In this episode, Amy shares stories from her solo trip to London last holiday season where she visited new museums and celebrated milestones. From exploring hidden gems like the Wallace Collection and the Charles Dickens Museum to soaking up the festive spirit at iconic spots like the Natural History Museum, this trip was a museum lover’s dream. Tune in for stories, insights, and a little holiday magic!

Links from the Episode:

• The Serpentine Galleries
• Royal Albert Hall Tour
• Victoria & Albert Museum
• Frameless: The Ultimate Immersive Art Experience
• The Wallace Collection
• The Zetland Arms Pub
• National Portrait Gallery
• Natural History Museum
• Charles Dickens Museum

More Free Resources for Museums:

• Love my Museum Private Facebook Group for Museum Professionals
• Museum Planning Calendar
• Museum Metrics Template

About the host: 

Amy Kehs is a brand strategist and communications expert for museums. She has owned Kehs Communications since 2000 and has worked for the most renowned and well-loved museums in Washington, D.C. Her goal is to ensure that museums thrive into the next century and she hopes people will come to love museums as much as she does. Her proven process sets up proactive communication habits for museums, cultivating relationships with visitors who will want to return and bring a friend. Want to talk more? Click this link to book a call.

Hey there today on the podcast, I'm going to tell you about a bucket list.

2

Solo trip to London that I took last year.

3

I wanted to visit museums that I

had never been to before and today

4

I'm going to tell you about those.

5

Let's get started.

6

Hello, and welcome to the

love my museum podcast.

7

I'm your host Amy keys.

8

And I really do love museums.

9

I'm also a brand strategist and

communications expert for museums.

10

Today, I'm going to tell you about a solo

trip to London that I took last year.

11

As hard as it is to believe

20, 24 is wrapping up.

12

And in addition to finishing up some

work for my clients, I've also been

13

working on my own business and part I,

part of what I do at the end of the year.

14

Is look back and reflect on the past year.

15

In addition to looking back and

16

thinking a lot about this time last year.

17

And last December, I did

a solo trip to London.

18

Let me give you a little

bit of background.

19

I grew up in a small beach town in

one of my summer jobs was in a hotel.

20

Jeff, the manager of the hotel

would share these great stories

21

about his solo trips to London.

22

Every year, he would take a week

and go to London by himself.

23

He would visit museums, setting,

cafes, browse in bookstores.

24

I just loved the sound of that.

25

And at that moment, I decided

that when I was a grownup.

26

I was going to do that too.

27

And so it has been something

on my bucket list for 30 years.

28

Now I'm spent quite a

bit of time in London.

29

I studied abroad there.

30

And I've taken a few trips back

with my friends and my family.

31

But I really wanted to do his solo trip

to London, like the manager of the hotel.

32

Now.

33

2023 was the 30th anniversary

of that study abroad trip.

34

It was also the 30th anniversary

of my first museum job.

35

And 2023 was the year I turned 50.

36

And so I thought a great gift to

myself and a way to celebrate those

37

anniversaries would be to funnily,

do that bucket list trip to London.

38

One of my goals for my trip, in

addition to just resting and having

39

some time away was I wanted to visit

museums that I had never been to.

40

London is full of amazing museums.

41

A lot of them are free.

42

And it's probably going to take

me a while and a few more trips

43

to be able to see them all.

44

But my goal was when I was planning, the

trip was that I wanted to see museums.

45

And go to museums that

I'd never been to before.

46

So I thought it would be fun in

this episode to tell you about them

47

and to tell you about that trip.

48

Last year on November 30th,

I hopped on an airplane.

49

Dulles airport outside Washington, DC.

50

And I took the overnight flight.

51

I arrived at Heathrow

airport the next morning.

52

And that first day is always.

53

Hard to, because you usually

can't check into your hotel yet.

54

And you're really tired

and I was definitely tired.

55

So while I tried to stay awake and

wait for my check-in time, I walked

56

around one of my favorite places.

57

Kensington gardens now.

58

I've been to Kensington gardens

so many times, but one thing I've

59

never done is visit the serpentine

galleries, which is a contemporary

60

art gallery in Kensington gardens.

61

It's a really nice open,

bright exhibit space.

62

And that was the first thing I did.

63

And it actually was snowing,

which was really fun and magical.

64

So there we go.

65

Number one.

66

First museum.

67

Kensington gardens.

68

The serpentine galleries.

69

On the next day on December 2nd.

70

While not a museum.

71

I just have to talk about the

first thing that I did that day

72

was a tour of Royal Albert Hall.

73

It was a one hour tour

and it was so great.

74

We had the best tour guide.

75

Royal Albert Hall is named after

queen Victoria's husband, prince

76

Albert, and it opened in 1871.

77

It was designed to fulfill his vision

of promoting arts and sciences.

78

It was finished after you passed

away as a tribute to his legacy.

