Diary, October 2005
Blog: Edited, June 2025 – February 2026
PART TWO: ART GALLERIES & A BOAT TRIP
DAY TWO
| Friday | 12/10/2005 | ART GALLERIES |
I woke up around six in the morning. The jetlag had messed with my body clock. I looked out of my hotel window; we certainly didn’t pay for the view…hotel trash cans (as the Yanks call them). The weather was foul, lashing it down with rain. Things had to get better.
I gave Nikki a knock around eight to go out for breakfast, prior to heading off on our planned visits for the day. We found a typical NYC breakfast bar, and ordered a bagel each, a tea for Nikki and a coffee for me. We then walked across Central Park, a good half an-hour stroll to our first port of call, the ‘Guggenheim Museum Art Gallery’. It was nonstop heavy rain, but this didn’t really matter. Just being in NYC was a massive buzz for me.
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM
This was top of the bill of places I wanted to visit in NYC. The gallery was designed by the American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright and opened to the public on 21st October 1959. It’s a circular structure, with a spiral ramp moving up through the building.
Sometimes you can visit somewhere with too much knowledge and be disappointed, because the place didn’t live up to your expectations. However, this was not the case here. I was blown away by the sculptural quality of the building. The only downside, it wasn’t as big as I thought, but this didn’t take anything away from my awe of the place.
There was an interesting temporary Russian Art exhibition which got me thinking of my Grandpa, who sadly passed away in 1999. He was a big lover of this nation, particularly the novelist, Tolstoy (who wrote ‘War and Peace’). Although, I’m sure the current leader’s regime against Ukraine would sadly have him turning in his grave…
We then headed to our next destination MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), a good half an hour or so walk. The heavy rain continued, causing steam to come up from the drainage grates. Very atmospheric, I thought, of the movies set in NYC.
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
Referring to my notes, we had a long queue to put our bags in storage. The security was poor, but I can’t expand further as my memory is failing me on this particular detail. Anyway, there was an interesting architecture and media display. From what I recall it was plans to develop a pedestrian green spaces and walkways alongside the overhead railways in the city. There was also some inspiring twentieth century paintings and sculptures, very much my cup of coffee, so to speak.
We then headed back towards Fifth Avenue and found a bar for coke and beer for Nikki and me respectively. I had a pint, or the US equivalent, of ‘Sampson & Adams’. Quite apt, as a combination of my mum’s maiden ‘Sampson’ and our family ‘Adams’ names. There was an interesting English connection, a Norwich City FC flag was on display. Slightly different from the usual Man U and Liverpool memorabilia often seen abroad. We headed back to our hotel early evening for a freshen up, before going out for something to eat. NYC, like many large cities, is a melting pot of many cultures, with different international restaurants. We found a very nice Japanese place within a few minutes’ walk of the hotel. I had fun trying to use chop sticks, but in the end had to go back to using the familiar knife and fork.
DAY THREE
| Saturday | 13/10/2005 | BOAT TRIP |
As the previous day was about places I wanted to visit, it was only fair this day was Nikki’s choice of activities. She wanted to go on a boat trip around Manhattan Island, which meant getting the subway downtown. Nikki assumed the role of our city navigator for the week. I don’t think it was a preplanned thing. It just happened that way.
It was still raining when we set off for the day but quickly cleared up to a pleasant sunny and warm day for the time of year. We booked on to a trip that went halfway round the island, including past the iconic ‘Statue of Liberty’, and then came back on itself to where we boarded from.
As you would imagine the boat was full of tourists taking snapshots, which made it fun trying to take more serious photographs of the sites. The beauty of having a digital as opposed to a traditional SLR (Single Lense Reflex) camera, was the greater image capacity, and no awkward changes of film strips. This meant I didn’t have to be ‘selective’ as to what shots to take. My finger was going ten to the dozen, clicking multiple angles of each building. I took well over two hundred photographs of the skyscrapers etc., bridges, and of course the ‘Statue of Liberty’, as we cruised round the island.
After this excursion, we headed to Times Square – a must see in NYC. Arguably, you can’t go to the States without a visit to a Maccies (McDonald’s), the quaint essential part of US culture. As you can envisage, this was a sensory overload of bright lights and corporate advertising. But I guess something that had to be done on our trip.
For our tea, we went to a Mexican restaurant near our hotel. Like everywhere in the States, the portions were massive, even for my big appetite. Afterwards, we went for a couple of drinks, as it was Saturday night. The bar was typical as you might expect from the Hollywood movies, had a pool table and other iconic American features.
In the next part, I’ll be going to church and visiting a location used in one of my favourite films.
Jarmin Apple
February 2026
"Drop-in and Chill Out" 