NYC Day Two

Thursday in NYC!  Breakfast began with about half the complimentary glorious fruit salad from the hotel (special circumstances) along with the usual free coffee; then up to 74th and Amsterdam to Lavain Bakery.  Me: a raspberry bobulino (?) and Rosemary a walnut and berry scone from heaven.  Of course we couldn't leave without a cookie: a deep, dark chocolate with peanut butter chips.  Then off to the Whitney.  There they had this comprehensive exhibit of Lyonel Feininnger, with whose work I was only fleetingly acquainted.  The best way I can refer to his later work would be lyrically sensuous cubism.  Unlike most of his cubist peers, Feininnger is rich in vibrant colours; and his subjects always have an elegance or grandeur to them that is actually heightened through this highly evocative technique.  Then on the floor below there was a special exhibit of "American Real/Surreal" which showed how often Americans like Hopper, Tooker, Wood, Ault would blur the lines between realism and surrealism.  Almost everybody had a sample of his or her work there (so it seemed).  Then, of course, off to the Met. We had to eat a little something there (since there isn't a decent coffee house on the upper east side); and then, to the Stieglitz exhibit with this huge display of the mostly American artists that were still in his possession when he died and Georgia donated to the Met — with additions from others who had benefitted from this largess.There were Dove's, Hartley's, Demuths, O'Keefe's (of course) and so many others I hadn't seen before.  It you love art, especially American art from the early 20th Century this is a must see. After the Met the pièce de résistance: Evensong at St. Thomas.  It is the ethereal sound, the exquisite music of the the Anglo/Catholic liturgy.  Even if you don't "believe," one cannot help but be transported into another dimension by the sheer beauty of the music and pageantry of the liturgy.  A delightful comfort food dinner at the Crooked Knife (30th btwn Madison & Park) with a fabulous Shepherd's Pie. Can't wait till Friday!