Meet Me at the Met

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the day in New York City. I had to get up super early and get myself to school which is about 30 to 45 mins from my house. I was treated to a splendid sunrise. I did take a picture, but driving and snapping pictures usually results in blurry photos which it did this time.

I had a project to do for my Renaissance Art class. So, my day started at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in their Renaissance collection. We were to choose one painting or sculpture to write about. I chose The Allegory of Avarice.

This image is about a couple who stole money and of course as we all know, paybacks are a b^*ch!

There were two other exhibits I really wanted to see before I left. There was a collection of photographs from the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans. They were unbelievable! It's hard to imagine such devastation.

There was another called an American in Paris. This was a collection of paintings from American artists in Paris, like Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent. I discovered two very appropriate quotes out of this exhibit. One I have added beneath my title too my blog, because it was just too appropriate! The other was: "If I must go home soon, I hardly know what will take the place of my weekly visit to the Louvre - perhaps Patriotism." -John Twachtman 1885

After leaving the Met, the rest of the day was mine. So, I hopped aboard a downtown train to meet up with my poet-friend Susan Maurer. We were meeting at a place called The Dumpling Man which I had seen on the Food Network and just had to try. I had a couple veggie and shrimp dumplings, seared with the hot monster sauce on the side thankfully. That stuff was killer. Made me cough for a good 5 minutes. Whew!

This place is in the East Village so there's lots of fun vintage shops, art shops, etc. Here are some pics:

This is a great little punk shop called Trash and Vaudeville. This was the premier punk shop at least when I was in high school. There was even protocol for shopping in the store. I suppose it is still is pretty high on the list of punk shops still.

We found our way to Union Square park in the heart of NYU. Every Saturday there is a green market, or farmer's market type event. They had everything! In lieu of a Christmas card, Susan opted for the living gift called a broccoli something or other. Yes, that is the official name. It looks like this:

Here is my broccoli thingy in situ with Ghandi and friend.

We came upon a couple of really good street musicians along our way.

There was this really groovy sculpture nearby with random numbers flashing beside it. Apparently, it has many people not liking it, I thought it was pretty cool, even with the numbers!

As all good things do, my fun afternoon was drawing to a close. I had to get back up to the very overcrowded midtown. The Christmas tree is up in Rockerfeller Center and will be decorated with Swarovski Crystals this year. Saks Fifth Avenue's windows are all decorated in their usual over-the-top manner. I do love the holidays in New York! Thanks Susan for showing me unique sites as usual!!