National Gallery: Wander, Wonder, Get Lost, and Fool Around— No Guide Needed

Lusy Sky
Human Parts
Published in
4 min readSep 30, 2024

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Because every normal person needs a healthy dose of curiosity — and just the right amount of idiocy!

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Who told you that there aren’t interesting, non-boring museums? The doors are opening…

National Gallery of Art consists of two buildings — the West and East. To put it simply, it’s like our Old and New Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), but side by side, connected by a long passage. By the way, about the passage, here I got stuck for a long time. It is dark, with a vaulted ceiling and walls, in the middle there are two moving walkways, one to the East Building, the other back to the West Building.

But the best part is the little twinkling lights along the length of the intersection. You drive and they twinkle as if promising peace and joy. “We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds” A. Chekhov (c.)

You drive back, and the shimmer is muted, and shadows and running spots form on the walls and ceiling. I’ll post a video, of course, but unfortunately it doesn’t capture the beauty and atmosphere at all. I’m ashamed to admit it, but like some Mr. Bean, I rolled seven times back and forth. The guards were already looking at me with suspicion…

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Lusy Sky
Lusy Sky

Written by Lusy Sky

A former journalist, though they say journalists are never really 'former.' Once you've learned to ride a bicycle, you never forget how.

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