Day 224 - Art overload

New York City

Today was also grey and overcast but at least not raining so we caught the train to MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. As it was Saturday we wondered how the crowds would be. It was busy but still not too bad which was just as well as it's not a huge museum like the MET, though there are a number of floors.

It started off very promising with a couple of excellent exhibitions related to refugees. One was about the journeys some of them had taken, the other was about refugee camps, both were very interesting and thought provoking.

From there it was still good, but didn't quite hold our interest as well as the refugee exhibits. After having been to MOMA in Hobart, the Tate Modern in London, as well as attending some of the visiting exhibitions in Melbourne over the years, there possibly wasn't enough of that "wow" factor, some of the material we saw here was very similar to, if not the same as what we'd seen elsewhere. Having said that, the museum was still worth a visit.

After MOMA we headed out and as the day was improving we walked to Central Park, entering from the south end this time, where there was a huge number of horses and carriages with tourists in them, walking nose to tail.

The north end of the park we visited when we arrived the other day is a little wilder and not as developed, whereas the south end is very picturesque with the water, bridges, wide paths and arches. When we reached the lake there were a few couples having their wedding photos taken, and as we walked along we came across buskers, some doing a spot of ballet or opera singing.

After walking along the Mall we went past the Summerstage where there was a band playing and through the Arcade, before turning left to head back towards our apartment. We passed the Strawberry Fields John Lennon tribute where there was a guy playing John Lennon songs, and a couple of drunk guys singing along and dancing. Once out of the park we crossed the road to find the Dakota Building outside which John Lennon was shot and Yoko and other celebrities still live.

We then walked from there to a supermarket which started in the basement and went further down over three levels, we're not sure whether it was because it was late on a Saturday or whether it's normal but it was so packed you could barely move anywhere. The check out lines had to be seen to be believed, they even had a poor girl whose job it was to stand at the end of the line almost at the other end of the store with a giant sign on a stick that said "End of Line".