The world is divided into two kinds of travellers. I call them the
'museum people' and the
'spending an afternoon in a museum is my worst nightmare people' (
'non-museum people' for short). Can you guess which one I am? It is not that non-museum people won't set foot 'ever' inside a museum (imagine coming home from Paris and announcing to your friends that you skipped the Louvre because it sounded boring!) it is just that in order to survive large museums you have to have a plan - and you have to stick to it.
A good plan involves: -
- researching your target museum,
- determining exactly which object(s) you want to see (Just a heads up here, these will be the things people will ask you about when you get home - as in 'Did you see the Mona Lisa?' or 'Did you see Tutankhamen's mask?'), and
- using the internet to scout the most direct route from the museum entrance/exit to your target object(s),
Once inside the museum
(Listen very carefully, I will only say this once -
this next bit is crucial) : -
- head straight to the object,
- snap a quick photo, probably a selfie, as proof you made it to your goal, and
- leave (by the direct route which you scouted following point 3 above).
If you do not deviate in any way from your plan you might, just maybe, survive the experience with your sanity intact.
Oh, and one other thing, try to visit about 3 a.m. Every third traveller on the planet will have exactly the same plan but they won't be smart enough to go in the middle of the night, when the museum is closed. This way you will avoid the crowds - and possibly get arrested - but they say the best travel tales are the
'when things went wrong' ones. You'll be dining out on your story of
'How I spent a week in a Paris jail' for years. With luck you might turn it into a best selling book.
Winterthur - the House and Galleries
Have you figured out yet whether I am a
'museum person' or a
'non-museum person?'David and I are on a
road and cycling adventure in north-east America, with the occasional historic house and garden tour thrown in. We came to
Winterthur, near Wilmington in Delaware, to see the gardens. Winterthur has one thousand acres of gardens. There are forests, streams, meadows, flower gardens, a reflecting pool and an enchanted wood complete with resident fairies.
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| The reflecting pool |
Winterthur also has a 175 room mansion and more exhibition galleries than I cared to count containing a seemingly endless collection of American fine and decorative arts. The collection was begun by Henry Francis Du Pont (1880 - 1969) and today includes 90,000 objects including ceramics, glass, furniture, metalwork, paintings and textiles. Henry was definitely a
'museum person.' He and his family lived surrounded by the collection until 1951 when he moved to a cottage with slightly less than 175 rooms, and turned the house over completely to its function as a museum.
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| The house at Winterthur was difficult to photograph and surprisingly plain looking from the outside. |
As
'non-museum people' our Winterthur plan was to stroll the gardens, enjoy the spring flowers, and avoid the house/museum tour - but the staff were so welcoming! Barbara, at the desk, even announced she had read our blog. They were so keen to show us their treasures we couldn't say no - and besides they promised the tour would only take 45 minutes. What could we do! Our plan went out the window and we followed Meryl, our tour guide, straight down the rabbit hole - emerging into a world of wealth, privilege and grand rooms. From the exquisite furnishings, to the hand painted wallpaper, everything looked as if it had been selected to impress. It was hard to imagine any kind of normal family life taking place in the midst of so many expensive objects.
The 45-minute tour took more than an hour and, truth be told, at times we found ourselves wishing it was just a little bit less comprehensive and detailed - but to be fair we are definitely not
'museum people.' We were not at all sorry at the end to escape to the gardens.
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| A grand entertaining room with hand-painted wallpaper. |
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| Imagine having a staircase like this in your house. |
'Color is the thing that really counts more than any other.' - Henry Francis du Pont.
I couldn't agree more. Give me colour in a garden and I will love it. I may find turning your home into a museum a bit strange but when it comes to flowers, Henry was definitely a man after my own heart. He planted the garden so that from late January to November there would always be colour somewhere. Although we were armed with a map, we got lost again and again - but it didn't matter, there were surprises around every corner.
We were at Winterthur in late May. The rhododendrons were in flower as were the dogwood trees. A few late blooming azaleas splashed crimson across the landscape and the primroses in the quarry garden were in full bloom. The flowering shrubs at Sycamore Hill were stunning although I have no idea what they were. The great thing about beautiful gardens is you don't need to know anything at all about plants to enjoy them. Even if you aren't a
'museum person' the gardens at Winterthur are well worth visiting just on their own.
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| Late blooming azaleas |
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| Rhododendron |
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| A woodland path |
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| Dogwood |
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| The fairy garden |
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| The sundial garden |
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| The quarry garden |
Tips and Tricks and things to know: -
- Winterthur is 25 minutes by car north-west of Wilmington, Delaware.
- Its street address is 5105 Kennet Pike (Route 52) Winterthur, DE 19735. According to the website, Google Maps is unreliable for directions to Winterthur's front entrance. Make sure you use the actual street address rather than just using the word 'Winterthur'. We had no trouble finding it but then I was using an old-fashioned paper map - remember them, they were quite useful before the GPS was invented.
- Winterthur is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm all year except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. For up to date information on opening hours and directions click - here
How much does it cost to visit?
- General admission costs US$20 (adult) and US$5 (child 2-11). Children under 2 are free and seniors (62 and over) and students (with a valid ID) are US$18.
- General admission tickets are valid for two consecutive days. They include admission to the garden, the galleries and special exhibitions as well as a garden tram tour and an introductory house tour.
- Winterthur offers one and two hour reserved tours as well as customised private tours for an additional cost.
- For the full range of prices click - here
My tips!
- Allow yourself plenty of time - Winterthur is huge. If you can, take advantage of the second day included in your entrance ticket. David and I got this wrong big time. We spent half a day at Winterthur and it wasn't nearly enough.
- Plan ahead - Winterthur has a number of specialty tours as well as its general introductory house tours. Click here for those currently on offer.
- Click here for a list of what is in bloom or ask the ticket office when you arrive.
- Take the garden tram tour (included in the admission price) when you first arrive to get a sense of where things are, or grab a map and just wander as we did. There are white arrows to guide you as you walk around but we gave up trying to follow them.
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| Good luck trying to follow these! |
- Winterthur's collections include almost 90,000 objects ranging from antique furniture to the world's largest collection of soup tureens. You can't possibly see everything in a day or two but you can try - and you'll have a much better chance if you plan ahead! Click here for descriptions of the collections.
- Oh, and did I say, plan ahead!
I will publish a new post every Thursday/Friday (depending on your time zone). If you want to follow our travels check back each week or enter your email address in the 'Follow this blog by email' box in the right hand sidebar just below my profile picture.
For all the posts so far on our north-east USA road and cycling adventure click - here
Note: David and I received complimentary entry to Winterthur.
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