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Blog > May Writing Prompt: Your favorite museum

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcard’s messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

This month, our suggestion is all about museums. We love a good museum, where carefully curated collections and exhibitions contribute to scientific knowledge while sparking a universe of learning possibilities!

In May, write about your favorite museum.
Portugal Communications museum

Do you have a favorite museum? Paulo and I like quirky museums, but our favorites so far (no surprise here!) are usually related with mail history.

In Lisbon, the Communications Museum has a wonderful exhibition where you can learn about the postal history of Portugal, from the first mail coaches to its present day modernization. There’s also an interesting section containing a recreation of a real post office, where you can pretend to be either a postal worker or a customer waiting to get some stamps! After so many years being on the customer side of the counter, it’s surprisingly fun to move behind the counter to do the job ourselves. Things look different from there!

So, what about your own country? Which national museum is your favorite? Which place should a postcrosser definitely visit if they find themselves in the area? We invite you to share your best museum tips on the postcards you send this month.

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57 comments so far

ezredax, United States of America
Hi,
If anyone should visit our area I would recommend the City of Alamo Museum. It is small, but has many displays about local historical events. And a permanent display of over 1500 Angels. At the moment it has a display of quilts, miniature sewing machines and irons used on clothing but not electric. There are even a few hand cranked sewing machines. .
We are a city of 18,000 citizens.
Enjoy the day!
Demaris
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relvita, United Kingdom
In London, the Natural History Museum! I've lost count of the times I've been there, and it's always a pleasure to return - including to their shop to buy postcards which end up in some other part of the world ;) https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
In Lisbon, I have a great memory of going to the Museu da Cidade and ending up partially having an impromptu tour with a worker who had been with the museum for years and was delighted to share stories about the museum and the city with our group! http://www.museudelisboa.pt/en.html
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Kewl, Philippines
Singapore museums!
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betslets, United States of America
In all the world, two favorite museums I've had the opportunity to visit are The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, and The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. USA. However, they are both so large, I would need extra lifetimes to fully explore each one.
Closer to home, our favorite museum is The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas, which is "...the state-designated official historical center of the famed Texas Rangers law enforcement agency." We've visited a few times and enjoy learning so much about our State from the interesting exhibits.
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Talal90Ahmed, Iraq
great thanks postcrossing --
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Hamburg127, Germany
My favourite museum here in Hamburg/Germany is the "Internationales Maritimes Museum". (IMM). Great exhibitions of all shipping periods.
https://www.imm-hamburg.de/international/en/
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pineapple_expresso, Romania
From Romania you should never miss out The village museum in Bucharest. The museum is located next to the biggest park of Bucharest so it's win-win.
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Gerda-RD, Netherlands
I live in the nothern province Groningen. You can visit here the Groninger Museum (made by chief architect Allessandro Mendini) or the Shipping museum in our "big" city Groningen, In the province are old stonehouses (we don't have here castles) who are complete looks like the time when the noble family's lived there like Freyelemaborg in Slochteren, Menkemaborg in Uithuizen or Verhildersum in Leens. In Appingedam is a private museum who has got many prices called Museum Möhlmann. you can see there art. In Leek is the Carriage museum, in Veendam the Peat Colonial Museum and so there is many more. You can always ask for information.
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eyselbaer, Germany
My favorite Museum is the Senckenberg Nature Museum in Frankfurt am Main (next to the Berlin Museum of Natural History) is the largest natural history museum in Germany with exhibits from the fields of biology and geology.
Cult status, especially in children, enjoy the dinosaur skeletons of the Natural History Museum: The Senckenberg Nature Museum presents one of the largest exhibitions of large-scale dinosaurs in Europe. A special treasure is the original of a petrified dinosaur with preserved, flaky skin.
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ileanatr, United States of America
I live in New York City where we have too many museums to pick just one favorite. (Okay, I realize how pretentious that sounds.) The New York Transit Museum sits in a decommissioned subway station and has old train cars dating as far back as 1907. Once a year they have a Bus Festival where they put buses from their vintage fleet on display.
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Mosshumla, Sweden
A must-see in Stockholm is the Vasa Museum. It's exhibiting the Vasa, a man-of-war built in the early 17th century which unfortunately sank on its maiden voyage after only a few hundred metres (or was it a kilometre?). It was salvaged in 1961 and has now her own museum.
