Day 12 pt 1 Seinfeld and The Guggenheim

We woke up as if it were a lazy sunday and after a few rounds on Harvest Moon, we headed off for lunch at the restaurant made famous by SEINFELD!! I could barely contain my excitement as my sights focused upon the iconic red neon tracings of 'TOMS RESTAURANT'. Naturally, i scanned the streets looking for Jerry and the gang in case they desperately needed me for their next scene- even though the last episode of Seinfeld was over 13 years ago. The restaurant itself is more like a diner and it looks nothing like the place on Seinfeld- probably because the series had its own set and didnt actually use the inside of this place. Even so, we all ordered a cheeseburger and milkshake which was nothing spectacular but tasty enough to eat, and we headed off to another of my anticipated destinations- Frank Lloyd Wrights Guggenheim Museum.

We took a stroll through the upper west side and central park to experience this beautiful portion of the city. We walked past some sort of college campus which contained endless amounts of very large, incredibly ornamental and characteristically Gothic cathedral buildings. We than cut across the city through Central Park where Daisy, in her element, skipped, danced and sang her way into the murder hit lists of all New York's joggers- she bumped and tripped every single runner that tried to get past her.

We walked for a while whilst me and Bec kept our distance so we wouldnt be mistaken for Daisy's friends if one the runners came back with a machine gun, the building finally came into sight. A low lying, plain white, circular rotunda with the iconic strip windows streaming across the facade- completely out of place in its typical Manhattan surrounds. After years in uni of studying Frank Lloyd Wright's work, i was so excited to experience the marvel of spacial sequences intended by the master of the modernist manifesto i had been so intensely educated upon. It really is a magnificent piece of architecture- i was not so interested in the museum's displays as i was in the building. Whilst i marvelled at the building, Daisy and Bec rushed off to look at Kandinsky, Picasso and a few other artists who also died broke and alone. Unfortunately, the museum curator, who got their qualifications from that coke dealer in times square and has obviously no sense of the architectural marvel they have the honor of maintaining, put up some stupid exhibition right through the middle of the Atrium and the true sense of the place could not be experienced. The spaces inside are absolutely incredible. The entire complex is a jungle of expansive white concrete walls with slits for lights and windows- but plays on volumes of space making the experience walking around absolutely incredible. you walk along the ramp filled with light and space from the atrium, all off a sudden theres a room with huge blank white walls and ceilings which absolutely take your breath away. Its simplicity and elegance give it an incredibly complex character- dad would love it- it reminds me of our fireplace, but not hideously ugly.

Though the conceptual framework governing the design of the ramps is very unique and exciting, one thing Frank lloyd Wright didnt consider, is the time it would take someone to walk to the top of the damn building. I could only marvel at this architectural masterpiece until I needed a drink of water and a defibrillator. After half an hour of walking wide eyed along the uphill walkways, I was sweating, had a stitch and was panting that high pitched breathing that sounds like your old and have emphysema. As I was consoling myself that i had experienced this architectural wonder, I looked down to realise i had gone up a total of 2 levels of the 6 storey building. After cursing the bones of Frank Lloyd Wright's father, i quickly caught the elevator to the top level, took some photos and took the elevator back down to the gift shop.

Afterwards we were all so tired, we ventured back home to get some rest before dinner. However, as payment for all my sins, we somehow walked past a store called ANTHROPOLOGIE, which is Bec's bestest favouritest shop in the whole world. The store actually has some really amazing girls clothes that you could NEVER get anywhere in Australia. Think of 1920's charm with 2011 elegance and character- some really beautiful stuff. Bec ran around grabbing coat hangars off racks and shoes off shelves like a Somalian kid in woolworths. After an intense fun packed 2 hours, we finally left for home.