79

It has the most amazing dome

roof and part of our tour.

80

Was to just learn more about how

it works and the special sound

81

system that they have there.

82

It's hosted more than just music.

83

I remember on the tour, they told us.

84

They have had Sumo wrestling there.

85

The first ever computer demonstration.

86

We also on the tour, God,

to peak in the Royal box and

87

see behind the scenes spaces.

88

That day.

89

They were setting up and getting ready

for a screening of the movie home alone.

90

With a live orchestra.

91

And so as we walked around,

we could see them setting up.

92

It was really, really cool.

93

I loved it.

94

So while not technically a museum,

we won't count it on our museum list.

95

I just had to share that with you.

96

The second thing that I did after I

left Royal Albert Hall was to visit

97

the Victoria and Albert museum.

98

Now, first of all, it is crazy that I've

never been to this museum before it.

99

Is one of the most

famous museums in London.

100

It houses over 2.8 million objects.

101

It's huge.

102

It has.

103

Amazing.

104

Temporary exhibits.

105

And I knew when I left that day that I

was going to need to come back at some

106

point during the week, because I didn't

even scratch the surface of this museum.

107

And the next day, December 3rd, I

took the two, but to marble arch,

108

the tube is London subway system.

109

And marble arch is one of the

stops and close by marble arch.

110

There is a really cool

exhibit called frameless.

111

The ultimate immersive art experience.

112

This space has four themed galleries and

they use this projection system and it

113

feels like you are inside the paintings.

114

And you can also interact

with the artwork on the floor.

115

So you could kick some

flower pedals out of the way.

116

And the projections go from the

floor all the way to the ceiling

117

I've never seen anything like

it, it was so fun and so cool.

118

And so I did that in the morning

and then I walked to my next.

119

Museum.

120

The Wallace collection.

121

Now, the Wallace collection is

housed in the Hertford house.

122

It is a former family residence.

123

And the collection includes

mostly 18th century paintings.

124

Furniture.

125

Porcelain.

126

And there is a huge Armour display.

127

If you've ever seen the movie bed,

knobs and broomsticks at the end,

128

when the Knights and all of the armor.

129

Come to life.

130

That is what I was thinking about when

I was walking through that exhibit.

131

The collection was given

to the British nation.

132

In the last will and Testament of

its last private owner, lady Wallace.

133

It was built up over time.

134

By the Hertford and Wallace families

in the 18th and 19th centuries.

135

There's also an amazing cafe.

136

That's attached to the museum.

137

I had afternoon tea in there

before I left that day.

138

I had such a great time.

139

And one thing I haven't talked about yet.

140

The holiday season in

London is just magical.

141

There are decorations

and displays everywhere.

142

And the Wallace collection had beautiful

Christmas trees and decorations

143

all throughout the exhibit spaces.

144

After I visited those two museums on the

way back to my hotel, I stopped for dinner

145

at the Zetland arm's pub in Kensington.

146

The Zetland arms was so cool.

147

If you are looking for that sort

of quintessential pub experience,

148

I highly recommended it has been

149

it's one of the longest surviving

buildings in that area of London.

150

The Christmas decorations

here were so pretty.

151

And when you sit down, you get a menu,

but you also give a card that gives.

152

The history of the pub.

153

And it said that.

154

The pub was bought.

155

By Charlie Chaplin for his brother.

156

It looked exactly how you would picture a

pub at Christmas time in London to look.

157

And the food was really good.

158

It was a warm and cozy in there.

159

It was a great.

160

Great way to end my day.

161

So the next day, December 4th,

I met up with my friend and

162

business coach, Rachel Aiken.

163

Rachel lives in England and she took the

train to London to meet with me that day.

164

We went to the national portrait gallery.

165

Now first a word about Rachel.

166

She has been my business coach

for the last three years.

167

We have talked every other

week for three years.

168

But we had never met in person.

169

It was a really, really exciting day, too.

170

Get to see each other.

171

In person.

172

We had lunch in a pub close by the train

station where we met, and then we walked

173

over to the national portrait gallery.

174

When I was planning for this

podcast episode and I was going

175

back and looking at my photos.

176

Actually any museum photos of mine always

includes lots of architecture photos.

177

So for the national portrait

gallery, not only did I have photos.

178

From my trip of the exhibits.

179

But I also always have lots of.

180

Photos of floors and ceilings.

181

Oh, At the national portrait gallery,

the Christmas tree, there was definitely

182

one of my favorites that I saw all week.

183

Like I said, London does Christmas

decorations, like nowhere I've ever been.

184

It's incredible.

185

And there are Christmas trees everywhere.

186

But I love the tree that we saw

in the national portrait gallery.

187

We had such a great time.

188

And then afterwards, we

walked to Covent garden.

189

I just loved meeting Rachel in person.

190

I loved.

191

That, this amazing woman who's

been supporting my business.

192

And has been encouraging

me for the last few years.

