In a land where coronavirus has taken over, countries on lock down, individuals self-isolating, almost everyone working from home and learning online, the weekend is upon us and with it comes the boredom.
But, here is your guide to figuring out what you can do while you stay at home. One of the benefits of COVID-19’s seclusion is that a lot of entities are trying to help by providing online services, and here is how you can take advantage of that.
For the Artists and Art Lovers out There
You can take a tour around one of twelve museums without moving a muscle through a virtual tour from the comfort of your own bed as a part of Google’s Arts and Culture Collection.
Take an interactive virtual tour through the British Museum in London, or you can use Google’s street view to take a tour around Guggenheim Museum in New York.
You could even zoom into every part of the paintings and a small description will explain the details
All twelve museums have virtual tours and it doesn’t require any type of cost. You can visit the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Musée d’Orsay in Paris, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, Pergamon Museum in Berlin. There are also two of Amsterdam’s great museums, Rijksmuseum and the very well-known Van Gogh Museum.
The remaining four include the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Uffizi Gallery in Florence, MASP in São Paulo and finally the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Another virtual tour that is not a part of Google’s collection yet pretty interesting is the Louvre’s virtual tour through their own website. And if you don’t know the Louvre, it’s the world’s largest art museum, located in Paris.
Needless to say, all you museum lovers are set to go this weekend.
Music, Music, Music!
Another form of art and expression that almost everyone is interested in – music. For the music lovers who want to experience the classical forms of music, here are some ways you could do that, also while you’re in your pajamas.
The Metropolitan Opera will be streaming its nightly operas to the public online for free, so here’s your chance to delve into the classics. Listen and watch Verdi and Tchaikovsky’s works live from the Met’s stage.
Have you ever dreamed on watching a Broadway musical?
For a more theatrical experience, BroadwayHD is offering a 7-day free trial so you can stream Broadway’s shows and musicals online. They have multiple categories that you can choose from, as well as some of the most well-known performances like Cats and The Sound of Music.
If you’d rather keep it commercial and current, the Grammy Museum is releasing some new programs with artists such as Billie Eilish and X Ambassadors. This will be happening every Monday, but this will not be free, an adult ticket costs 15 U.S. dollars.
You can also listen to your local bands and musicians through ROOM Art Space and Cafe’s (almost) daily stream of live performances. The free live stream will begin at 10 p.m. on their Facebook page.
Gamers Rejoice!
As the most dedicated fan base, the gaming industry had to give back as well. Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is free to play until March 22. After March 22, any progress you did will be saved, but you will have to purchase the full game. However, it will be on sale for a while on Playstation, Xbox and through the Ubisoft Store.
Of course, they realize that you might already own and have finished the game (several times, no shame) so you can still unlock Ezio’s Roman Set as a Ubisoft Club reward.
Other than that, Edmund McMillen, the publisher of the Binding of Isaac franchise is offering a ‘Stay Inside Bundle‘ for 19.96 U.S. dollars on Steam. The bundle lets you save 88 percent, and that’s 13 games to burn through during this time.
Make sure to keep an eye out for weekend and Spring sales!
Good Ol’ Binging
Netflix and remotely chill
Instead of binging shows alone on Netflix, you can now do it with your friends while still socially distancing yourselves. There is a Google Chrome extension, Netflix Party, that allows you to watch Netflix at the same time, while syncing the video. There’s also a little chat on the side so you can share your thoughts.
For a little more local binging, Zawya, a local Egyptian art house, canceled all of its events and is instead streaming short films and documentaries. They continue to provide the public with links to on their Facebook page, so keep refreshing! So far they included links for the two documentaries Those Who Remain and 104 Wrinkles.
Reading and Exploring
If you’d rather ignore everything and cozy up with a book, head to Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s website and read from their selection of thousands of online books. You can even choose from one of three languages – English, French or Arabic.
They also have a section for art enthusiasts where you can browse through exhibitions.
Have you every wondered what a storm on Jupiter looks like? Here you go!
Last but not least, if you’ve ever wondered how the moon or other planets look like up close, you can browse through NASA’s media gallery. You can even search for whatever you’re more curios about, or just take your time and browse through everything space-related from the experts themselves.
So here it is, a long list that you can filter through based on your interests. I know you’ve heard this a million times already (even from your phones) but stay home and stay safe!
