Halfpom

And the heavens opened....

Today I ventured solo uptown to the American Folk Art Museum which has 5 floors of portraiture, needlework, carved animals, trade signs,decoys, cigar store Indians and on the textile side beautiful quilts, samplers, braided rugs and Navajo blankets. Fascinating stuff - I spent a whole 5 hours wandering around. One of the main exhibitions were the quilts created by Paula Nadelstern. Absolutely gorgeous - even with my nose an inch away from the quilt I couldn't see how she had put everything together. It must take her hours & hours.... The other large exhibition was the sculptures of Ulysses Davis (1914-1990) which have been recognised as important examples of African American vernacular art - especially his series of carved busts of forty US presidents.

As I stepped out of the door of the museum the heavens opened....fortunately being used to the unpredictability of the weather in the UK I had a brolly in my bag but it's not the largest so I was forced to take refuge in a Starbucks close by to wait out the deluge.

I managed to get home without incident on the subway...NY subways are a trifle complicated in that there are seperate entrances and exits depending on the direction you are travelling and they are not the easiest to find. In this respect London definitely has the edge.....

After dinner the weather had cleared up and so we went for a stroll along the esplanade at Battery Park City which is about a 5 minute walk from the apartment. Stunning.....you can walk, cycle, roller blade for miles & can hardly believe you are in New York at all. Got my first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty..

and these are sunset views over the Hudson River to New Jersey..

Exploring NYC

Today I made the pilgrimage to Bleecker Street & the Magnolia Bakery!!!!! Heaven!!!! Purchased these very yummy cupcakes and carefully ferried them back home on the subway to be devoured with a good cup of tea. Aren't they beautiful - tasted as good as they looked too!!!

I always thought NYC was just concrete and tall buildings but there are a surprising number of parks dotted inbetween and lots of wide avenues with trees just coming into leaf - that beatiful lime green! On our expedition today we came across a small park called Abingdon Square just off Bleecker Street with a lovely array of spring flowers.....daffs & tulips among others.

 
Also en route I discovered Old Navy and they have just got their summer clothes & shoes in......I couldn't resist the flip flops.....they had them in every colour of the rainbow and then some more.....so bought 2 pairs!!

Welcome to New York

As you can see I have arrived in New York safely. Contrary to expectation & third party experiences I had no problems with the Immigration & customs officials  - all of them were very friendly & courteous. It was lovely being met at the airport and to have help with the bags. We made our way to the apartment by subway - our station was the World Trade center or Ground Zero as it is now better known. Quite shocking to see the site in real life. Yesterday we went on a little orientation of the local neighbourhood - the pic is of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street which is just around the corner from the apartment. We then found Barnes & Noble (a bookshop similar to Waterstones or Exclusive books except much bigger) and to my delight the cookery section was HUGE (4 whole rows!!!)....will have to go back & have a proper browse later.