Sunday in New York Part 3 - the Met, the Movie and the Big Fall

The last time we were in New York was 15 years ago with three beautiful little boys aged eleven, seven and five, and we had a great time but very much stuck to the outdoors - Central Park, Statue of Liberty, ferry to Staten Island etc. So Sunday was my first visit to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art aka the Met. After our magnificent brunch we felt the need for a bit of exercise so we walked the 31 blocks from the Rockefeller Centre to the Met. It is a big museum so we had to choose what we most wanted to see; after consulting our guidebook we spent most of our time wandering around the European paintings. It was very pleasant. I know it's ridiculous to single out a favourite among so many paintings, but for me El Greco's View of Toledo really stood out. I love the vibrant green of the trees and grass, and the light picking out the edges of the grey buildings as they seem to step up the hill, and the amazing threatening sky above it all. Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher was also very good; the stiff fabric of her headdress looked so real. And I liked Rembrandt's self portrait which he painted when he was as 54; he looks quite old and tired, it looks very realistic.

Later on we went up to the roof garden of the Met for a rest and a view over Central Park. In fact after our exciting day so far we felt ready for a nap. But with only two and a half days in New York we didn't want to waste a minute, so when we left the museum we turned left into Central Park and strolled across it, stopping again at the Loeb boathouse for a drink - the waitress recognised us from yesterday which made us feel as if we are practically regulars.

As it started to get dark we decided to go to see a movie at the nearby AMC Loews Lincoln Square. We chose Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an engaging but quite dark wee film by Tim Burton with shades of Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. We both enjoyed it. 

We jumped on a metro back to downtown, and we were just approaching our hotel when disaster struck. As we crossed the road I managed to step awkwardly into a nasty wee hole in the tarmac and down I went like a sack of spuds. I could feel a horrible tearing feeling in my left ankle and I landed on my right knee, grazing it unattractively! James helped me up and supported me back to the hotel, my vision went all pixelated and I thought that I was going to faint. I was so glad to get back to our hotel room! However, although my ankle was very sore, this did not spoil the wonderful Sunday that we had in New York.