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New York City, May 14 – 18, 2003

You are viewing an old revision of this post, from February 28, 2018 @ 19:58:04. See below for differences between this version and the current revision.

We had to sit on our flight on the ground in Chicago for a while, and the flight was bumpy, but we managed to get off the plane at LaGuardia. We discovered that LaGuardia isn't a food mecca at 9P at night – all that was open was a Wendy's. After eating, we cabbed into the city to our hotel, the Best Western President Hotel, unpacked and slept.

We awoke Thursday to a bright day. We ate breakfast in the restaurant downstairs, got cleaned up and went out on the rode in a cab to Chelsea. We  saw a schipperke on the street!

We saw a schipperke in Chelsea - a female!

We saw a schipperke in Chelsea - a female!

We stopped in a few galleries there – the most notable was Bose Pacia. The show there was from an Indian named Atul Dodiya which was really interesting.

A view from Bose Pacia Gallery

A view from Bose Pacia Gallery

We took another cab down to Soho. I got to experience the Apple Store while Aviva got some cash from an ATM and walked about a bit; I bought a small wooden spiral from a street vendor.

This is part of the packaging that came with the spiral

This is part of the packaging that came with the spiral

We then had lunch at a Korean restaurant and saw a show at the Ise Art Foundation and then over to the Drawing Center for a show of drawings from the Tate Gallery collection. Yet another cab (we live dangerously) to J&R Music and Computer World downtown – it is huge, three floors (some four) covering a whole city block, with each major department having its own building and entrances on the block. We walked up to Chinatown on Bowery to the Asian American Arts Center – by that time, Aviva acted like a tired dog and refused to walk up the three flights of steps to see the gallery. So, we proceeded to walk around Chinatown to shop a little and then walked up Mulberry into Little Italy.

A welcome sign in Little Italy

A welcome sign in Little Italy

We ate dinner at Casa Bella, which was okay – I broke my diet and had a side of Carbonara with my chicken main course, while Aviva had her favorite, pasta in a salmon sauce. We bought some tee shirts in Little Italy and then retired by cab to our hotel for the night.

Our alarm didn't go off so we woke up at 7:30A on Friday, rushed to breakfast and through the shower. We decided to walk up 49th to 5th Avenue and then up to 57th Street.

Breaking down the Today Show outdoor concert on Friday - we just missed it!

Breaking down the Today Show outdoor concert on Friday - we just missed it!

We stopped at Kinokuniya Bookstore at 10 W. 49th Street. The store specializes in Japanese books. I got a pamphlet by Edward Tufte, Visual and Statistical Thinking, and a game of Shogi, Japanese chess, along with an introductory book on game play. While waiting for Aviva, I stopped next door in Franklin Covey to check out their meeting tools and organizer software. We stopped at the Cathedral of St. Patrick and of course shopped in their store next door on 51st Street – we bought a CD of liturgical music played on their pipe organ.

The facade of the Cathedral of St. Patrick

The facade of the Cathedral of St. Patrick

A side door at St. Patrick

A side door at St. Patrick

A statue of Atlas across from St. Patrick - did he shrug?

A statue of Atlas across from St. Patrick - did he shrug?

We continued north and ended up eating at Cafe Classico at 35 W. 57th Street. The cafe is actually a kosher restaurant! Aviva had a tuna salad and I had two kababs of ground beef with a salad. It was simply wonderful! We walked over to Hacker-Strand Art Books at 45 W. 57th and then Rizzoli Books on 57th. Aviva bought a book on Filippo Brunelleschi, who designed and had the large dome for the Duomo, the main cathedral in Firenze, built. We crossed 5th and went to a number of galleries. I really liked the show up at China 2000 Fine Art. We stopped in three galleries in the Fuller Building, which claims to be the first steel structure in New York City:

  • Peter Findley Gallery
  • Littlejohn Contemporary
  • Danese

This is part of the floor mosaic in the Fuller Building, a building full of art galleries

This is part of the floor mosaic in the Fuller Building, a building full of art galleries

We stopped in the men's store for Bergdorf Goodman and had coffee and pop and then caught a cab north to Archivia Bookshop at 1063 Madison, 2nd floor. Aviva bought a couple of books there. We set off on foot for the Met at that point. We walked all over the museum, seeing the special exhibit of Manet/Valezquez and then the Medieval collection. We had dinner at the museum restuarant, which was very good (I had a prime rib for example) and then to the store where I bought a copy of The Story of Writing and a tee shirt, and Aviva bought yet another book on Brunelleschi. We cabbed back to the hotel and crashed.

Bob in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bob in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A head of the angel Micheal from the collection of the Met

A head of the angel Micheal from the collection of the Met

We got up early Saturday and went back to Chelsea to see art. We went to a bunch of galleries. There was a funny show at Metro Pictures of Tony Oursler's work – projections of face parts on plastic shapes.

An example of Tony Oursley's work

An example of Tony Oursley's work

We saw a wonderful painting at Feature Inc.; it's the first of a trio of paintings by Isabella Kirkland on Back, Gone, New – Back is for species that have nearly gone extinct or been lost and re-found, Gone is for those that have vanished, and New is for species discovered recently.

"Back" by Isabella Kirkland

"Back" by Isabella Kirkland

We saw Damian Loeb's work at Mary Boone – they are paintings of images from the movie 2001, a Space Odyssey juxtaposed with images of people swimming. We ate lunch at a great place where we ate last year, Pepe Giallo at 253 10th Ave. Then, we took a cab over to the Japan Society (a show on the expansion of Buddhism through China, Korea and Japan based upon representations) and then the Asia Society. On the way we saw the monument to Raoul Wallenberg, who saved many Jews during World War II.

A statue of St. George slaying the dragon next to the U.N. building

A statue of St. George slaying the dragon next to the U.N. building

A memorial to Wallenberg, a Swede that saved many Jews during World War II; that's Aviva in front

A memorial to Wallenberg, a Swede that saved many Jews during World War II; that's Aviva in front

The Asian Society had a great digital setup – they had two tables with stones that were identified by laser lettering on the sides for different topics like “Asian Art.” You moved the stones on the surface of the table in an area illuminated overhead with a computer projection – it would then prompt you to move the stone to interesting areas via a map and then you could turn the stone to see multiple pages of the information. They also had a live calendar – you moved your finger along a railing to select the date to view.

The table and calendar interfaces at the Asia Society

The table and calendar interfaces at the Asia Society

Then we went to Little India, shopped a little and ate dinner at Curry in a Hurry, which was okay (it was cheap and tasty but not spicy and the place was a dump). We dropped off our stuff at the room and walked to Times Square so I could take some pictures, and then we headed back to pack.

Scene from Times Square

Scene from Times Square

Scene from Times Square

Scene from Times Square

Scene from Times Square

Scene from Times Square

We got up early (6A!) Sunday, showered and ate breakfast in our room. We took a cab to LaGuardia – we were early because we thought the AIDS walk would create traffic problems but it was smooth sailing across Manhatten. We got on our plane and it left on time!

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    8:24 pm on December 19th, 2012

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