectlittleplanet.com. Out of here and you're back in the American Wing. Swim around this way to check out Sargent's Madame X, and then go see Washington crossing Delaware. Turn around and walk all the way to the Eagle. Take a right and check out Alexander Hamilton's Clock. This will put you in Asia. It's pretty chill in here, but we're just passing through. Again, stay focused and keep moving. You can spend hours in any one of these sections. But do check out these massive Buddhist sculptures from China, and then pop out into the balcony bar, where you have some sweet views of the Great Hall below. Then head to the other side and walk through the Assyrian Palace Guards and pass these two lions from Babylon. Shoot through here and now you're into the museum's most complicated maze of paintings, but probably the most famous. Follow the directions in the blog post to see works from Degas, Pizarro, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, and a lot more. Remember everything I've shown you is part of the museum's permanent collection, so they all should be here when you visit. I skipped all of the temporary exhibitions on this tour, so there's a lot more to see in the museum. Like this sculpture from Rodin. Go down this hallway, check out the view, and then take a right into this cool Spanish patio. Down the stairs and walk out and you'll end up back in the Great Hall. Ta-da! All right, that's the entire thing. I know I missed a lot of stuff in there, so don't be angry. I just hit the highlights. If you want to see those highlights, you can do that in about an hour. If you make it up to the roof, spend another 15-20 minutes up there, but for sure you can do this entire thing in two hours. I recommend spending longer because there's so much to see and it's such a cool museum, so spend as long as you can, but if you only have an hour or two, definitely come and check out the highlights. Hope that helped. I hope you guys have a great visit here. Click any of these videos around if you want to see some more things to do here in the city. I will see you around. All right. Bye!