UPTOWN TODAY

So my first question was, "Why is is called Museum of MODERN Art when we have to go through so much ancient stuff first?"

We were lined up on Central Park Avenue East, as we saw a crowd there early, even though it didn't open until 10:30.  But at ten the doors opened and we moved in.  This didn't give me a hint!

So I have the map and we are passing by ancient vases and sculptures and the like to the modern section.  I saw TWO Jackson Pollacks before it dawned on me.  We were in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not MOMA.

 So we still looked around.  Here I am with IRISES by Vincent can Gogh.

But the highlight was the special exhibition on Sargent.  He was regarded as a brilliant portrait painter and I splurged on the audio guide to hear special explanations of key works.  This is a self portrait, requested by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.  He wasn't doing many portraits then but apparently you don't say no to such a request, as it is considered a real honour to be asked.

 This is of Thomas Hardy, to celebrate his 70th birthday.  The two were great friends.  In fact, in such an exhibition, all selected from the Museum's own collection, I fascinated to learn of his friendships with various famous Artists and Literary people of the day, through the portraits he made of them.

This is of a famous actress of the day and the composition was considered quite scandalous as she is painted like a woman of high society.  This work undertook a year's restoration, as the original veneer finish had aged and yellowed, as well as dirt deposited on the surface.  Now the whites in the gown are stunning.

There were wonderful examples of his watercolours too.   Later Sargent contented himself with portraits in charcoal.  This is of the Irish poet Yeats, a commission for a book cover.

My audio guide alerted me to a Vermeer so I tracked it down. In fact I saw three, which is pretty impressive as only about 36 of his works (think Girl with the Pearl Earring) remain.

 This ironwork was once in an Italian church to separate the choir.

Robert is probably smiling as this is in the Great Hall just as we were leaving.  But he was patient whilst I soaked up "culture".  I said to him, "I've got one word for you - Cowboys - and we were at that museum ALL DAY!"

 So we wandered into Central Park and looked around.  We found an area that suited both our needs.  A bench in the shade for Robert to read and a grassy spot for me to snooze!

It had to happen, I guess.  A family sat near Rob and began talking to him, and he was asked, "Do you have a pet kangaroo?"

We crossed Central Park to the west side and found two of New York's institutions.  Barney Greengrass, the King of Sturgeon, whose small store sells a range of Jewish delicacies and has been a setting for various TV shows and films.

Then we went to the much larger Zabar's, open 70 years, serving 35,000 customers a week.  What a mouth watering delight.  I treated myself to a pistachio cannoli.

Robert didn't think there could be so many cheeses in the world.  There were several refrigerator sections, just of cheese.  And the smoked salmon looked wonderful.  There were so many options of ready prepared foods here - soups, salads, casseroles, meats.  It was a gourmet delight.

We walked along so many streets, with different characters.  Some on this upper West side were obviously very expensive homes.  Outside Zabar's we were peering at our guide book when a middle aged man in a loud patterned shirt crossed the pavement and offered help.

"What are you, Aussies or Kiwis?"

I suggested he guess.

"Aussie, cos there are more of you."

He directed us to the Dakota building and suggested we then cross into Central Park and look at Strawberry Fields, the memorial Yoko Ono funded.  The building is in a prime location, but disappointingly is currently covered in scaffolding for renovation.  We overheard a tour guide say to his only client that Yoko didn't like the attention given after Lennon's shooting to the site, so funded the memorial to shift the emphasis away.

 Here is the famous IMAGINE mosaic.  It was about four on a Thursday afternoon and people were taking turns having their photo taken on it.  I could not get a photo of the mosaic alone!

On a bench right there, this man offered to tell you a joke for a dollar.  But in all the time we sat there, he had not a single customer.

We made our way home on the Green number 6 subway line, in peak time.  The train carriage was crowded, but we weren't squashed up against people.  Just really close to them!  But that's New York!