Museums to enjoy with the family

During the last decades the main museum institutions have been especially concerned with developing pedagogical programs, didactic workshops or dissemination projects that promote an increase in the public and facilitate the understanding of the pieces they contain (or the concepts they raise). Although these types of actions are always useful and formative, in the end one ends up finding the reason to return to a museum in the most unsuspected detail.

Most of the time it is likely that we do not remember the most important dates, on which floor the main attraction was located, whether or not the center had a store at the entrance, etc., but without a doubt what we do not usually forget is with who we were when we made the visit and where we stopped most eagerly, especially if that day we were with our children. Museums are everywhere and of all kinds; I include here some that can become quite an experience beyond its merely cultural aspects.

Provincial Wine Museum in Peñafiel

The Castle of Peñafiel in Valladolid is one of the best preserved enclaves of the late Spanish Middle Ages and several years ago he completed his visit with a Provincial Wine Museum within its patios, which makes the center a two in one. On the one hand, it is possible to appreciate the process of cultivation, fermentation and production of the wines in the heart of Ribera del Duero (with tasting included), from a didactic approach relating the grape and wine with literature, mythology, traditional festivals ...

On the other hand, the walk through the interior of the fortification allows us to enter one of the most tumultuous times in our history, and the landscape around the breakwater in which it is located helps us to imagine the great battles that the guided tour tells us from the tower of tribute. The little ones will surely have a great time believing themselves knights or princesses in their own castle or trying to count the number of corks included. the model of the building, created by two Salamancans.

Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao

If there is a museum that turns your visit into a cluster of visual and tactile sensations It is the Guggenheim in Bilbao. Its international character (and also its management) strives for the public to experience an authentic show both inside and outside and it is the children who best manage to take advantage of contemporary proposals, blending in with everything they find as if they were living adventures. within a video game or star in a science fiction film.

Despite the impact produced by pieces such as the 10-meter chandelier created by Louise Bourgois that looks out over the estuary, the "wild" sculpture Puppy or the bright tulips by Jeff Koons that decorate the main terrace, the room most remembered by children. is the one that houses the sculptures by Richard Serra. Loaned to the museum for a few years, we hope they can extend its use and enjoyment because beyond its relationship with physics or philosophy, it is a real party run with the kids in its labyrinthine corridors, appreciate how the shapes change from concave to convex or try to "not get dizzy" looking for the exit.

Madrid Railway Museum

El Madrid Railway Museum has a little-explored added bonus: Every second weekend of the month the so-called Motor Market, a commercial and gastronomic proposal in which you can buy everything in different stalls spread out in your backyard and in front of the trains that decorate the interior of the old Delicias station, right in the vicinity of the Parque Tierno Galbán and the Planetarium ( ideal to organize a whole day full of activities).

Apart from being able to have a drink in a vintage Talgo, see model trains in motion, authentic British steam locomotives or freight wagons that take us back to classic cinema, every Sunday whole families ride in the different little trains that go around the backyard. One does not know who smiles the most during the trip, grandparents, children or grandchildren.

ARQUA in Cartagena

Looking towards Levante, one of the most complete alternatives is the National Museum of Underwater Archeology of Cartagena (ARQUA), one of the most visited centers in recent years due to its varied and attractive programming, and because it shows an aspect of our heritage little studied, that found under the sea. It is curious to see adults and children playing in unison or sunbathing between the letters that make up the name of the Museum, a fun that in itself encourages the interior visit.

With the virtues of any modern museum, the Arqua has an added value by showing its content making us participate through theater plays, with which we learn what it was like from day to day in a XNUMXth century Galleon, how provisions were organized on a ship on the great trade routes, what happened to the famous Roman Poseidon or how underwater treasures are collected and restored that are still hidden at the bottom of the sea.

Whether or not we have the soul of pirates, the visit is fascinating in every way and this is helped by the advanced design of the center, its studied natural and indirect lighting and the well thought out passageways that invite you to relax. Once in Cartagena, you should not miss the opportunity to see the submarine recreation by Isaac Peral, rebuilt from its original plans and kept for a few months in the Naval Museum, after 125 years since the first launch of the imposing ship. We hope that this little cultural and hedonistic route will be useful to share quality time and fun with the children.