So call me crazy, but I traveled back to the US during a cold snap in January to see the only medieval art collection on that side of the ocean (according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Lisa invited Carole and I to squeeze into her tiny apartment in Sunnyside and vist New York. Her picturesque Queens neighborhood was full of red brick 5 story apartment buildings built in the 20s and 30s and corner markets. The metro rattled by overhead and the train to JFK lumbered along on the ground level.
It was cold and windy, and Carole's first trip to the big city, so we started our trip by going to the World Trade Center Memorial Center (across the street from the proposed memorial)and the Statue of Liberty. The photo is a replica of Lady Liberty's face --still copper colored and protected inside the base of the great statue where there is a really nice museum. Did you know not only was it a french sculptor who built her -- it was literally the French people who like the American people at the time, gave the equivalent of nickels and dimes to make the project happen. FYI you need to make a special reservation to get inside of the Statue (and thanks to another friend) we did just that online - no problem.
My goals were to see the Caravaggios in the Met's collection and the Cloisters. The Cloisters is a combination of four or five medieval abbeys purchased over time by George Grey Barnard in the early 1900s while he was living in France. The French Revolution left lots of good pickings for savvy collectors and Barnard made the most of it. Then John J. Rockfeller, Jr. stepped in and provided an absolutely gorgeous setting and the rest is medieval history. Combined with the architectural details from the medieval cloisters, the Rockfeller addition of tapestries and other treasures was the basis for an amazing "ambient-style" museum that gives one the sense of what it must have looked like to walk in those chapels and covered walkways called cloisters.
And the Caravaggios didn't disappoiont either. They are displayed in the Caravaggio room of the Met. I have to say the Denial of St. Peter has become my favorite, though the death of Mary and the calling of St. Matthew are still in the top 3. We only spent about three hours in the Met and followed a guided tour of the history of tapestries, but you can be sure I am going back. I didn't get to see any of the works deemed really important by the Met and then there's the Morgan Library, the NY Public Library...
Everything worked out so perfectly for us. Right down to finding a taxi when we realllllly needed it! We had the amazing fortune to get a great rate on a room in the Millenium Hotel on Times Square for two nights and discount tickets to a Broadway Musical (Curtains) that was hysterically funny with the lead role being Niles from Frazier. After a fast paced shopping day, we arrived at the theatre just in a knick of time and our seats were perfect. If you get the chance this burlesque-ish production it's really cleverly played out.
And we shopped! From Tiffany's to Bubba Gump. The sales were really everywhere and compared to french prices - pas trop cher!! Carole bought something from every store, gift shop and railway station that we passed, and I think we ate in every NY diner for burgers, soup and pie. We had some awesome barbecue at Virgil's in Times Square and Lisa and I had a great meal at RICE in Soho with my b-in-law Tim, and if you go - you really must try their rice pudding.
And just so you don't think I have lost all things political...one of the other highlights was getting to watch the South Carolina Republican primary returns as they occurred with all the talking heads and bling. I have to say, I miss getting all that information as it unfolds, mais, c'est la vie.
