A museum that sticks in my head as absolutely amazing, was one that we found completely by accident. We were on a family holiday in Barcelona and we had been to see the Sagrada Família. It was incredibly hot and on the walk back to the hotel I was melting. My husband searched Google maps for nearby museums, thinking that they would be likely to have air conditioning. The closest was a music museum and as I am a concert addict, our son plays guitar and we listen to music all the time in the house, we thought this seemed quite an appropriate place to try.
We followed the directions and found ourselves in a much less touristy part of the city. We passed a man who looked like he lived in his shopping trolley and found ourselves at the foot of some skyscraper flats. Wondering if we were going the wrong way, we saw a sign for the museum. The signs led us to a lift and we went up the skyscraper to the floor that was indicated. By this time we were slightly concerned about where we were, but it had good reviews online, so we took the gamble.
I believe we were in the museum for at least two hours poring over all the exhibits. There was only one other party in the museum for most of that time: a grandmother and her grandchildren we believe. They stayed in the instrument room, at the end, where you could actually play with musical instruments. Largely speaking we had the entire museum to ourselves. Not knowing what to expect we just walked into the first room and looked around, then into the second room, and then the third. It just went on and on, with every room having magical amazing things to look at. There are musical instruments from around the world and throughout the centuries. They are all carefully labelled and attractively displayed in gorgeous cabinets. Every so often there would be a video about an area of music or a specific instrument so we sat down and watched the ones that appealed, although all were wonderfully presented and interesting looking.
There were such a number of rooms we started to wonder if we would ever find the end, but none of us were complaining or worried. We each had a camera with us and took a number of photos, a large number! I think we each had a different favourite exhibit as well, depending on whether you chose the really pretty or the really unusual; there really was something for everyone and there were things you've never seen or heard of before! It was simply fascinating. I particularly loved the harps, they are such glorious instruments and often have such gorgeous decorations.
When we got to the end of the museum exhibits we let our son have a go in the hands on room. There is an electric guitar and although he has acoustic guitar lessons he was loath to play it, until I worked out how to switch on the amplifier! He picked up the guitar and played an Elvis song he had been learning. The other family were still in the room with the little ones banging drums happily. The grandmother was obviously Spanish and didn't speak English but came over looking absolutely delighted as she recognised the song, she clapped her hands to show that she was very much enjoying it. It was one of those wonderful moments when you communicate with someone without actually using words and just enjoy the moment happily together. Music is an international language which crosses the barriers of speech and this proved it rather well. A perfect end to a wonderful museum visit.
Further information: https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/museumusica/en
* * *
Maria Robertson is an academic librarian by day and a concert reviewer by night, she also loves spending time with her family and they all enjoy visiting museums. Reviews published at: https://www.5d-blog.com/?s=maria+robertson