After our quick tour of the highline, where for the first time I really noticed the exhibitions on display, we headed to the Whitney. (Not before we sat down and got our artistic skills on by painting small squares with a man who had made a make shift art gallery on the highline, I'm pretty proud of mine!)


I have a small confession to make. We lied. We pretended we were 17 in order to get in for free. I feel bad not supporting such a great institution, but at the same time we are poor college students which erases my guilt just a little bit. The day we went was actually the opening day of the museum, but because it was a Friday it was relatively quiet, unlike the block long ticket queues that lined the streets the day after.




There are two things about the Whitney that make it great. One, the artwork. Even though I'm an art history student I wouldn't want to bore you with my analysis of some of the great pieces housed in the Whitney, so you can see them below.

Two, the location. The location is no accident, and actually this article sums it up quite well. The great thing about the architecture of the Whitney is that it shifts this idea of a 'view' back on to the city. Although it is located right next to the Hudson, this is not where the focus lies, and in fact the only place I found that you can see the Hudson from is inside. Instead, their multi level terraces give you a superb view of the city. With less skyrises in Chelsea than in Midtown, you don't have to massively high up in order to enjoy the views. It may have been extremely windy when we went but that didn't stop us heading outside and taking some snaps. On a nicer day I think their outside cafe/restaurant would be a lovely place to eat at (and I rarely say that about institutional eating establishments).

It's not often that I venture into Brooklyn, but sometimes the 45 minute journey is worth it. One of those times was yesterday when the sun was shining, and the cherry blossoms were blooming and there seemed to be no better place to celebrate this than at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.




Okay, so first things first, the Gardens were gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen so many cherry blossoms in my life, nor so many perfectly kept lawns. We were quite lucky in choosing a day that was not overly hot so not only did this mean that we could enjoy the gardens at a comfortable temperature, but also that the gardens were not swarming with people. That's not to say that it wasn't busy though, on the first Saturday in May it was only to be expected that everyone else had the same idea as us.



Unfortunately, that's where the positives stop. Firstly, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens charge for entry. Whilst I understand that upkeep and maintenance is expensive, it makes what could have been a relatively cheap day out that little bit more expensive. Secondly, and most annoyingly, is that the gardens seem to have a stricter grass upkeep policy than Oxford! Okay, so you can walk on the grass (some areas) but that's where the buck stops. If you're like us and decided that on such a beautiful day in such a beautiful place a picnic was only necessary, you will be sorely disappointed. The prowling security guards quickly told us to put away our cheetos and crackers (never thought they'd be illegal substances), and when we just got used to having a foodless picnic we were also told that we weren't allowed the picnic blanket we were sitting on (not great when you're wearing white trousers like myself). The afternoon would have been much more enjoyable if we were allowed to eat, but c'est la vie.



One thing that prevented our trip feeling completely wasted was that right next door to the gardens is the Brooklyn Museum. The weekend we visited was the closing weekend of the Wiley exhibition, something that we'd been wanting to see for a while. The Brooklyn Museum, unlike the Botanical Gardens, was free! It was a truly great museum, welcomed by music in the foyer, very open plan exhibits that allow you to get extremely close to the art works.