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Travel By-The-Book : Senior Women's Travel : Favorite Cities : Theatre Tours
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An Insider's Day in New York City

3 Wednesdays in 2009: June 10, September 16, October 14

Our tour features a private tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, focusing on one aspect if its world-renowned painting collection, and a visit to one of New York's great neighborhoods.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Our day starts when we meet at 11 a.m. in the lobby of the Metropolitan Museum at 81^st Street and Fifth Avenue. Meet our private guide, Brigid, a Bard graduate, who has taught art history for the last eight years in New York City. She is currently finishing a book titled In The Morning of Their Lives, the Story of the Great European Paintings of Children. Brigid has a unique approach to viewing art; she takes us beneath the surface of a painting, connecting the technique, the paint, the life and feelings of the artist.

June 10: Napoleon III’s Paris - Startling Portraits: Degas, Lautrec, Cezanne, Van Gogh


Van Gogh Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

September 16: Sensuality of the Italian Renaissance Masters - Titian, Bronzino, Veronese

October 14: Manet, the quintessential Parisian artist, the Giotto of modern painting.

Great Neighborhoods

June 10 neighborhood: Meat Packing District (centered around 14th Street and 10th Avenue). Visit Chelsea Market, browse the boutiques, enjoy lunch, and explore The High Line.



Scenes from the Meat Packing District

Chelsea Market is a remodeled Nabisco factory that now houses The Food Network, a dozen or so food retail stores and restaurants. Amy’s Bread, Sarabeth Foods, Ronnybrook are here; it’s informal and fun. We’ll have lunch at a small restaurant owned by a friend of a friend. Celebrity chefs in the area: Mario Batali’s Del Posto and Tom Colicchios’ Craftsteak.

The High Line, an elevated railway, was built in the thirties to replace the street-level train that ran along 10^th Avenue . Closed in 1980, it has just undergone a 170 million, ten year project to transform it into what will be a landmark park. Between 14th and 15th Street the walkway will be a two-level sundeck with dramatic views of the Hudson River. At Chelsea Market between 15th and 16^th Street, the walkway becomes an art installation space. The High Line is due to open in June; let’s hope.

After the High Line, you will have time for more city sightseeing or shopping on your own.

September 16 neighborhood: Artful Chelsea

October 14 neighborhood: Soho/Chinatown

Cost
$75 includes Metropolitan Museum entrance and private guide. Price does not include lunch, transportation to the Metropolitan Museum or to neighborhood and home.

Reservations
Call 917 880 6732 or email maryann@poshnosh.com. Group size limited to 10.

Mary Ann Zimmerman, your guide for the day, was a lifelong New York City resident. She has been a Hudson (New York) resident for the last two years. Mary Ann has always been obsessed with going everywhere and doing everything in the city. Her cookbook took her to 26 countries; that world experience created a life-long passion for new food experiences.

July and August: One-day tour to Boston and the acclaimed Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice exhibit. Leave Hudson on private bus at 8 a.m. Cost including entrance to exhibit: $99 per person. Click here to go to the New York Times rave review of this exhibit.