Night of the Mummy at RBS Museum Lates

What do Egyptian mummies, dinosaurs wearing headphones, catwalk models and me all have in common? Aside from being totally and completely unrelated (especially the me and the models part), they were all present at the latest RBS Museum Lates at the National Museum in Edinburgh.

Do you think the dinosaur is listening to T-Rex?

Last year, some clever clogs at the museum decided that it was time to open the doors wide to big kids after dark and let them wander around clutching beer, wine or a G&T while soaking up the spectacular exhibits with no wee ones to act as trip hazards.

What a good idea.

I managed to miss the first event last November (boo) but with a stroke of luck I bagged myself a ticket for the latest after-dark adventure and toddled along of a Friday night, complete with sensible shoes so I could run around the shadowy corridors squealing with glee.

Look at all the pretty colours...

As it turns out, the corridors weren't shadowy. In fact, the place was absolutely bursting with life. The event was a sell out and all the ladies were wearing high heels and stunning dresses. Some of the blokes were even decked out in a similar garb, with Egyptian head-dresses and golden togas (sexy).

To top off the fashionista vibe, catwalk models weaved their way amongst the crowd, making me feel like one of the stuffed African elephants in the animal exhibit. 

Bagged a model photie! (Not sure I'm cut out to be a paparazzo.)

The night was packed full of activities and fun stuff to do. There was a silent disco, the opportunity to dress up like Cleopatra, live music for most of the evening and even face painting madness. It was a big play date for grown ups.

Aside from wanting to look at the gem stones and stuffed animals (my favourite parts of the museum) I was desperately keen to get stuck into the latest exhibition in the National Museum. Fascinating Mummies is the only exhibit of its kind in the UK and well worth investigation.

A map of the exhibit comes in handy in order to avoid errant mummies on the prowl.

There was loads and loads to get through, from jewellery to dead bodies to advertising. Yes, I have even been able to shoe horn an advertising reference into this post, and I can back it up with photographic evidence...

1920s Palmolive press ad. Palmolive face stuff is so amazing it will make you as cool as a mummy? Or something.

The exhibition was fantastic. I'd heartily recommend it to anyone with a facial skincare brand brief. If Palmolive can use mummies to sell female skincare, so can you.

That's a mummy. I'd recommend using him for a mattress ad.

This chap is called Osiris. He's clearly a brand ambassador for candy canes.

One for the graphic designers. Pretty patterns. Just so happens they're 1000s of years old.

I didn't really think anything could top the Fascinating Mummies exhibition. It takes a lot to match ancient Egyptian mummies (except zombies and vampires at a push) so I wasn't expecting to run into anything else of equal interest. How wrong I was. 

There were real, live meerkats. 

I'm a meerkat and I'm alive. Compare me!

My favourite part of the meerkat experience was the comparison element. However, without their smoking jackets it was a difficult exercise and I couldn't differentiate between Alexandr and Sergei. Instead, I had to satisfy myself by taking millions of photos. 

Check out those tails. Too cute.

Some people, including myself, were a bit worried that the meerkats would be engulfed in a storm of overeager museum-goers and would drown by stroking. I asked the handler if the poor wee things were stressed because of all the attention they were getting, but he reassured me that if they didn't want to be there they would let him know via the medium of teeth.

The cultured equivalent of a rave in a field.

All in all, the night deserved a proper thumbs up. I really enjoyed my evening and would heartily recommend all to visit. One wee piece of advice is to fill up on grub before arrival - I turned up starving and by the time I'd eaten an hour of my evening had disappeared. But aside from that, just make an appearance and expect to have lots and lots of fun.

The next RBS Museum Lates is scheduled for Friday 18 May 2012. Of course, if you can't wait that long the National Museum is open for FREE during the day. 

(You need to go, it's a creative's paradise.)