Christmas Adventures in NYC

There's nothing like a Christmas in New York.  I had a wonderful time.  Of course, it's hard to have a bad time when the main attraction is a four year old and his six month old sister.  A big trip highlight was the family trip to Lincoln Center to see "The Nutcracker".  It was Cedric's first ballet, and I was amused that he found Act I to be too long with too little dancing - my exact take on the Nutcracker.  He was all attention during the second act which is all dancing.  It makes me think we might take him to a matinee of one act ballets this coming Spring.  He's loved ballet dancing for a couple of years.  (Thanks, YouTube.)  Ballet is a family interest, so we were all glad his indoctrination went well.  This was his first visit to a theater, and it also impressed him.  

We were staying in Manhattan this time in the Financial District (the most southern third of the island).  I love staying in a hotel, and this one was first class.  Plus, location in New York City means, "What is your subway access?"  This hotel was just one block from a major hub (Fulton) from which you can catch the A, C, 2, 3, 4, & 5.  You can go anywhere in NYC from those subway lines.  

Number one on my New York hit list this time was The Whitney.  This is a museum of American art founded by Gertrude Whitney, an American socialite with the money of the Vanderbilts and a thirst to buy American art.  Initially, the museum resided in her mansion, but recently, a brand new building at the foot of the Hi Line Park was constructed.  The major exhibition we were interested in was about Edward Hopper, arguably one of the most famous artists of the second half of the 20th century.  Here's my favorite picture from the exhibition

Sunday Morning - 1930

Edward Hopper, and his wife Jo, lived in the same apartment overlooking Washington Park from 1930 until his death in 1967, and her death in 1968.   He was the preeminent realist painter of the second half of the 20th century.  His wife, also a talented painter, married Hopper in 1924.  They had a tempestuous relationship.  He was shy and introverted while relying on her.  She managed him and his artwork at the cost of her talent.  Hopper's paintings are all about New York.  He didn't paint the famous buildings.  He painted ordinary streets; people in ordinary apartments going about the business of living.  He claimed his paintings were the startings of stories, or where the imagination of the viewer begins.  

To see more pictures, click on the link:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/2xroeN4btdBLgPCk8

New York City missed the snow from the storm that shut down Southwest Airlines, but we certainly got the bitter cold.  On our trips across the city, we were tramping around in weather which felt like -5 degrees with 25 mph winds.  Even I'm cold at those temps.  Brrrr.  I thought my ears were going to fall off while waiting for the bus to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  As always, the Met had several outstanding exhibitions.  One of my favorite New York traditions is the fantastic tree decorated with Baroque angels and nativity scenes.  It's about 50' tall.

After admiring the tree, we headed for our first exhibition.  It is the comparison of Cubism and Trompe 'l Oeil.  The school of Cubism was founded by Braque and Picasso.  They called it a different type of perspective.  Trompe 'l Oeil is a painting style called 'fool the eye'.  Items painted two dimensionally on canvas fool the viewer into thinking the items are three dimensional.  The exhibition compared and contrasted the two differing styles of painting.  There were some superb paintings.  Here's my favorite of each style:

Trompe 'l Oeil painting

Georges Braque - "Violin and Palette" - 1909

If you would like to see more of these paintings with explanations, click on the following link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/og94Ehd4gPv2QJZP9

The second exhibition at the Met was Japanese Kimonos.  There were examples spanning several hundred years.  Of course, I'm always interested in anything to do with textiles or embroidery.  I kept seeing one stunning piece of clothing after another with wonderful embroidery.  Here's one of my favorites:

More kimonos anyone?  Click on the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/A96PqGjT2b75TbJs6

The surprising Met exhibition was about Mayan divinities.  Most of the pieces were between 700 and 1000 AD, and the sophistication of the art was unexpected.  I've been interested in the Mayan people since I was 24, and we took a 'shore excursion' during our first cruise to see the Mayan ruins at Tulum on the Yucatan peninsula.  Back in the early 70's there was little or no security around these priceless ruins.  You could climb the pyramid; you could pick up pieces of it lying around on the ground, and no one batted an eye.  Thank heaven for the jungles which sealed away most of the buildings and kept them from being pillaged further after the Spanish destruction.  The Spaniards (encouraged by the Catholic priests accompanying them) routinely destroyed every Mayan book they could find.  The Mayans were a lost people for hundreds of years.  Even today, there are 'digs' occurring in Mayan cities covered by the jungle.  Here's my favorite piece from the exhibition:

 

If you want to check out the other pictures of the Mayans, click on the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5QDRMBZyMyaBKxBd7

And if you haven't seen enough pictures, there was a major exhibition of the Tudors (Henry VIII and Elizabeth I) in the European wing of the museum.  In addition to Henry's personal armor, there were tapestries, rugs, various doodads, and most importantly, the actual 'famous' paintings of the two monarchs.  There were other people represented in oil, but these two monarchs had so much historical impact, it's not surprising the majority of the exhibition would be about them.  Here's my favorite painting from the exhibition, and if you haven't see enough pictures.....well, you know the drill.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/86ZYk6JZmD39rPVq6

Other than the frigid weather, the only flies in the ointment of Christmas were both kids were sick (colds), and their health caused the family to cancel several pre-planned activities.  Cedric was at his best on Christmas morning as only a four year old can be.  He was max excited with all the presents and his Santa gift which was a 'dress up station' that Sarah MADE.  As part of that gift, there were headbands with unicorn horns which we all wore as we opened gifts.  

To round out the trip, we got caught in the great Southwest Airlines meltdown.  Fortunately, we weren't trapped at the airport, but we did have to stay an extra three days in NYC.  We finally got a non-stop flight to Phoenix, but it was 3 hours late leaving, so we drug into Sun City at 3:15am (that's 5:15am body time!!!) with both of us sick.  We assumed it was the children's cold, but instead it was COVID.  So now Drake and I have joined the ranks of Americans who have had the disease.  We got lucky.  While it took us a month to completely recover, neither of us have long-term COVID.  We did infect three members of our family, but they are all OK too.  Hmmmm.  I may have to reconsider my initial claim that it was a 'great' trip....