New York by night

New York by day

I arrived in New York a few nights ago, feeling rather cracked out. It wasn’t the smoothest nor the shortest travel experience, and it definitely was not an experience which involved any sort of sleep. But after seeing my family and meeting my week old nephew I felt wide awake and ready to start my trip…

The first few days have involved mostly sitting inside in the warm, just being with my family and staring at little Rowan, my new nephew. Also, there’s been a lot of cooking. In the first 24 hours after my arrival I made tartines (made with bread smuggled in my suitcase from Apple Pie), tacos, homemade caesar salad, brownies and cookies. After a couple of days mostly staying inside cooking, taking it easy with my family and staring at my nephew I felt the need to get out and explore the city a bit. My dad was feeling the same way so yesterday we headed across the river to Manhattan to take a walk in central park and check out the Guggenheim museum. The museum itself is amazing: it looks like a giant white snail snuggling up to central park. It’s designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of my architectural heroes. Once inside the museum you slowly wind your way up the spiraling ramp walkway, usually admiring the artworks on the wall. This time however, the impeccably white walls were bare and instead the main exhibit was dangling in the center of the spiraled ramp. Strung up and hanging from the ceiling was Maurizio Cattelan: All, the life works of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Countless sculptures and images were dangling, seemingly haphazardly in a chaotic cluster. It’s without a doubt the most ambitious and awe-inspring work of art I’ve ever seen.

*The man in black is not the artist; it’s my father Mac!

Afterwards we headed donwtown to one of my dad’s favorite watering holes, the Blind Tiger. It’s in the West Village, right around the corner from my brother’s old apartment, so we’ve all been there quite a few times. We stepped out of the bitter cold and into the warmth of a cozy bar which is full of delicious beer, happy people and a roaring fireplace. We settled down to nosh on some pickled vegetables and a mediterranean platter and sip on a couple of delicious beers.

Ale and snacks at the Blind Tiger

Tomorrow, my brother-in-law’s family begins to arrive and the holiday festivities will really kick-off. The house will be full, the wine will flow, food will be destroyed and the baby will be passed from person to person. Until then, we have one more tranquil day of hanging out, cooking and snuggling with the little one.