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Trekkie_Gal, United States of America
I've been a volunteer at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for over 11 years. It's a fantastic place to visit...and to volunteer!
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Martin-CZE, Czech Republic
So many interesting museums in my country. My hometown is showing 4 ways of travel you can (now, or in future) arrive to it. Really interesting!
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moni6219, Italy
One of my favourite Museum is in Venezia and is called Gallerie dell'Accademia...really interesting if you like Renaissance Italian paintings!
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saulytera, Lithuania
The most impresive museum for me was the one of clocks in Klaipėda. Can you imagine hundreds of clocks beating at the same time? :)
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meiadeleite, Portugal
All of these museums make me want to travel so much! 😀
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charluber, France
In Paris, my favorite one is the "musée d'Orsay". A lot of paintings by Monet, Van Gogh... are displayed in an old railway station. If you do not have the time to visit the tremendous "musée du Louvres", the Musée d'Orsay is a good compromise. It's free on first Sunday of the month
and for under 18 year olds.
Wikipdia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay
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rb, United Kingdom
Definitely agree with the Vasa museum in Stockholm,we loved it when we visited last year.I would also recommend the Museum of London that takes you from almost the beginning of time to the 2012 Olympics.A great museum and like all London ones it is free!
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AnnaHimenko, Georgia
My favourite museums are open air museums, and are called "Vienna" and "Saint Petersburg" :) However, if speaking about museums as buildings with the collections of arts objects, those would be the Castle of Schoenbrunn, the City Museum of Vienna, the Kunstkamera and the Hermitage.
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plomp, United Kingdom
There's a very small museum in my hometown. It's not big, it doesn't change much, and it's quite quaint and unknown globally, but it holds so many dear memories for me. It was the first place I ever got a piece of my art featured in the public gallery upstairs, and it had a fun little underground burrow tunnel play area that I've been crawling through since I was 5! Nowadays, it even has a Pokémon Go gym outside it, so we like to sit on the grass outside and battle each other with a picnic!
I've been to MANY wonderful museums in my time, but the little Doncaster Museum holds my heart dear!
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Lorelai, Germany
My favourite museum is: Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, Germany. Located at the site of the first Neanderthal man discovery in the Neandertal, it features an exhibit centered on human evolution. I live nearby + our friends have been invited to enjoy it.
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Flippie, Canada
We have in Victoria BC, our "big" British Colombia Museum. It's great to visit for a day! I love it.
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Bowyum, Australia
I am a fan of museum ships and have managed to visit several. The SS Great Britain in Bristol is well worth seeing, and the card I sent from the ship carried a "posted on board" rubber stamp :)
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honeybee, Austria
My favourite museums in Austria are the Post Museum in Eisenerz/Styria, the Natural History Museum of Graz, the Graz Toy Museum of Graz, the Tram Museum of Graz, the Key Museum of Graz , the Südbahn-Museum of Mürzzuschlag/Styria and the Vienna Technical Museum.
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mertxe, Spain
Here in Bilbao (Spain) the most famous museum we have is the Guggenheim. You can not miss the visit to my city
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Joerg1971, Germany
For visitors in Bavaria/southern Germany: You should in each case visit the "Germanische Nationalmuseum" in Nürnberg and in the region between Nürnberg (Nuremberg) and München (Munich) you'll find find worth to visit different "open-air-museums" with historical houses from their region like in Bad Windsheim (Fränkisches Freilandmuseum), Neusath-Perschen (Oberpfälzer Freilichtmuseum) or Glentleiten near Großweil (Oberbayerisches Freilichtmuseum). In each of these open-air-museums you'll find up to 80 (!) houses to visit with their old furniture or special uses like a brewery, mills, historical shops and more ...
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loving6thgrade, United States of America
My husband and I love museums and make that a priority when visiting a new place. We live close to Houston, Texas, so there I would recommend the the Houston Museum of Natural Science (Imax, Butterfly garden, phenomenal gem collection, Native American, Egyptian, Chemistry...) and also the nearby Houston Fine Arts Museum. Our son lives in Hong Kong. There I recommend the Hong Kong Museum of History. When our daughter lived in Prague, CZ the National Technology Museum was absolutely our favorite (wonderful collection of Cz cars, planes, astronomy, toys, household items). Other favorites: Louvre (Paris), British Museum (London); Bletchley Park enigma machine and code breakers) in Milton-Keyes, England; The Kröller-Müller Museum( national art museum and sculpture garden) in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo, NL and Netherlands Open Air Museum (near Arnhem, NL)
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vlada_123, Russia
In Russia love art. Therefore, there are many museums and galleries in St. Petersburg. Hermitage, Russian Museum... There hang paintings by famous artists.

