As many of you know, I spent my spring break in New York City, visiting the museums and historical sights, going to shows, and having a fun time. It was great to be able to spend my spring break doing something different, and I really enjoyed exploring the city. Below I have written down my experiences and I am placing the photos of my trip here.

Saturday, March 4th -
Saturday was the first real day of the trip, since on Friday I didn't actually do anyting except check into my hotel. I spent the day museum-hopping, first visiting the Frick Collection, then going to the Whitney Museum, and finally going to the Metropolitan Museum. The Frick Collection was nice, and I saw several familiar paintings, such as Holbein's portrait of Thomas More and a portrait by Ingres. The Whitney Museum was also great despite the fact that only one floor was open that day. I especially liked the O'Keefe paintings. The Met was great, but too big to see in a day; I will try to co back later this week. After walking through Central Park and having dinner, I went back to the hotel and got ready to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play at Carnegie Hall. Though my seat was way up high in the balcony level, I had a pretty good view of the concert, which I enjoyed a lot.

Sunday, March 5th -
Today, I began by going over to MOMA, where I saw exhibits relating to 'Places' and 'Things' (the 'People' floor was clossed). I saw many important and familiar works, like Gaugin's Still Life With Puppies and Monet's Water Lilies triptych. There were also many interesting Art Noveau pieces there. After leaving the museum, I had lunch in the lobby of the Algonquin Hotel, where Dorothy Parker and the rest of the Round Table members met in the twenties. After going to Rockefeller Center and walking around for a while, I went into the Museum of Television and Radio, where they were showing rare footage of I Love Lucy. After taking photos in Central Park, I went to the Tavern on the Green for dinner and then went back to the hotel.

Monday, March 6th -
After a late start, I went to the Plaza Hotel for lunch and then took a taxi over to the United Nations building, where I took some photos. I then spent the rest of the afternoon regressing a bit, going to FAO Schwartz and then to the Wildlife Conservation Center in Central Park. I haven't been to a zoo in a long time, and it was sort of fun, even though I was one of the few adults who didn't have a child with me. After wandering through Central Park, I headed back to my hotel room and got ready for dinner at the Cafe des Artistes. Following dinner, I went over to Lincoln Center and saw a performance of Verdi's La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera House, which was a great experience, as I had never been to the opera before.

Tuesday, March 7th -
Today I started the day by going to the Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum which houses Medieval works such as the Unicorn Tapestries and Robert Campin's Annunciation altarpiece. After taking a taxi back to Manhattan, I had a late lunch/early dinner and then headed towards the Empire State Building. I went up to the observatory there and saw the city from the top of the building. After getting back down, I went back to the hotel via Broadway and rested for a while before I went to see Rent at the Nederlander theater. It was great (if a bit loud) to see it live, and I had seats near the front, which meant that I was near the speakers as well as the actors. However, it was wonderful to see it on stage and I'm glad that I went.

Wednesday, March 8th -
Today, I went over to the Guggenheim museum, which was exhibiting work by Nam June Paik, an artist who works with video and television media. The lasers used in the show looked great, and I hope that the photos I took of the interior came out. The museum also had some interesting photographs and early modern works by Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Chagall, Renoir, and others. I then headed over to the Met to see the Painters in Paris exhibition as well as the works in the Robert Lehman collection, which I had missed the first time around. After dinner, I relaxed and got ready to see the Off-Broadway parody Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act!, which was performed in the Stardust theater, in the basement level of the diner there. I had heard older versions of the show on CD, so it was interesting to see how the musical numbers were pieced together as well as how the visual elements fit into the performance.

Thursday, March 9th -
I spent the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After having lunch at the museum restaurant, I tried to look through sections which I either didn't see or didn't see in as much detail as I had wanted to. After going to the Painters in Paris exhibit, where I (badly) copied Picasso's Harlequin, I looked at the top floor of the American Wing, which contained several Winslow Homer paintings as well as the iconic painting of Washington crossing the Deleware river, the armory section, and some of the Asian Art. After having dinner at a nearby restaurant, I headed back to my hotel room, where I relaxed so I could get an early start the next day.

Friday, March 10th -
Today, I tried to go to the Guggenheim in SOHO. When I found it was closed, I walked through the area, seeing Union and Madison Squares (both of which were partially under construction). Once I got back, I was a bit tired, so I decided to take the rest of the day off, watching TV and napping. This evening, I went to the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, which had amazing views and delicious, if expensive food. I then went back and relaxed before packing and getting ready for an early start tomorrow.

Saturday, March 11th -
This was my last day of vacation. After I woke up and finished with my packing, I spent the first hours of the morning watching TV. At around 11, I took a taxi over to the Whitney Museum, where I had brunch and looked at the exhibits. After returning from the museum, I checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to Penn Station, where I boarded my train and made my way back to my dorm room.

The images of the Ingres portrait and the Annunciation altarpiece have been taken from the CGFA, which is on my links page.
The Picasso painting was taken from the Online Picasso Project.