Saturday 13 April 2013

Exploring Long Island

Last weekend we continued on our exploring and ventured into yet another borough of New York, our aim is to get all the five boroughs. So far we've done the obvious, Manhattan, Brooklyn and even Queens. At the weekend we ventured into Long Island (which technically Brooklyn and Queens are part of, and it's not a New York borough...). There's actually not much there, but Hipster Dufus was responding to the call of the MoMA outpost, PS1. As is the case with him he'd done his research on where to eat, what cafe's to stop at and which shops were worth popping into. We found that most of the shops were closed (or had closed down), but there were a few little cafe's to stop at. We were enticed by afternoon tea, Long Island style, it was lovely. After that we headed straight for the MoMA. 

This was definitely worth the visit, the art was all contemporary and I found two exhibitions that related to my field of study (I know, I know, I'm a geek). The building was an old school that had been converted which always makes for a great setting. Each classroom was yet another gallery space and even the cafe came complete with school desks as tables and blackboards with the menu on. We finished the day with a drink at the Dutch Kills bar, a saloon style bar with delicious cocktails. I won't be returning to Long Island in a hurry, but I would love to go back for the art and a drink. I already have plans for Staten Island and then all that's left is, gulp, The Bronx! 


Monday 8 April 2013

At Sea

Ok so spring isn't exactly here yet but it's coming and is right around the corner. I can feel it. Plus I know it as the weather man says it is. With the new season coming in I'll be able to adopt a new form of transport in the city. River travel is a very much underused mode of transport in most cities and it's a real shame. You get the best views of a city from the river. London in particular having many of it's iconic landmarks lined up by the water. New York in comparison does not equal this beauty in my opinion as it doesn't really seem to have cottoned on to the value of river front real-estate. All of the buildings facing the river are warehouses, factories and motorways and the areas are completely underdeveloped. Even so the views from the river boats are still amazing. On a partially cloudy day the scenery is magical with the sunlight beaming through, delicately lighting up the buildings. I was lucky enough to find myself on one at sunset.