Lee’s World
New York City and New Canaan (Connecticut)
August 2009
In
late August 2009, I flew to New York for, amongst other things, the 50th
Anniversary Celebrations of the Guggenheim Museum. The Museum was hosting an
exhibit devoted to its architect, Frank Lloyd Wright - so how could I miss
out on seeing that, even if it was a 7,000 mile round trip!
I stayed at the
Dream Hotel, which proved ideally located between Central Park
and Times Square, almost opposite Carnegie Hall. The rooms are lit by
an ambient blue light emanating from under the bed - odd, but you get used
to it.
It was five
years since I'd been in New York, but it was all so familiar. As before, I
headed
to
the theatre for my first evening and caught a performance of "South Pacific"
at the Lincoln Centre. Wonderful production, but I'd forgotten how long that
musical is! So I'd been up (by the time curtain came down) for over 24 hours
without rest!
Sunday morning
saw me queuing to get into the Guggenheim for the final day of their
exhibit. It was well worth it. They had created models of some of Lloyd
Wright's works including those which hadn't been built. To see these
buildings inside one of his masterpieces was just perfect.
Last time I was
in New York, it was bitterly cold with snow on the ground; this time it was
hot and humid. A walk in Central Park, exploring the Sculpture Garden on the
roof of the Met and exploring the Upper West Side was the perfect Sunday
afternoon. And seeing
a
performance of "Avenue Q" proved the perfect Sunday evening.
The following day I boarded a train to New Canaan, Connecticut to explore Philip Johnson's Glass House. What an amazing complex of buildings - well worth the train journey. The tour was supposed to last 2 hours, but 2.5 hours later we were still wandering around with our guide pointing out Johnson's tribute to Frank Gehry, his study, and the shadows created in the Sculpture Gallery, not to mention the art gallery/bunker.
So what happened the rest of the trip - well, a visit to MOMA (closed on my last trip), meeting some great people at the GLAAD Manhattan reception high above 5th Avenue hosted by Michael Urie (from Ugly Betty) amongst others, and wandering taking in the buildings and feel of the city, including a new Gehry building by Chelsea Piers. Plus wonderful dinners at Telepan (Upper West Side) and Co. (Chelsea, 24th and 9th), and the wonderful Burger bar. behind the curtain in the Meridien Hotel.
It won't be five years before I'm back again! It will be much sooner than that.