The Metropolitan Museum of Art

It's been at least 8 years since I've visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I went there today with a friend on a bus trip. We had a wonderful time. The museum has changed so much since the last time I was there. The cafeteria has been moved downstairs and there is a Greek and Roman exhibit where it use to be. We spent a lot of time in the exhibit. I had never seen it and my friend had never had the chance to linger there and read about the pieces on display. After that exhibit we went to lunch. We must have taken about 20 minutes out for that and then headed upstairs to the Poussin exhibit which we enjoyed. I appreciate the art work and the talent of the artist but the theme or subject matter weren't similar to something I would pick to hang in my home. After that exhibit we went through the Gastave Courbet exhibit. This was more to my liking. I could see myself hanging some of these paintings in my own home. We quickly flew through the Jasper Johns (Gray) exhibit of modern art because we wanted to visit the gift shop before we had to meet the bus for our trip down to the Salmagundi Club where the American Watercolor Society had an exhibit. I loved the watercolors. Some had won awards in the competition, but they were all well done. Surprisingly, the traffic was light in the city today. We saw more people around walking on the sidewalks than usual, but the car, bus and taxi traffic was not a snarl which I expected it to be because of the Pope's visit. People must have left their cars at home. Residents of the city probably left town for the day. All in all the day was very pleasant. The weather was great as well. We stopped for a pretzel before boarding the bus to go downtown. That's a ritual I have every time I visit the city. I'm glad I went on this trip and hope that I get to go next year.