New York baby

After bad weather threatened to maroon everyone aboard flight KX792 in Philadelphia, we eventually were able to land at JFK one hour later than scheduled.

A souvenir to mark Baby Selfe's first trans-Atlantic trip; New York street food staple: the pretzel

I skipped Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building because I did those when I was 14. Instead I walked on the High Line - a disused railway in the old Meatpacking district which they have landscaped and transformed into an 'urban park', actually more or an elevated walkway. My best find was Chelsea market, a hub of foodies, creatives and purveyors or organic produce selling hand crafted beer, books, stationery and artisan coffee, among other things.

Chelsea Market and two men play Chess in Chelsea

On my second day I went to the Met to see the exhibition 'Impossible Conversations: Schiaparelli and Prada', which was absolutely genius. Baz Luhrman directed the video installation of Elsa and Miucca in conversatin, which was running on the walls behind the juxtaposed fashion items from the designers' collections (designed 40 or 50 years apart but with many similarities).

The Met and a rare coffee shop that wasn't a Starbucks

I also loved MoMA. Although I have already seen pieces by Monet, Gauguin, Dali, Warhol, Rothko, Pollock, Picasso, Van Gogh, Miro etc, I've never seen Frida Kahlo or Mondrian (whom I love) and I've never seen ALL these artists in one gallery.

Central Park

Warhol at MoMA and street art takes shape in the Meatpacking District

I wandered through Soho and Greenwich Village, took the obligatory stroll in Central Park, ate a hotdog for breakfast and a pretzel for lunch, paid a visit to Ground Zero - but I couldn't do an actual tour because I am disorganised and didn't realise there were only morning and afternoon tours, so I paid my respects and went to Brooklyn Bridge instead.

Uptown Manhattan and the High Line

The view from the rooftop garden of the Met