Explore New York : The Met Rooftop

Enjoying a glass of rosé wine atop the roof of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, overlooking Central Park, has been a must-do on my NYC bucket list ever since I read about it as a "kind of" secret way to spend a late afternoon in the city. Of course, I'd envisioned going up to the roof on a warm summer day but with the hubby's busy and erratic schedule the last few months we weren't able to make it happen until it was almost too late. The Roof Garden Cafe and Bar is only open May through October, weather permitting, and we went on the second to last Saturday in October. Fortunately, while there was a bit of a chill in the air, it was a beautiful fall day in the Manhattan.

The skies were clear and the rooftop was nowhere near as crowded as I'm sure it is during the summer months, providing G and I with uninhibited panoramic views of the city skyline and the park below, the foliage blooming in autumn's trademark fiery hues. Despite the cold weather, I still had that (expensive) glass of rosé while the hubs sipped on suds from Brooklyn Brewery. While we did take a quick look at the somewhat odd and not exactly aesthetically pleasing Roof Garden exhibition by Pierre Hughe (this New York Times article explains the meaning behind it much better than I could), our main focus was watching the sky change from day to night behind that famous NYC skyline. Seeing the skyscrapers light up, in all their sparkle, as the world dims is always a little thrill.

A few more photos from our trip, if you'd like to see.

On our way back down from the roof, we took some time to peruse the art—I couldn't help but stop when I spied pieces by Monet and Van Gogh—but a return trip is most certainly in order.

Explore New York : Central Park & the Guggenheim

Today I bring you another installment of Explore New York! If you missed the previous posts, be sure to catch up on my excursion to Times Square (complete with a fancy dinner at Marseille), my trip to the MoMA, and my SoHo brunch at The Dutch. Let's go exploring!

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It was a gorgeous July day when my friend Sascha and I decided to make our way into the city for a visit to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Since the incredible Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building—the shape of which is called an inverted ziggurat, as it turns out—sits just outside the eastern edge of Central Park, it only made sense to take a scenic detour on the way there. Why stay in the stuffy subway when you could walk in the summer sunshine, right?

After a quick subway ride from Port Authority to 86th Street, we were above ground—and right across the street from Central Park. As with everything I experience for the first time in New York, I was filled with excitement to stroll through the grand green space I've seen so many times on TV and in film. Sascha and I took a path that basically made a beeline from one side to the other, so of course there is so much more to see, but it was quite a lovely walk along the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. Blue skies with puffy white clouds, a shimmering lake filled with ducklings, and stunning city architecture framed the whole scene. It was picture-perfect.

A leisurely 20 minutes later, we had made it to the Guggenheim. That Frank, man. He was one cool dude. As is often the case, one of my favorite things about the museum is the architecture, inside and out. I'd love to come back and see the spiraling dome tower inverted ziggurat whatchamacallit all lit up at night.

When we visited, the primary exhibition on display, winding its way up the museum ramps, was Storylines, which ended its run earlier this month. As its name suggests, the show brought together more than 100 works from the Guggenheim's contemporary collection to examine the diverse ways in which today's artists engage narrative through installation, painting, photography, sculpture, video and performance. Each piece was imbued with meaning—sometimes overt, sometimes more layered and complex. Also featured at the museum, and still on display through Oct. 12, is the poignant and even haunting work of Colombian artist Doris Salcedo. The exhibition occupies the four levels of the Guggenheim's Tower galleries and addresses the traumatic history of modern-day Colombia, as well as the wider legacies of suffering inflicted by colonialism, racism and other forms of social injustice.

So, what's my take on the Guggenheim? It was interesting, to say the least. Some of the art I loved, some I liked, some I hated but understood and some made me scratch my head in dismay. But that's all part of the museum experience! A good exhibition isn't always a pretty one. Worthwhile art isn't always easy on the senses; sometimes it challenges you, makes you uncomfortable and makes you think. Many of the pieces on display at Guggenheim do just that.

My museum buddy only took a quick pass through the Kandinsky Gallery, so I'd also love to return to take a longer look at the abstract artist's colorful and energetic work. Fortunately for me, that exhibit is open through Spring 2016.