193

That we were able to visit a museum

together, like it was such a great day.

194

Okay.

195

So let's see.

196

That's 1, 2, 3, 4.

197

That's.

198

Museum number five.

199

So the next day on December 5th.

200

I started the day with an epic walk with

one of my best museum friends, Johnny.

201

Johnny was also visiting London.

202

And so we met up to go on a

walk through Kensington gardens.

203

Through London by

204

10 30.

205

I am.

206

I.

207

Already had like 18,000 steps.

208

It was a great, great morning.

209

And after that, I went to

the natural history museum.

210

The natural history museum is one of

the most favorite museums in London.

211

And like the VNA.

212

It is so crazy that I had

never been here before.

213

They also did an amazing job

of decorating for the holidays.

214

And when I was looking back at my photos,

I also had lots of photos of architecture

215

elements inside the building and floors.

216

Their holiday decorations because they are

a natural history museum had sort of an

217

natural and environmental spin on them.

218

One of my favorite exhibits, there was

their exhibit of Br'er art effects.

219

So my daughter is a zoologist and while I

was touring this exhibit, I couldn't help.

220

But think of her.

221

They had a rare edition of Charles

Darwin's origin of the species.

222

They had a display of butterflies

and months that belonged

223

to Alfred Russell Wallace.

224

Who's the co discover.

225

Of the theory of evolution.

226

And they also had several drawings

and artwork from John James Audubon.

227

The birds of America.

228

And they have.

229

A blue whale skeleton.

230

I named hope.

231

The natural history museum is one

of three major museums on exhibition

232

road in south Kensington, which wasn't

too far from where I was staying.

233

It is also a huge building.

234

So by the end of the day, walking

around the huge museum, after my

235

epic walk with Johnny, at the end

of the day, I had over 31,000 steps.

236

So many steps.

237

Okay.

238

So the natural history

museum is museum number six.

239

After my epic walking day,

the day before us slipped in

240

a little bit on December 6th.

241

And then I went out into the suburbs

of London to visit some friends that

242

I hadn't seen in a really long time.

243

And after my visit with them, I

stopped at the Charles Dickens museum.

244

This was probably my favorite

new museum that I visited.

245

Charles Dickens was an author.

246

He wrote 15 novels

247

And of course, one of his most

famous is the Christmas Carol.

248

Christmas Carol has been credited with

popularizing Christmas as a holiday.

249

And as the holiday that we know of it.

250

Today in Britain and America, it has

promoted some of the Christmas customs

251

that we have, like giving gifts and

eating Turkey for Christmas dinner.

252

And of course featured Scrooge and

the very popular phrase, bah humbug.

253

So to go and visit Dickins London

home during the Christmas season.

254

Was just magical.

255

I loved all of the temporary

displays that they put up

256

talking about Christmas, Carol.

257

Alan Charles Dickens.

258

It didn't live in the house

when he wrote a Christmas Carol,

259

but you could just imagine him

celebrating Christmas in this house.

260

It was his home from 1837 to 1839.

261

And while he was there, he did

finish writing another one of

262

his famous works Oliver twist.

263

You could walk through his office and

also the parlor where he would have

264

hosted friends and family for Christmas.

265

I loved the temporary

displays that they put up.

266

Talking about his influence on

Christmas and how we celebrated today.

267

I also really loved the staff here.

268

They were so enthusiastic

and friendly and helpful.

269

It's a small museum, but I

spent so much time there.

270

If you ever have a chance to

be in London at Christmas time.

271

You have to go see the

Charles Dickens museum.

272

It was amazing.

273

And that was museum number six.

274

On the next day, December

7th, that was the day that I

275

decided to go back to Victoria.

276

And Albert's.

277

And see some of the things

that I hadn't seen before.

278

I still feel like.

279

I didn't even scratch the surface

of seeing everything in that museum.

280

And that night on December 7th, I met up

with my friends, Johnny and Michael, and

281

we went to see the rainbow trust concert.

282

It was a really great evening.

283

On December 8th, the next day, I actually

didn't go to a museum on my last day.

284

I had some holiday

shopping that I had to do.

285

I wanted to get a few souvenirs.

286

It was also a beautiful, warm

sunny day in December in London.

287

And so I took advantage of that

and I walked around the city.

288

I walked through Trafalgar

square and Covent garden.

289

I stopped in Fortnum and Mason.

290

To do some shopping.

291

And that was my last day of the trip.

292

It was a great way to celebrate

my 50th birthday and also the 30th

293

anniversary of my semester abroad.

294

And working in a museum.

295

It was a lot to celebrate.

296

It was a lot of milestones and

anniversaries to commemorate and

297

it was just a really great trip.

298

I can't wait to do it again.

299

I hoped you enjoyed this episode.

300

Happy holidays.

301

And the next time I talk

302

Happy new year.

303

I'll see you next time.