New York

We spent six lovely, busy days in Manhattan.  We did sightseeing, museum going, shopping, eating and walking, walking, walking. It was the first time in New York City for Chloé and Emma.

We have been back since late Thursday but I am only just getting back into my daily routine. I had to get Chloé ready for camp. She left on Saturday. Meeko is not quite himself (maybe a little miffed at having been left behind) and it's been so darn hot that it is hard to do anything quickly or efficiently. I have a ton of photos to go through and will post more in the days ahead.

I love the corridors of buildings in New York--old and new sandwiched together. My first visit there was many years ago when I was about 20. My visual knowledge of New York came from Woody Allen movies and I remember it was street scenes like this that didn't disappoint.

We didn't go to Radio City Music Hall. We just walked past it.  We did go see Mamma Mia at the Winter Garden Theatre.  What a joyful, fun performance.

I don't know what the name of this building is but Emma took a photo of  it for me as she knew I would love the ornate scrollwork on its sides.

Of course I took a photo of flowers.

I love this photo of the afternoon light glowing through the trees just outside of the American Museum of Natural History.  We also went to the Met and MOMA. I love museums. My favourite museum visit this time was, without a doubt, MOMA. Walking through the art museums made me ache to paint. There were so many interesting works and beautiful paintings to observe and absorb. I just hope that there are still little bits of them in me that will inspire me in the weeks ahead.

Despite having been to New York many times before, I had never been to the top of the Empire State Building where I took the photo at the very top of this post. We also went to the 'Top of the Rock' for the first time--an observation deck at the top of the Rockefeller Center.  I loved the city views from here, lower than the Empire State building and so slightly more intimate. We were lucky to have the most beautiful afternoon sky and watched it turn into an evening sunset over the Hudson.

I tried to post some photos on Facebook when I was away using my iPad and iPod Touch. Neither worked. They appeared for a short time and then disappeared. I was frustrated at first and determined to figure out how to do it and then, upon reflection, took it as a message from the universe to take a little break from social media for awhile which is what I did. I haven't posted here. I haven't kept up with all of your blogs, but I missed you. I'll slowly catch up and post more about my trip in the days ahead.