I figured the crowds would have dispersed enough by yesterday for me to take in the revamped National Museum of Scotland in relative peace.
Ha!
Actually, although it was slightly too busy for my liking it wasn't so bad that you couldn't get near any of the exhibits. There's even a token section on environmental issues and their impact on nature.
But what really got my goat was Scotland's perennial problem - the closing time. As the staff went from hall to hall telling everyone the museum would close in 15 minutes, you could see tourists looking at their watches with a puzzled look. It's mid-summer, it's mid-festival, it's mid-afternoon, and it's a popular tourist attraction - so let's close it at 5pm.
This makes no sense, but it's something we do quite well here in Scotland. We run museums and galleries and tourist sites and guest houses for our own convenience, not to make the lives of our guests easy. Why can the Louvre in Paris stay open until 10pm, but everything in Edinburgh must shut down at 5pm? Why can't, for four or six weeks of the year, we extend the opening times of our most popular attractions?
I've said many times on here that I'd like to see a 24 hour railway service in Scotland during Festival and Hogmanay. Scotrail have made strides over the years, but the latest train leaving Edinburgh for Glasgow is still 1 minute past midnight. This doesn't encourage people to use public transport or spend some time (and money) outside of the Capital.
Would it really kill us to actually be a wee bit welcoming for a couple of weeks a year?
3 comments:
I agree that it would be great for museums to stay open longer. It would be much more constructive to unwind after work by walking the museum’s galleries rather than plonk ourselves in front of our television sets (if we have them). The Louvre might be open till 10pm at night, but you have to pay for the privilege of entering it’s doors anytime of the day. Same goes with the equally renowned Metropolitan Museum of New York City. The National Museums of Scotland are free all year around and therefore excludes no one. If I were presented between longer opening hours or free admission I’d have to choose free admission every time.
Having said that I completely agree with you about the trains, what’s up with that!?
I don't see that as an either/or argument, but I take your point that the extra staff hours would have to be paid for somehow.
However, what I'm arguing for is extended opening hours for a limited number of weeks per year. Funnily enough, they coincide with university and school holidays. Surely the museums and art galleries could find some students studying the necessary subjects who would love to work part-time for a few weeks and impart their knowledge to the visitors.
I'm with the free admission but I agree that there could be a way of opening later at peak periods. In the west, the museums such as Kelvingrove and the new Riverside Museum are free entry and as such they are a great resource for locals but they also close at 5pm, and the smaller ones are closed on Mondays to save money.
I totally agree on the trains - a great night out in the capital can be ruined by the taxi fare back to Glasgow.
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