2010 Trip: New York Day 3
19th June 2010
Today I started off a little late and headed to the Upper East Side. As I had forsaken breakfast and it was getting on for lunch time, I found a fantastic little cafe called Le Pain Quotidien. The atmosphere was great, with a whole mix of society tucking into healthy fare. I had a bowl of gazpacho and then an open sandwich. The sandwiches were really rather cool, they loaded up slivers of bread with avocado, peppers, cress, and all manner of good things and then provided lemon wedges and a tahini dressing; it almost required a knife and fork. The presentation was exquisite, well arranged on a wooden board. Yeah, it was just a great dining experience.
After that, I made my way towards Central Park. My destination for this morning was the famous Guggenheim museum of modern art. The building is in the shape of a spiral, and one walks round and upwards for an exhibition displayed in a very linear fashion. The building has an amazing ambience and is very interesting in itself. The exhibition on while I was there was called Haunted that ‘explored’ contemporary photography.
Some of the exhibits actually provided a really interesting analysis of temporal issues - how we change through time. The main theme of the exhibition was how photography could be used to hide and twist perspectives, as well as to reveal.
From here, I caught the subway back south, getting off at Grand Central Terminal. In New York’s heyday, this was the central train station, now it serves the subway and commuter lines. Its is ornate building, hidden under and between skyscrapers. The central hall is quite something and always crowded. It is an excellent spot for people watching. Underneath are the platforms and food court.
As the day slowly drew to a close, I wandered south through the city, stopping off to glance into the lobby of the Chrysler building, and passing the abode of Andy Warhol (completely accidentally).
Eventually I returned to Union Square and had dinner at a Maoz Falafel restaurant. The last time I went travelling, I found them in Amsterdam and Barcelona, and they were most excellent! The basic idea is that they are a franchise chain, where they will provide you with a half full pita, with proper falafel and aubergine. Then, you can fill it to your hearts content from a salad bar, containing everything from salsa to coleslaw, beetroot, spiced carrot salad, tabbouleh, olives, and various other bits and pieces. In addition, they do fantastic Belgium chips, in a cone. It is absolutely delicious! After this, I headed back to the hostel.