There really is no marathon for the Guggenheim Museum, but it sure felt like we walked 30 miles before arriving there yesterday. You see, in NYC, the metro system needs to be thoroughly studied before you can take it with confidence. We, filled with confidence but lacking knowledge, took the C train uptown.
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| In the C train, going Uptown |
In NYC, the word "Uptown" means past 50th street and going towards the north: Upper East Side, Harlem, those are all known as "Uptown". Well, what the C train marked "Uptown" did not tell us was that we would have to walk across a very muddy poopy section of Central Park.
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| Towards the mud |
It was 24 degrees F, that is about -6 C and we were both headachy. Walking through freezing Central Park in the mud made me feel like a lost horse on a path I shouldn't be on. Each step my boots sank in the mud. Then I felt it: hunger pains. Why is it that -6 degree weather just makes one dream of a grilled cheese sandwich with creamy tomato soup? I gently reminded my growling stomach that today was a day for culture and art not a feast.
In my frozen state of misery trudging through the mud I hardly noticed how beautiful the lake looked with the sun sparkling on the surface. Now, in retrospect, it reminds me of a part in "Anne of Green Gables" where she aptly names Barrys Pond as the Lake of Shining Waters.
The Lake of Shining Waters in NYC certainly inspired many runners to take to the muddy trail, they didn't seem to mind the frigid wind, freezing faces, raw red skin that the cold brings out, or runny noses. Happy, just plain happy.
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| The Happy Runners |
Silly happy people. How dare they be happy in such cold weather and trotting on mud, don't they know they could slip and fall? Oh, the thoughts of a cold grouch.
Finally, after walking an eternity we arrived to the revered Guggenheim Museum and saw this:
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| The line went forever |
The line went forever and ever. Shockingly it moved fast and we were in within minutes.
The inside of the Guggenheim is really quite fantastic: like being in a modern castle. There is one walkway that curves around till the top. Along that walkway are the exhibits of art.
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| The Solomon Guggenheim Museum, snack truck not included in permanent exhibition |
The Guggenheim does not allow pictures, so I only took three.
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| The happy cow |
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| Trash collected and sorted now at the Guggenheim. I want to sweep it all up and properly dispose of it. |
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| Pictures of the trash. Art, they say. Trash, I see. |
I have to say though, that I was not impressed at all with the paintings of Picasso. Although I was hungry and cranky at the moment I can honestly say that even if I was one of the jogging happy people there is something about Picasso that just leaves me expecting more. Much to my dismay, 80% of the Guggenheim exhibit was one swirly Picasso painting after another. It annoyed me so much I felt that it warranted my leaving and eating a hot dog at one of the street-meat vendors, but I didn't. I saw each painting nodding in intelligent conversation with my husband on how each painting just didn't do it, then we left. Ahhhhhhh...
Stepping back into the freezing air and walking back into the downtown of NYC, I missed Italy, Ravenna specifically. The mosaics in Ravenna (which I blogged about
here) are the most beautiful works of art I have seen in my life. The day we saw them it was also windy and cold but after the museum we tucked away into a tiny restaurant and had some of the best slow cooked meat and dark dry wine ever...
But for now, I will open my eyes and try to enjoy my current reality.
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| Dusk in the City |
NYC must have some good food somewhere...art too, but nothing like Ravenna.
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