The National Museum in Warsaw features works of art from across ages, I would say that it is predominantly an art gallery as opposed to a museum. These works were arranged in a loosely chronological order and were interesting, although nothing to write home about. However, I found the attitude of the staff to be appalling. Maybe it is because we are a young couple and thus, obviously, we were intending to steal as much art as we could but every single room we entered we were followed closely by one or two stern older members of staff. At one point, my girlfriend was literally tailed from one end of a gallery to the other by an older man, nearly bumping in to her in his quest to ensure that we didn't look at the art too much. We were spending more time trying to get away from the staff than we were appreciating the work on display. I found this experience deeply offending and off putting, eventually causing me and my girlfriend to leave the museum out of fear of being arrested and thrown in to a dark room. (This is obviously an exaggeration but I feel it is necessary to illustrate exactly how offended we both felt). Having visited countless museums across Europe I have never encountered a set of staff that made me feel less welcome and felt that we were targeted with suspicion precisely because we are under 50. Overall, the staff working for this institution are doing absolutely nothing to make the viewing of art more accessible and enjoyable to the wider public. Surely that is the point of a national museum!? I have no idea how they deal with groups of school kids, they would probably combust. Feel free to go but make sure you take your papers and inform your loved ones.







