Museum and lunch in Minneapolis, almost like being on vacation

 

We have some really great museums in the Twin Cities. They are interesting, engaging, and thought-provoking. Sadly, living here, I get busy with 'life' and don't make the time to visit museums like I do when on vacation. 

But when my sister came to town this month, we planned a museum visit and lunch. We both really like The Museum of Russian Art. So that's where we went. 

Our timing wasn't great. The museum had just finished a major exhibition called "Spies and Space: Cold War Artifacts from Both Sides of the Iron Curtain." They were still packing up the artifacts, so we were able to see some of them, even though the exhibition was technically over. 

Still, the museum had several other exhibits that we enjoyed viewing. 

• Violins of Hope: A collection of restored violins that were played by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust.
• Say 'No' to War: A collection of political cartoons by Ukrainian and Russian artists conveying the tragedy and absurdity of the war raging between those nations.
• Cats and Dogs in Soviet Art: A collection of mostly paintings (plus a few porcelain statues) illustrating the presence and involvement of pets during the Soviet regime. 

One of the artists in the Cats and Dogs exhibit had three paintings that were particularly compelling to me. The artist was Valerian Formozov. Each of the paintings depicted an old woman with a cat, sitting alone in humble circumstances. The paintings really captured a sense of loneliness and isolation.  

I also liked a painting of a herd of cows in a pasture being tended by a farm dog. I was fascinated by how the artist set the scene with the sun behind the cows, casting shadows onto the grass. 

After a leisurely morning at the museum, my sister and I went to lunch. We went to another favorite of mine - Broders Pasta Bar. The food there is great. Most of the pasta is made in-house. One thing, however, they don't take reservations. Since the restaurant is very popular, there's often a long wait for a table at dinnertime. 

But not at lunch ... or at least not for my sister and me. We got there shortly after noon, and we were only the second table to be seated. (I should note that by the time we finished our lunch, the restaurant was a lot busier. That's good. It shows an appreciation for a late lunch on a nice spring day.) 

Broders had a lunch special available - a Caesar salad (or arancini) and a pasta for $30; another $10 to add a glass of wine. That's not a tremendous deal. But you get a very generous serving of pasta, so it's a fair price. 

My sister had 'quadrucci' which were little squares of fresh egg pasta. The pasta was dressed with chicken, prosciutto, greens, asparagus, balsamic vinegar, mascarpone, almonds and pecorino cheese. It was a very generous serving; she took half of it home. 

I had ravioli made with spinach and egg pasta. It was stuffed with goat cheese and dressed with a cream sauce and green peas. I loved it and I ate the whole thing. 

Needless to say, we were too full for dessert. 

So we had a very pleasant time. It was almost like being on vacation. 

PS: I got interested in visiting so-called small museums a few years ago while planning a trip to Paris. I read a post by a blogger who recommended several that are often overlooked by visitors. (The blog is Chocolate & Zucchini, and the blogger is Clotilde Dusoulier.) Here's a link to my blog post about the small museums that we visited in Paris.  

PPS: Besides The Museum of Russian Art, here are some other nice, small museums in the Twin Cities: the Minnesota Museum of American Art or, for a natural history museum, check out the Bell Museum on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. 

PPPS: We also have some very nice 'major' museums. In particular, there's the MIA and the Walker Art Center; I particularly like the sculpture garden at the Walker. In St. Paul, we've got the Minnesota Children's Museum and the Science Museum of Minnesota. 

It occurs to me that you can fill a whole vacation itinerary visiting museums in the Twin Cities.