Art, culture and neon signs

The Dream by Rosseau one of my favorite jigsaw
 puzzles I do on the iPad, I like the
tigers and lions that sneak out of his paintings

How small is the melting clocks by Dali

Starry, starry night by Van Gogh

My personal interpretation of modern art,
 man with iPhone and soup cans

Is this modern art or not?

Happy days

The Chandelier

The New Years Eve ball at Times Square,
the other 364 nights of the year they have
a digital photo show starting at 11:59

Wake up refreshed and excited about another day in New York. Out the front door and it’s raining, lucky I only have to go down the road a few blocks to MOMA for the first event of the day.

I am walking down 6^th Avenue and the taxis are doing their usual honking, it’s the soundtrack of New York to me. Today these bright yellow machines really stand out against the grey and dismal weather.

MOMA is a mad house, however the ticketing and security people know what they are doing, so its up to the 6^th floor I go to start the art fest. I walk a few metres from the escalator and there is The Dream, Rousseau, impressive, now I find Salvador Dali’s ‘Persistence of memory’ the one with the melting clocks, it is tiny. Its go on an on, Andy Warhols soup cans are actually quite interesting in real life. This is the best modern art museum I have ever been to and the iphone app is a good guide.

My next port of call for Day 5 is the Majestic Theatre, it’s pretty easy to navigate straight down to 44^th street. Now I have to fight my way through all the people lining up to see Matilda, been there done that in 2013. Out of my way please.

However I am a 26 years behind on seeing the Phantom of the Opera as it opened on Broadway on 26^th January, 1988. That’s Bicentennial Day for those of you old enough to remember, that day we sat on the foreshore of Sydney harbour watching the tall ships float by. 

Waiting for the show to start I start chatting with a lady, surprise, surprise. She starts talking about how she is from New Mexico and with her extended family they have all driven across America in RVs and caravans to visit New York. Well I’ll be, a long conversation about free camping and mobile parks keeps us both pleasantly occupied.

The show starts with a bang and does not stop, music, dancing, sadness, happiness, confusion, comedy. This show has it all. I recognise the music and love it, but did not realise it was from Phantom. The costumes are wonderful, the actors are magic and thankfully I listened to Jan’s tip and had an idea of the plot before I turned up. However I did not know how the story ended and had to wait till the very end to find out what happened to the girl.

All in all a truly memorable experience, I can see why it is the longest running show on Broadway.

By the time I emerge from my happiness cocoon in the Majestic Theatre the sun has come out. Now to Muji, one of my favourite shops in London (and recently in Melbourne). Purchases selected and paid for, what’s this at the exit a stamp and sticker stall? You mean I can decorate my notebooks for free? Lets go, I start having fun and as we are in Times Square this attracts a crowd of people who then come into the store, clever marketing.

Time to head for home through Times Square, the dazzling neon signs and over the top shops. Let’s go in and check out the full sized ferris wheel inside Toys-R-Us. Gee, you can even go for a ride on it. Times Square is crazy, crowded and colourful but so far I still prefer other parts of New York.