There is a Museum of the Kunstkammer. It was invented by Peter 1. There are many unusual exhibits: costumes of the peoples of the world, unborn children in banks...interesting!

Not far from St. Petersburg is the city of Pushkin. It was named after the writer Alexander Pushkin. In Pushkin there is a Museum, a former Lyceum. There studied under A. Pushkin. Interesting Museum! Shown in the Lyceum rooms, where there were lectures, shows a room of high school students...hall, where passed balls!

And in my native village Rozhdestveno(Leningrad region, Gatchina district) there is a Museum-estate of Vladimir Nabokov(he was a writer and poet). Nabokov is known not only in Russia but also in America. You can see how Nabokov lived..

And in the village of Vyra(the same district and region) there is a Museum House Stationmaster. (The stationmaster is the one who gave people horses if they were tired.)This Museum is an ordinary house of the Russian man-caretaker. Before such people really existed! Alexander Pushkin wrote a story about this caretaker...Search the Internet! "Stationmaster." In the Museum-house you can see simple Russian rooms, furniture, economy.
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Bedfordtony, United States of America
In nearby Cleveland, Ohio is the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. I enjoy the exhibits on how rock music effected censorship, journalism, race relations, fashion and cinematography. It is located on the Lake Erie shoreline in downtown Cleveland. From the museum you get a good view of the Cleveland skyline and harbor as well as flight activity at Burke Lakefront Airport.
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awjc, United Kingdom
In London there is a Post Museum! It also has access to the Mail Rail - a now (sadly no longer used) underground railway just for post!
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princesspentium, United Kingdom
When we were in New York we loved the FDNY fire department museum and the NYPD museum (which unfortunately has now closed). If you are in the NW of UK a fabulous Open Air museum is Beamish, between Durham & Newcastle Upon Tyne. Another similar museum is St Fagans near Cardiff in Wales.
The Somerset Museum in Taunton tells the history of the area especially The Battle of Sedgemoor with some fascinating exhibits.
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saturdaybrunch, Malaysia
My favourite museum in Malaysia is the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. Been there a few times and love it so much.
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SYS1926, China
The Palace Museum(also known as the former Forbidden City of Ming and Qing dynasties) is located in the geometrical center of Beijing. Based on the old imperial palace and royal collection, it has so many antiques and art works that may never be counted accurately. Its director is also an official of vice-minister status.
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mounten, Italy
I work in a Museum on top of a mountain (2.275 m). Great place to be. It takes part of 6 Museums MMM ( messner-mountain- museum.it ) it tells the story of traditional mounaineering from the past 250 years. Worth visiting all 6 of them every Museum has a different theme. We also have the Ötzi Museum ( the iceman).
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postalpower, Australia
I loved the Postal Museum in Washington DC!
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merryCM, Germany
Today I take the opportunity to mention the LVR-Freilichtmuseum Lindlar. I like it very much, because here big and small visitors can make a time travel. Namely in the history of the Bergisches Land. The 25 hectare site is managed according to historical models. There is a bakery, a smithy, a ribbon weaving mill, old agricultural machinery (. . . ), which are also actively presented on certain days. So you spend your time out there and in there.
I like it very much
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APol, Poland
I'm very sorry I can't limit to just one - there are so many! Let me say about 3 of them - all in Warsaw: 1) A museum of pharmacy 2) a new one: The Polish Vodka Museum :) 3) The third my favourite is POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
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fitrap, Indonesia
Museum kayu, Tenggarong, Kalimantan Timur Indonesia
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heidegurke, Germany
The torture and criminal museum in Rothenburg at river Tauber is the greatest! It's about torture devices and history of crime over centuries.
Uah! Scary and weird!
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nm_rockhound, United States of America
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY
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redjsa, Netherlands
Def. the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam! Or the Van Gogh museum.
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Elena_Gau, Russia
Kunsthistory Museum in Vienna. I visited it a week ago. I was lucky enough to see pictures of the Peter Bruegel.
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HDN, Germany
The Historic Dockyard Museum in Stanley/Falkland Islands is probably the best I've seen in a "Small Museum Category".
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seadog, United Kingdom
Hi, If you are ever in the North of England I would recommend Beamish Museum near Durham City. It is an open air living museum with several sights covering the 1820's rural, 1910's urban and mining, 1940' farming.
Its very interactive but does require more than one day, but when you pay for one day it for the next 364 days.
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Wolfgang_Russ, Germany
Stuttgart (Southwest of Germany):
1. Mercedes-Benz Museum with the first motor-car and the history of automobile building.
2. Porsche Museum with the history of Porsche cars
3. Staatsgalerie with its rich collection of masterworks dating from the fourteenth century to the present (new: "Love is in the Bin" von Banksy)
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MainStation, Germany
In my home country Germany I highly recommend the Museumsuferfest in Frankfurt /Germany.
It's Europe's biggest culture festival with around 20 museums.
Admission is pretty cheap. Last year it was 7 € for the exhibitions and it was free for all the outdoor activities (stages and booths with food and merchandise).