Following our spin around the Guggenheim, we enjoyed a casual late lunch at Sergimmo Salumeria, an unassuming but undeniably charming deli in Hell's Kitchen. My panini was delicious and the guy behind the counter didn't even give me a hard time when I asked to hold the cheese (ha!). It's New York; he said people have asked for weirder things. I have no doubts.

All in all, a terrific day filled with nature, art and good eats. What more could a girl ask for?

Explore New York : The Museum of Modern Art

While it hasn't always been this way, ever since my college days—including a year-long stint as the arts and entertainment editor for my university's newspaper—I have been a museum nerd. While stationed in St. Pete, I made it a mission to visit as many local galleries and exhibitions as I could. Now that I'm living just outside New York City, I have that same goal—but the artistic and cultural offerings afforded to me have expanded exponentially. Where to go first? Fortunately, the decision was made by a new friend who suggested we visit the Museum of Modern Art.

It was a muggy and drizzly July day, but Sascha and I braved the weather—and that almost-suffocatingly humid subway tunnel air—to travel to MoMA in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Even though it was a weekday, the museum lobby was bustling with people (likely on their summer vacation), and a long line for tickets snaked around the foyer. Luckily, I was able to bypass the wait and quickly pick up two free tickets for both of us (working that military discount, woot woot!) and we were on our way to exploring the wonderfully weird world that is MoMA.

I hadn't researched the current exhibitions as I typically do, so I didn't know what to expect. What I found was a wide range of modern and contemporary art, a true feast for the eyes. Highlights for me, personally, included seeing works by masters like Picasso, Matisse, Warhol, van Gogh and Mondrian, to name a few.

Unfortunately, we only had a couple hours to spend wandering the galleries and when our time was up I felt like we barely scratched the surface. While I have many other museums on my must-see list, setting aside a whole afternoon to revisit the MoMA is definitely a priority. (Especially to see the new Picasso Sculpture exhibition The New York Times called a once-in-a-lifetime event.) Maybe I'll bring my art-shy hubby along for the ride.

Want a quick mini-tour of the MoMA? Find more photos of world class art (and some Manhattan views) after the jump...

Art & Architecture : The Dali Museum

During our last weeks in St. Pete, I felt the pressure to accomplish the remaining items on my bucket list. Fortunately, the hubs and I were able to make it out to The Dali Museum one Thursday evening (to take advantage of the discounted admission) to check out not only the surrealist art inside but the stunning architecture of the building itself.

The Hallucinogenic Toreador.

If I’m honest, I was initially more excited to tour the grounds than look at the art. I’m not much into surrealism. But I was pleasantly surprised when not only I but also G thoroughly enjoyed the Dali’s permanent exhibition. And it was all thanks to a docent-led tour. If we had simply strolled the galleries on our own, we never would have appreciated or, heck, even noticed all the nuances and optical illusions present in Salvador Dali’s work, never mind the significance of such details. My husband is most certainly not an art museum-loving kind of man, but while looking at the paintings on the tour and listening to the docent’s explanations, I was giddy each time I heard him murmur with interest: “Oh yeah. Whoa. I see it!” While I’m grateful that G will accompany me on these types of cultural excursions, it’s even better when he actually enjoys himself and we can talk about what we saw and learned together.

My second favorite part of the day? Yes, the architecture and the grounds, of course. The building’s exterior is such a curious and fantastical thing. The "enigma," a large, free-form bubble made up of 1,062 triangular pieces of glass, seems to be bursting out from the simple concrete walls. The geodesic dome reflects the beauty around it: the blue sky, the clouds, the palms, the bay and the museum garden, which is a lovely area to just sit for awhile, and let time melt away (on the melting clock bench, no less). A colorful, whimsical art installation has formed on a tree, where people hang their admission wristbands. Inside the museum, a spiral staircase—resembling the helical shape of a DNA molecule—takes on a life of its own, reaching toward the glass ceiling and the sky above. Before we left, gray storm clouds were rolling in, typical of a Florida summer evening. It’s an ever-changing scene out the Dali’s massive window; nature is painting a new canvas all the time. 

Many more photos from our evening at The Dali after the jump (click the Keep Reading button below), including a look at some of our favorite works!