Date night: Museum Hack!
Museums are one of my favorite solo activities: I like to put some classical music in my headphones and wander around as slowly as I please. Sometimes I sit down in front of a piece of art, ostensibly to examine the piece but usually just to people-watch. I usually get museum fatigue after about an hour or so: it’s one of those things that I enjoy, but always in small doses.
So when I found out about Date Night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I was instantly intrigued. I rarely think about museums as a solid date idea: maybe for a rainy Saturday, but certainly not a Friday night. Museum Hack promises enough “passionate storytelling and juicy gossip to turn the most skeptical visitor into a fan.” So I dragged my boyfriend along for a date night at the Met, and I’m happy to report that we were telling all of our friends the next day about how much fun we had!
Our tour guides Ethan and Lia were so incredibly fun and knowledgeable: they showed us weird paintings, historical drinking games, examples of museum lore. Not only was their enthusiasm palpable, they had a deep understanding of art history and were able to translate into easy-to-digest nuggets for the rest of us. 
Our fearless tour guide Lia telling us about an ancient myth that is often represented in Dutch art: a woman riding a man around a public square and spanking him! Real life, people.
The Germans created this epic drinking game: that horse is actually meant to be filled with liquor, and the bottom bit is filled with gadgets that make the horse scoot around the table. Whomever it stops in front of is the person that has to drink!
Another example of a wife beating a husband in Dutch art!
Spotted: a non-history-appropriate doghouse in the middle of this period room. We learned a few fun tidbits about Marie Antoinette, her dog and the guillotine.
There are all sorts of fun little extras on the tours, too: a glass of wine, a vintage postcard and even a scavenger hunt! It’s a really fun and engaging date night, whether you’re into art or not. If you are an art history buff, you’ll learn a some few fun facts. But if you’re not, it’s like you’re just listening to really funny story after really funny story–and you can’t quite believe that they’re actually history. Warning: the stories definitely contain curse words, sex and drinking. Not suitable for everyone!
Spotted this taxidermy deer covered in plastic balls in the middle of the Japanese art section: it was in stark juxtaposition to the gold Buddha sculptures and calming water installations.
Ultimate bonus: they can “hack” the Met so that you basically have the entire museum to yourself late on Friday night. Let’s just say it’s incredibly cool.
Special thanks to my boyfriend for indulging me and going to a museum on a Friday night!
Note: Museum Hack kindly provided me with two complimentary tours, but all opinions are my own.
