When in New York City: History of the world in a box at American Museum of Natural History

While enjoying the free park-ing zone (aka the Central Park) in the most expensive district of the Big Apple, it's hard not to notice the imposing structures alongside its perimeter—edifices that are landmarks as well. Just like the park I was standing on, the landmarks are as notable and as well visited.

NYC's Upper West Side/Central Park West is a historic district that embraces a number of prominent NYC landmarks exhibiting impressive architectural styles. I singled out one that I must check out—the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). 

With each place I travel to, I make it a point to visit a museum or two. It's one entry on the must-do list that makes every trip worthwhile. It's always a winning move. It's like taking a stimulating and mind-enriching journey and a break from the hurried pace of the city streets, not to mention the comforting warmth of the environs on a winter's day.

The AMNH, founded in 1869, is one of the world's largest and most outstanding institutions of science and culture. It's like a box that contains a wide range of information and scientific collections that shares its contents in the most impressive way—via exhibitions.

The American Museum of Natural History's box of information is far from small. It has twenty-five interconnected buildings that house forty-six permanent exhibition halls that showcase a fraction of over 32 million specimens each time, research laboratories, and its renowned library.

A few hours' visit may just not be enough. Not seeing its entirety gives you enough reason to revisit this New York City landmark and continue on with your journey of discovery. 

While I was in Paris for a vacation a few years back, I was given some advice by a wise woman before entering the Louvre Museum. She said, "If you have limited time, just pick at least three things you really want to see and head to them directly. The spare time you get after is a bonus to see the rest of the exhibits." That's a rule I follow to this day.

The most fascinating exhibition halls for me were the rooms holding the tableaus of the animal kingdom. The habitat dioramas of African, Asian and North American mammals are quite remarkable.

To give you a picture of how large the halls are, take for example the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life, think of a full-size model of a blue whale suspended from the ceiling, and the Fossil Halls, which display dinosaur fossils.

Proving impressive, too, are the extensive anthropological collections: Asian People, Pacific People, Man in Africa, American Indian and general Native American collections, and collections from Mexico and Central America.

It was a day well spent discovering the world inside the American Museum of Natural History's box of wonders. Do its contents come alive at night? That happened only in the movies. The museum was the setting of the hit movie. Pressed for time, I headed out into the cold. There will be a next visit for sure, but it will be at a time other than winter.