And international I love the national postal in Washington DC ( right next to the union Station).
Admission is free. And when I went there a few years back you could get free postcards and free used stamps ( in case you want to start a collection).
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AliceVlasova, Russia
My favorite museum is the museum of Antonio Gaudi located in Reus, Spain. Definitely the best museum I've ever visited.
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Alexander9179, Russia
In Moscow, a lot of museums, which are required to visit all the inhabitants of the planet. But they must start with the Central Museum of the great patriotic vojný.
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EmmaJansen, Netherlands
Nemo in Amsterdam. Call me a child all you want, but Nemo is wonderful.
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WattlePark, Australia
The Gold Museum in Ballarat, Victoria, has a postcard collection!
http://www.goldmuseum.com.au/collection-search/?eHive_query=has_image%3Atrue+collection%3Afitzgerald
"There are over 30,000 postcards in the collection. Special features of the collection are World War One, Australian cards, postal history and the history of international tourism."
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vanessal, France
Hello
I want just say you this week end in France there is" Nuit des musées" and the museums are free acces.
It's amazing,no?
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floosieQ, United Kingdom
One of the loveliest and quirkiest museums I have ever visited is the Kattencabinet (Cat Cabinet) in Amsterdam. It is in an old town house on the Herrengracht, and filled with art just on the subject of cats. And the best part is that it is home to several cats who are allowed to roam around the museum as they like! It is really beautiful.. but check the opening times before you go, as it's not open every day.
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ThePostCat, Italy
There is a salt and pepper pot museum in Guadalest, Spain, that's pretty quirky. Also a totally OTT cat museum in Kuching, Borneo
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meiadeleite, Portugal
@VANESSAL yes! we also visited our town's museum this weekend for free, as it was the international day of museums :)
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cameralady, United States of America
My favorite museum is the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston....I’ve been to many amazing exhibits held there throughout the years...My sister and I, who lived an hour apart from each other, would meet up there....Ahhhh, the memories...
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Angela1029, Taiwan
My favorite museum is Taiwan's Chi Mei Museum, which has many statues and is very famous.
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marina_sons, Russia
The Museum of Money in the very heart of Saint-Petersburg. Its displays allow to see the most significant historical events from an unusual point of view- Money. The Museum has lots of interactive exhibits and plenty of educational activities for kids from 6 y.o.
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