Long live your dreams
New York, New York
Sydney
Climbing for Dawn
Photos from Sydney
The Land of the Long White Cloud
Christmas
Jumping high, jumping higher
My birthday
North to South
14th January 2006 - Posted from my bedroom, at home in London
This edition of the travelouge is written by my father, Viv. My collected thoughts will follow soon.
The travelogue moves from sunny nanny Sydney to cold wintry New York. What could be more different? Tom arrives at JFK with the heaviest luggage anyone has ever seen. Soon we are enclosed within the Pennsylvania Hotel and four days to spend in the city that never sleeps. We catch up a bit and then find John’s Pizzeria on 42nd street where the pizzas are oven baked and the bruschetta are freshly prepared. We wander round the streets of New York enjoying the courtesy of the locals. We chat like extras in a Woody Allen movie.
Over the next few days we enjoy the most glorious views of New York from the top of the Empire State Building, and across so many NY vistas. We both found the Pixar exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art totally absorbing, as were many of the usual exhibits by Picasso and Mondrian. Central Park was quiet and very cool and just walking around the streets we were impressed how people were so laid back. We walked and chatted and enjoyed the city. Dad's paying so we go to Gonzo's in Greenwich Village for dinner. Tom has pasta with wild boar and Dad has calves liver. Our dinner companions were all New Yorkers - always a good sign and a highly recommended restaurant.
Our visit in New York covered the World Trade Centre site - which defies so many beliefs - and to Battery Park where we see the memorials to those who lost lives in other wars. Sat on the steps of the Fulton Fish Market and discussed the world, the future and beyond. Our visit to the United Nations Building was stunning. So much money spent by the US (or rather Mr Rockefelller) to build the UN HQ, yet still the US are the largest producers of landmines. Tom and I felt we were the only people who could see sense in this crazy country. Such a great cause yet no funds available. Who is listening?
So easy in NY to join the diners at John's Pizzeria and not worry about the world. I talked Tom into visiting the Frick Collection. An exquisite house opposite Central Park which houses some of the greatest works of art in the western world. Annoying as that may be, it is still a stunning experience to stand in front of a Constable, a Bellini or a Gainsborough and be overawed at the genius behind the brush.
Don't miss New York, it has something for everyone.