NEW YORK CITY 2026: MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MoMA)

May 31, 2026

 On my third day in New York City, I met A & M at my new favorite bakery, Elbow Bread, then we took our morning treats to a park about a block away. It was really fun to sit on a bench and watch the residents of New York's Chinatown doing their morning exercises. One man was doing tai chi off to the side, a couple was playing badminton, and a group of about ten women were following a leader in a synchronized dance routine.  See a short video here.

M had an art opening that evening, so we said goodbye to her so that she could go do all the last-minute things that needed to be done, and A and I headed off for an artsy day.

We had gotten an early start because it was Memorial Day, and we knew the city would be bursting with the energy reserved for holidays. We made our way past massive St. Patrick's Cathedral, which takes up a full city block on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st street. However, I am not one to walk past a church when its doors are open, so I made a quick stop to take a look.

There was a service in progress, so we couldn't walk around inside, but I appreciated even this glimpse of St. Patrick's lofty Gothic Revival ceilings.

One of the wonderful things about NYC is the variety of architecture. Just down the street from St. Patrick's, for example, is the wonderful Art Deco-style International Building of the Rockefeller Center.

 

About this time we realized it was going to be very, very difficult to get to MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art), which we had planned to be our first destination. The Israel Day on 5th Parade was slated to move up Fifth Avenue between 62nd and 74th streets, starting at 11:30 AM. Activities were scheduled until 4:00 PM.  The theme of the parade was "Proud Americans, Proud Zionists."

GERMANY, NUREMBERG: AROUND TOWN

 May 19, 2025

After a heavy morning touring sites relevant to the days before and after World War II, we were ready for a change of pace. 

Today's Nuremberg is a large city of over a half-million people. Its roots are in the 11th century, and by the 14th century it had become one of the three most important cities of Germany. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was the center of the German Renaissance, a central city of the Holy Roman Empire, and a significant center of science and the arts.

Extensively damaged during World War II, much of medieval Nuremberg was subsequently restored, including its historic city walls and its impressive castle. Although many people, myself included, tend to connect the city to the Nuremberg Trials, there are a lot of sites to see that are unrelated to the war. 

We had already seen the old town area around the Market Square, so it was time to venture a bit farther out. 

On the left is a doorway dating to the late 16th century that served as an entry to the Fleischbrücke, or Meat Bridge--hence the steer on top. This bridge is one of the few structures that survived the bombings of WWII unscathed. Dancing Peasants (1980) is based on an engraving by Albrecht Dürer from 1514. The cute photobomber is married to me.

TUNISIA, DAY 1: TUNIS, SIDI BOU SAID, HOTEL ROYAL VICTORIA

 March 20, 2024

Tunisia was never on my list of Travel Dreams, but it has been on Bob's for a while.

We have traveled in Morocco and Egypt, Israel, and Jordan, so I suppose it was time to hit a central North African country. It is, in fact, the northernmost country of Africa.

Here is a zoomed in view of the map that gives perspective on the relative size and location of Malta.

According to Wikipedia, Tunisia is about the size of Wisconsin but has twice the population (11.7 million compared to 5.9 million). After a revolution in 2011 that overthrew the president of 24 years, Tunisia became the only democratic state in the Arab world in 2014, and that lasted until a bit of slippage in 2020, but it is still considered a "hybrid" regime. It has one of the highest per capita incomes on the African continent.

The flight from Valletta to Tunis was only about 40 minutes long--about the time it takes to take off and land with a few minutes of flying in between. 

One note on getting cash: We usually withdraw money from an ATM in the airport in the local currency. At this airport, we were only able to withdraw 200 dinar--about $70. Chris and Stan couldn't get their card to work at all, so we withdrew dinar for them as well. This is a trick we learned about in Indonesia. If you can only withdraw relatively small amounts, you'll have to withdraw funds more often, which means you'll have to pay their bank fees more often. Very annoying.

We were picked up at the Carthage Airport by the local man who would be our guide for the next three days, Feker. We quickly discovered the Feker likes to take photos.  The first thing he did was line us up in front of the terminal for a picture.