My first month in New York City is coming to an end. As soon as I arrived, I wanted to explore the city without wasting any time, but I was a little discouraged by the cold. I decided to take advantage of the winter weather by focusing on indoor activities, especially visiting museums.
The MOMA: an immersion in modern art
The first museum I visited was the Museum of Modern Art. It felt wonderful to walk through the galleries filled with paintings, photographs, and sculptures from different periods. I was especially surprised by the number of architecture exhibits: hand drawings, photographs, and even architectural models were displayed in the gallery; I was happy to find pieces of Mies van der Rohe‘s work that I have been studying in class.
I went to MoMA knowing that I would finally see one of my favorite paintings: The Starry Night by Van Gogh. Many people were standing around, quietly admiring its beauty. I stayed there for a long time, staring at the swirling sky and vibrant colors, which seemed even brighter and more alive in real life.
The Museum of Natural History: a travel in time
A week later, I stepped into a completely different universe at the American Museum of Natural History. From the present-day living world to dinosaurs and the birth of galaxies, it felt like traveling through millions of years in just a few hours.
The first moment that amazed me was walking into the hall of ocean life and seeing the enormous blue whale suspended from the ceiling. I had seen pictures of it before, but seeing it in person was a completely different experience. Then I walked through the dinosaurs galleries. Just like the blue whale, their size was overwhelming. It was fascinating to imagine how these incredible creatures once lived and how they evolved into the animals we know today. I also attended a planetarium show about the creation of our galaxy. The images were breathtaking, and the story of the Milky Way was beautifully narrated by actor Pedro Pascal.
This first month in New York has already been filled with discovery and wonder. If this is just the beginning, I can’t wait to see what is next.
