On June 19^th, 2018 our Urban Tourism class visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had a wonderful experience, as we were lucky to have two of the MET’s employees gave us a guide: Robert from Citytech and Susan Jordan. Firstly, with Robert informing and guiding us through his job experience as a manager of the MET food and beverage department, gave me a lot of insight of how overwhelming his job might seem. However, he mentions that time management is something that will help him through his job and being quick with decisions was a plus. It was very interesting and eye opening after he informed us about his career experiences and how he attained his position in the MET. Susan Jordan our tour guide, was very informative and professional in explaining about different piece of art, such as: history, artists story, and what is was for. I feel like it was better to have a guide to give us information rather than looking it and interpreting about art ourselves because we may not be an expert in this field. And I noticed that Susan took a route that was following the map, the red line giving us the best way to walk through the museum.

Since the MET is a very huge tourist attract, as we all know, I learned about this museum by word of mouth. Word of mouth as such from our industry and from my sibling. I have been to this museum about four times, the last time I went was for a class where I had to pick an art piece from the Asian Art section to write a paper about. While we were in the museum, I saw many different groups of visitors, such as: group of families, school groups, kids, a wide diversity of people (I think most were tourists). I felt very welcomed as we were in a group setting and the two employees were very engaging and informing us and asking us questions. The annual visitors for the MET in 2017 was seven million people, according to https://www.metmuseum.org. As for the admission, it was free because the Professor paid for our trip? There is a suggested fee is up to you, if you are a student in New York City, Connecticut, and New Jersey. However, the general admission is $12 if the visitor is from outside of New York.

As for the travel to the MET, it was not too bad I took the 4 or 5 train route to 86^th Street and walked 3-4 blocks toward Central Park. The museum was not hard to fine, due to its visibility from two blocks away and from the change in atmosphere. In the front of the stairs there are a bunch of steps, but for visitors with disabilities there are wheel chair accessibility in the entrances on 81^st Street and 80^th Street where the parking garage is. Within the museums there are also elevators, a lot of walking though (they might need a guide). The MET’s museums is user friendly and mobile friendly because it is easy to use. There is a lot of information on the art piece, if you would like to do an art paper. The website offers visitors many different types of activities happening in the museum and even future events. I think it would have been nice if we could change it to different languages, it will be easier for tourists outside of United States of America.

            I learned many new insights while I was in the MET.  I learned that there were more than one food and beverage options in the MET, especially the Dining Room overlooking the Central Park(on the fourth floor). The members of the museum get to eat next to the windows. There are actually seven food and beverage options within the museum. Another thing I learned is that I never knew there was more that three floors because I haven’t had time to explore the whole MET museum. I never acknowledged about the rooftop outdoor scenery either (the Roof Garden Bar on the fifth floor). Third thing I learned is that the MET has a booklet of the upcoming events through certain seasons. This summer 2018, they featured The Roof Garden Commission: Huma Bhabha, We Come in Peace, which our class were able to witness. This sculpture is scheduled to be there from April 17- October 28, 2018. The art up there rotates throughout seasons and events. Lastly, I learned that the MET held show casings, as we were able to witness the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”