MOMA – New York

MOMA in New York is my second most favourite gallery – second to the Musée d’Orsay.  MOMA stands for the Museum of Modern Art. 

It houses over 150,000 artworks – so it is clearly impossible to take it all in.  There are some massive Monet Water Lilies – which have to be seen in person – you just don’t get the same impression in a small reproduction.  Some of the other most striking art from my point of view is:

Joan Miro - Hirondelle Amour

Picasso - Girl Before a Mirror

Matisse - La Danse

Van Gogh - Starry Night



Jasper Johns - Flag

Kandinsky - Painting No 200

Paul Klee - Two Tents

Mondrian - A Composition

It also has a great store where you can buy a huge range of prints and modernistic gadgets like a super iPad stand.  They do have an online site although it seemed a bit unstable when I tried it recently.

My Travel Bucket List

I have got the book 1,000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz – and enjoyed it.  But it is a bit ambitious for me.  So I thought I would try to come up with a list of 10 places I would like to visit and then I ended up with 12. 

1       Monterey Peninsula, California

Rugged coastline.  Pacific Grove which is a resting stop for migrating monarch butterflies.  Cute and artsy Carmel-by-the- Sea.  Monterey Jazz Festival.  Pebble Beach Golf Links.  Clint Eastwood was the Mayor. 

2       Cliveden, Berkshire, England

I have always hankered to stay at this majestic country house hotel.  Its not far from Windsor

3       The Royal Scotsman

 

A train from Edinburgh – said to be a 5 star hotel on wheels.

Great views of the Scottish highlands.

4       Ballymaloe House, Cork, Ireland

A great Irish inn with a wonderful cooking school.

5       Biarritz, Aquitaine, France

Lovely beaches.  The Hotel du Palais. A classic casino.

6       Alsace Wine Road and Strasbourg

Studded with picturesque towns, glorious food and wine.

7       Santorini, Greece

Has to be included although possibly too touristy for me. Perivolas Hotel.

8       The Amalfi Coast and Positano, Italy

Exquisite coastline but same touristy issue as Santorini.

9       The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

Wonderful architecture and art.  Only downside is that it is in Spain.

10     Prague

Supposed to be the most beautiful city in Europe.  Prague Castle.  Charles Bridge,

Old Town Square

11     Old Kyoto

Ancient history, shrines and temples, cherry blossom festival

12     The Hunter Valley Wine Region, NSW or the Barossa Valley, SA

Great wines and good food.