NYC, Day 3
Today, the Empire State Building. The folks here have clearly attended the Disney School of Queue Management! First, you wait in line to get through security. Then you wait in line to buy tickets. Then you wait in line to get your picture taken (which I think is a security measure disguised as a tourist photo). Then you wait in line for the audio guide. Then you wait in line for the elevator to the 80th floor. Then you wait in line for the elevator to the 86th floor. (This last can be avoided if you climb the stairs from 80 to 86 - this is why I use the stair stepper at the gym.) Once again, avoid the hour wait for tix by booking online or getting a City Ticket. It's also possible to get an Express Ticket by paying $25 extra. Or, you could go early: they open at 8 a.m.
Each line takes a certain amount of time. In one place, the line snaked back and forth 24 times across a large hall, but the line was moving so quickly that people were just walking their way through it. From either end, it looked like we were choreographed, a constant flow, half moving to the left, half to the right. It was one of the few times I've really wanted a video camera to capture the movement. With a still photo, it was just people standing in line.
I wandered around the observation deck on the 86th floor peering at the city from the highest building in NY (since 2001, anyway), accompanied by an audio guide, which I loved! It's very chatty, just as if you had a friend talking in your ear, and tells way more than which building is which. I gained a whole new understanding of the city from this guide. Did you know that most early American cities were found by religious groups, but that NY was founded by a business group (the Dutch West Indies Company)? Maybe that's why business is so important here today. Also, there are 100 different kinds of ethnic restaurants here.
You can stay as long as you want up there, but when you're ready to go down, you have to wait in line again for the elevator.
I had a chopped salad for lunch, which was a first for me, but according to my sources on the east and west coasts, these are common all over the country. this is what I miss by living in Germany....
The afternoon and early evening were for MOMA. On Thursdays it's open until 8:30 or so, and they had live music in a courtyard. Well, OK, it was jazz, so maybe not everyone would consider that music!
I liked MOMA much better than the Guggenheim. For that, admire the architecture from the outside, then step inside and admire the atrium, but don't bother buying a ticket unless you're really into contemporary art. OK, there were a few things worth looking at, but really, if you've been to the Centre Pompidou, save your money for MOMA. This is great!
I saw the original Andy Warhol soup cans! There are rooms full of Jackson Pollack and Mark Rothko. Here are my favorites:
Alberto Giacometti, The Artist's Mother, lines of red, white, black and gray, but the more you look at it the more colors you can see.
Jasper Johns, Summer, a collage feel with fireworks, porch railing, American flag, sea horse, Mona Lisa, barbeque grill, Etruscan pottery, King Tut's headress a green background with a tree trunk and leaves, all summery and green and the gray outline of a man outlined in black. At least, that's what I saw!
Alighiero e Boetti, 1000 Longest Rivers of the World, embroidery on linen and cotton. Fascinating! But is it Art? MOMA says YES!
Paul Gauguin, Still Life with Three Puppies. How can it be a still life if there are puppies?
There was a special exhibit of Henri Matisse. Lots of people were riveted, fascinated and totally drawn in. But his work just doesn't resonate with me. Except maybe his colors - love that blue! But then he got me: Portrait of Yvonne Landsberg, a painting of a young woman, then wing-like or heart shaped scratches in the paint, like the painter could see things that weren't actually there, her aura, or her future as an angel.
For snack, I had a chocolate salt caramel tart with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on the terrace cafe. Delicious, but with iced tea, tax and tip (which they thoughtfully include in the bill as a result of having too many foreign tourists), it cost nearly $20! I do miss K, but seriously, we'd be drinking water from the rest room tap and eating crackers we saved from last night's dinner rather than pay $20 for afternoon break.
I stayed rather late at MOMA and didn't get back to the hotel until after the free dinner was over. Oh, well, that's why they invented Baja Burrito, right?