Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Going East: MOMA and Wandering

As I alluded to in the last post, Ed and I took a nap to recover from our early long day. Unfortunately, the nap lasted a bit longer than I had planned and as such, we were in a bit of a rush to get to MOMA. 

I also (once again - notice a pattern?) misread the subway map and thought we were heading to a much closer station than we actually were. Ed didn't say anything because he wanted me to feel trusted (I think?), and, in any event, we were in a definite race against time. 

After one stop, we got off at Columbus Circle and started our walk the rest of the way. 

While I was feeling frustrated with myself for losing unnecessary time, I was very happy to get to do a bit more sightseeing. 

First up was Trump Tower (which Ed recognized - I wouldn't have had any idea)



Next, this very cool statue. Funnily enough, I asked Ed what park this belonged to (since yesterday we had been walking by so many different parks). Of course, this was actually a part of Central Park, just a part we hadn't seen yet. 


This is Columbus Circle itself (which I think I mostly know from an episode of the "Ellen Show" where she was broadcasting from here).


As always, very beautiful architecture could be seen on our walk. 


Soon, we were able to turn down a street, away from the park, and stumbled upon this famous landmark (as we walked incredibly quickly toward our goal). 


Finally, we saw our destination.


As we breathlessly rushed up to the front counter and handed the man our printed tickets, he said to us, "You know the museum is closing in 30 minutes, right?" He (to his credit) quickly printed our tickets and told us that we would be best off heading to the 4th and 5th floors. I did discover, sadly, that had we just bought our tickets at that moment (instead of ahead of time) we could of gotten half off the price.

Oh well.

So, up we rushed to the 5th floor, and were immediately treated with some wonderful sights.



The Monet Water Lillies were more or less the top thing I wanted to see at this museum and, as soon as we reached this room, I felt like I could take a deep breath and just relax.


I think we probably spent the longest in front of this set of paintings, just looking at the detailed brushstrokes and feeling grateful for the opportunity to see this in person. 




After we spent at least 5 or so minutes here (which, considering our 30 minute deadline, was quite a lot) we continued or expedited tour. 

It seemed that in almost every room we walked, we saw a familiar painting that, heretofore had only been seen in print (and, side note, heretofore is definitely an underused word - I'm not exactly sure what made me think using it, but I do like that word). 





This was another painting that I felt we had to see before we left. Long ago in high school, I took an art history class, and we definitely studied this famous Picasso work. It really is so surreal to see such famous art.


Next, we went to the fourth flour, and saw some more modern pieces.

Of course, Warhol was a much needed stop.



And Lichtenstein.

I remembered studying this as well, in Art History. Looking it up close, I was amazed by all the details. 


So (I think) was Ed.


Our last stop, before we headed out was of of course checking out the Jackson Pollack. 


It was so much more amazing (and different) in person. 



We made one final stop in the museum courtyard, just as they were kicking everyone out.


There was something so relieving about leaving the MOMA. That was our last time limited excursion in New York and, from this point forward, we could really relax and just explore (which was so freeing). 

Right outside of MOMA (it seemed) we ran into Radio City Music Hall. 



And, on our way to Rockefeller Plaza, we hit NBC. 



Finally we reached the plaza (at which point we were tired (again!)) and enjoyed sitting on a bench and looking around. 


In the plaza area, itself, they had a makeshift (or always there?) bar, and we contempleted getting drinks there. However, they were pricey, they were watermellon themed (which didn't sound exactly what we wanted) and, like people past the age of being cool, it was just too loud with their blaring music - not the vibe we wanted.


So, with one last look, 



We headed onto Times Square (by way of this very pretty church). 

No comments:

Post a Comment