We spent the first part of the afternoon at an Islamic centre- I had to go out yesterday to buy a long skirt, scarf and shirt as I had nothing appropriate to wear, apparently trousers are still too risqué! The Imam spent a lot of time with us talking about the Muslim religion in general and also the community projects that the centre is involved in. The centre opens at 3am so that the local Muslim community can go there for their first prayer of the day at 4:15am.. don't think I'll be signing up!
The late afternoon and evening was so enjoyable and I feel a lot better now that I did this morning. We walked across Park Ave and Madison Ave (very nice area!) to get to Fifth Avenue- or 'Museum Mile' as there is currently a festival going on that means that between 6-9pm you can enter any of the museums and galleries for free. They also shut off the street and there are various street performers and DJs playing, more hot dog stands than you've ever seen and lots of chalk lying around for everyone to draw on the street. The whole atmosphere was amazing and we spent quite a lot of time just siting on a bench eating ice cream and people watching :)
We visited two museums, the Met and the Jewish Heritage Museum. Unfortunately a lot of the Met was closed off but we did get into the Punk exhibition, which was a celebration of the fashion and culture of the punk era- including a recreation of the graffiti covered bathroom of the CGBG club! I actually knew more names than I thought I would, most of the t-shirts on display were designed by Vivienne Westward and worn by Adam Ant. The designs were so 'in your face' and it knocked the idea that we have that punk was/is all about black pvc and studs and chains- originally punk fashion was as simple as a t-shirt was a couple of words or a picture that pushed boundaries and shocked the mainstream. The whole exhibit had low music playing and it heightened the experience to walk around bobbing my head to the Sex Pistols' 'Pretty Vacant' :)
The Jewish Heritage Museum told the Jewish history from its conception to its modern place in the world. Peter was telling us all about the artefacts we were looking at but he kept getting interrupted by members of the public asking him questions, I'm pretty sure they thought he was actually a tour guide, especially when they started following us round to the next floor! They actually had an anti-Semitic section with paraphernalia from around the world, including America- some of it quite recent. I thought it was cool that the Jewish people could show that they excepted this hate as a part of their history as it has clearly helped shape the modern generations of Jews.
I've left my mark on NYC
Fifth Avenue chalk work
One for the Roehampton students- see, Lions and Zebras can get along!
Steps of the Met (one for the Gossip Girl fans)
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