We visited three NYC museums, today and yesterday. We attended two more musicals. And we thought those would be the highlights of our day. We were wrong.
There was a protest going on--in favor of going topless. We've included enough photos to give you the idea, but the other photos, of women of all ages, are available for the uninhibited.
There were performers of all sorts--singers, drummers, saxophone players, mimes. 
There were people just doing their thing--painting, skating, hula-hooping.
And there were small mysteries. Just what is the story of this couple, sitting apart from each other and looking in opposite directions?
New Yorkers have no choice but to share their small square of nature--Central Park--with each other. But they did so with abundant good cheer and goodwill. Sunday afternoon at the Park was a celebration of life.
Yesterday we visited the International Museum of Photography and saw a fascinating exhibit of the work of Robert Avedon, probably the greatest fashion photographer of all time. Gretta was newly appreciative of stylish ladies like Jamie and Vanessa and Camille, who see dress as art.
We traveled to the northern tip of Manhattan to visit The Cloisters, an abbey rebuilt from a religious building in France. It was filled with tapestries, sculptures, crosses, stained glass, and even playing cards from the Middle Ages. Dave and Gretta both love the culture and art of the Middle Ages and felt that they'd been time traveling!
We wandered around the Metropolitan Museum of Art for nearly three hours. Dave and Gretta went their separate ways, but both took photos of the same Medieval armor! Dave especially loves Greek and Roman statues, as well as Rembrandt's paintings.
On our way to The Cloisters, we stopped at the luxurious Park Hotel. Inside the lobby, an arrangement of four or five dozen red roses was warmed by the sparkle of a shimmering chandelier. Across the street, carriages picked up passengers for rides through Central Park. Now, if we could just find the Park Hotel on Priceline....
As we walked along the Upper East Side, we enjoyed picking out the other markers of wealth--private clubs, "aesthetic" medicine, and stores stuffed with antiques. Gretta checked out a sale of Hong Kong lace tablecloths, but didn't yield to the clerk who told her he'd sell her a (truly magnificent) linen cutwork cloth for "nothing"--only $1,000. 
Gretta wasn't brave enough to ask for the Harlem photos she really wanted--African American ladies in fancy hats and Church clothes chatting on the street, and a magnificently large lady in African tribal dress talking on her cell phone in front of a poster for hair braiding. Gretta did capture the subway decoration--a huge poster of African-American women, circa 1910. She also snapped a photo of today's modern African-American woman--dressed professionally and getting on the subway.
The most satisfying, entertaining, touching experience today was joining with thousands of New Yorkers relaxing and celebrating the weekend in Central Park. We criss-crossed the Park several times on our way to the Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and each time found treats and surprises.
There was a protest going on--in favor of going topless. We've included enough photos to give you the idea, but the other photos, of women of all ages, are available for the uninhibited.There were performers of all sorts--singers, drummers, saxophone players, mimes. There were people selling things--African statues, political buttons, pictures of themselves as Batman.
There were people just doing their thing--painting, skating, hula-hooping. And there were small mysteries. Just what is the story of this couple, sitting apart from each other and looking in opposite directions?New Yorkers have no choice but to share their small square of nature--Central Park--with each other. But they did so with abundant good cheer and goodwill. Sunday afternoon at the Park was a celebration of life.
Yesterday we visited the International Museum of Photography and saw a fascinating exhibit of the work of Robert Avedon, probably the greatest fashion photographer of all time. Gretta was newly appreciative of stylish ladies like Jamie and Vanessa and Camille, who see dress as art. We traveled to the northern tip of Manhattan to visit The Cloisters, an abbey rebuilt from a religious building in France. It was filled with tapestries, sculptures, crosses, stained glass, and even playing cards from the Middle Ages. Dave and Gretta both love the culture and art of the Middle Ages and felt that they'd been time traveling! We wandered around the Metropolitan Museum of Art for nearly three hours. Dave and Gretta went their separate ways, but both took photos of the same Medieval armor! Dave especially loves Greek and Roman statues, as well as Rembrandt's paintings.On our way to The Cloisters, we stopped at the luxurious Park Hotel. Inside the lobby, an arrangement of four or five dozen red roses was warmed by the sparkle of a shimmering chandelier. Across the street, carriages picked up passengers for rides through Central Park. Now, if we could just find the Park Hotel on Priceline....
As we walked along the Upper East Side, we enjoyed picking out the other markers of wealth--private clubs, "aesthetic" medicine, and stores stuffed with antiques. Gretta checked out a sale of Hong Kong lace tablecloths, but didn't yield to the clerk who told her he'd sell her a (truly magnificent) linen cutwork cloth for "nothing"--only $1,000. We also wandered through Harlem, as we sought a subway line going further north.
There were beckoning Pentecostal churches and soul food restaurants. Alas, we had to save them for another trip. 
Gretta wasn't brave enough to ask for the Harlem photos she really wanted--African American ladies in fancy hats and Church clothes chatting on the street, and a magnificently large lady in African tribal dress talking on her cell phone in front of a poster for hair braiding. Gretta did capture the subway decoration--a huge poster of African-American women, circa 1910. She also snapped a photo of today's modern African-American woman--dressed professionally and getting on the subway.The two musicals we attended, "Hair" and "Altar Boyz," challenged our values and biases. Dave saw "Hair" in Las Vegas in 1969, but last night it seemed more vulgar and confrontive than he remembered. Could we have gotten older and more conservative in 40 years? "Altar Boyz" was a spoof of a boys' Christian rock group. We thought of Jeremy Road, the LDS boys' group (is that name right?), and felt uncomfortable as the audience laughed at Christian people (or did they?--the point of view was hard to figure out). One thing is clear about NYC musical theater--it overflows with talent. The voices were beautiful, the dancing creative, and the music, costumes and special effects mesmerizing. And having one's values challenged is one of the purposes of traveling.
3 comments:
It looks like you guys are having a great time considering the circumstances. Hopefully your not having too good of a time - i.e. there better not be any topless pictures of either of you in the park.
You two certainly are making the most of your time in New York City! I spent an entire summer there, but reading about your two day visit already makes me realize there is a lot that I missed!
I refused to let mom take a piture of me topless
Dad
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