There are several places that you might guess I would visit during the weekend.. but I bet the one place you’re not going to guess is an art museum. After living here for almost two and a half years it’s the one type of museum I haven’t really covered much, with the exception of the Whitney that my roommate got us in for free at. I’ve said it before, I’m just not much of an art person. It’s something that I can appreciate, but just not really something I enjoy that much or, to be completely honest, understand. But, it’s a new year, and like I said I’m trying some new things so I decided to see what the fuss was about at two of New York’s popular museums, The Guggenheim and The MoMA. Even though I kept my parents very busy during their visit, we ended up having an extra event on each of our Explorer passes so I vowed that I wouldn’t let them go to waste! I decided it was the perfect opportunity to check out these two museums that aren’t “suggested donation” that I probably wouldn’t cough up the $25 each to see otherwise, but wouldn’t mind checking out. So that is just what I did!

First up, The Guggenheim Museum. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the museum is considered one of the 20th century’s most important architectural landmarks. It’s also been a favorite site for filming, including appearances in Bye Bye Birdie, Ugly Betty, The International, When in Rome, and Men in Black.

During my visit, the Picasso Black and White exhibit was on display, which covered his work from 1904-1971. As a “non-arty” here is my summary of what I learned about his work and him:

1. His work is abstract
2. Most of his work is pretty depressing
3. He had many lovers.. including several wives and mistresses

I wouldn’t say my visit made me a fan of his, but I did leave knowing more about his work so I’d say it was a success! The cool thing about the layout of this museum is that it is a spiral from bottom to top. A lot of art museums in the city are massive, so this layout made it easy to view the progression throughout an artist’s life as well as making it harder to be distracted by other pieces. That being said, the museum really isn’t that large in comparison.

Next up, onto the MoMA! If there is one type of art that kind of messes with my mind, it’s modern art. Drawings and paintings seem to make okay sense to me, but once you move into projections, sculptures, and live performances I kind of get lost in their meaning, if any. But hey, a few hours there exploring wasn’t going to kill me right? So I took the plunge!

The MoMA is, as you would expect, in a modern building in Midtown. With it’s 6 floors, I’d categorize it with the larger museums in the city. Since I’m not that into modern art, I flew through the exhibits in an hour and a half, but you would probably want to allow for extra time if you are into that sort of thing. Now for the things I saw.

The semi-interesting:

The famous:

And now for the strange/things I don’t understand:

Neither of these places are probably going to make my all time favorites in NYC list, but I am glad that I gave them each a chance!

…And just like that we were onto my parents last full day in the city, before their early wake-up call and travels back to Washington on the next day.

My parents started the day by taking a stroll through the park and by John Lennon’s old house and the Strawberry Fields memorial.

After they hit up the park, I met up with my parents at the Roosevelt Island tram. After taking a ride earlier this year, I thought it was something cool to take them on. Plus, it’s free!

From there we headed back to the financial district to visit the 9/11 Memorial.

The day we went down there was nice, but very windy! My parents were trying to take a few photos of the fountains and then they were getting showered on from the wind picking up some water.

I’ve been kind of torn on going down to the memorial because I know a lot of people who lost someone there, but I am glad to have at least gone. The location is still under construction, but the fountains are a nice site for remembrance.

After the memorial we went to Times Square for the obligatory visit and then ventured back to the Upper East where we closed out their trip by rooting on the Seahawks at a local bar.

I’m so thankful my parents were able to come visit and spend Christmas with me. I had so much fun showing them around and hope they did as well!

On day 4 we headed down to the tip of Manhattan to South Street Seaport to take a Liberty Cruise Tour. I was hoping to be able to take my parents to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but due to damage from Hurricane Sandy both islands have had to close down boat access for repairs until further notice. It’s okay though because we had a beautiful day to take a tour of lower Manhattan on the Zephyr boat.

One thing I really love about the city is giving people different perspectives.. the city from the streets, the city from the air (Empire State Building or Top of the Rock), and the city views from outside (Brooklyn, Hoboken, or the water). I think it’s a cool way to see different angles and have a different experience from just one view.

We really lucked out on the weather on day 4. Look at that beautiful skyline!

On day 5 we went to an area we got to know really well over this trip… Rockefeller Center. I have the directions memorized.. 6 train down to 51st street, walk to 5th avenue and turn left on 49th street!

This time we were actually going into NBC Studios for a tour. There weren’t any photos allowed, so you just get one of their huge sphere where the introduction video took place and their jelly bean logo. I’ve taken the tour before, but decided it would be a cool thing to do again with my parents. Plus, my Dad loves the Dr. Oz show! I was hoping to be able to get tickets for a taping, but most of the TV shows were on hiatus for the holidays so I figured this would be the next best thing because the tour goes into his studio. On this tour we got to check out the Dr. Oz show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and the SNL studios, which was all pretty cool. I’d definitely recommend the tour to anyone interested in the history of broadcast or a big fan of SNL, since that is one show that getting tickets to are next to impossible. To make you feel better though, they say the best seat for SNL is always from your couch, which sounds pretty accurate!

After the tour, we headed to a pizza favorite or mine, Motorino, to give my parents a dose of some classic Neapolitan pizza. You definitely can’t get that where we’re from.. By the time we finished eating the snow was at it again so we switched up to an indoor activity at the Chelsea Market. I always love heading down there because of the cute little shops and the beautiful building. I was especially excited this time though because I heard they decorate for Christmas pretty good, which I have to say I’d agree!

To cap off the day, my Dad and I headed up to the Upper West Side to the Natural History Museum, while my Mom went on an adventure of her own. this was my third visit to the museum, but there are so many exhibits that you could go back several times and learn something new each time.

I love all of their animal exhibits because they look pretty real. Even though the animals are stuffed it still gives me the feeling that I’m visiting a zoo!

We ran through most of the museum in 3 hours, but you could easily spend a whole day in there. After 3 hours we were starting to run low on energy though after a long day and decided to head back to the Upper East Side for Chris to cook us dinner. Yes, Chris cooked dinner for the first time for people other than just me!