The Upper East Side

Since John and I tend to stay in funky Chelsea at 23rd and 8th, going up to the classy Upper East Side is always a fun change and it's here that we find the big museums like the Met and Guggenheim. 

Above, at Park Ave and 70th, we find Yoshitono Nara's sculpture, White Ghost, temporarily sitting in the boulevard near the Asia Society where Mr Nara's fab retrospective show, I'm No Fool, is on until January 2, 2011. If you visit Manhattan be sure to put it on your itinerary.

When we head up to this neighbourhood, we love to catch a Madison Avenue bus north to our destination. It's great people watching on the fancy street lined with upscale shops. Here we we see the identical-twin security guards at the Gagosian Multiples Retail shop at East 77th St. How cool is that!

John also fell in love with the Ursus Books and Prints shop at 981 Madison above the famous Cafe Carlyle where Woody Allen likes to play his clarinet with the house jazz band. The Ursus shop has a great selection of rare art books that drew John to 2 visits before we left town.

You'll see some well-heeled and glamourous locals when you wander Madison.

Although like everywhere else these days, some shop windows are sadly empty.

We love the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum at 5th Avenue and 91st Street for their special exhibitions in what was originally the mansion of Andrew Carnegie. They're planning an extension that will allow one to see much more of their permanent collection. 

We usually find ourselves wandering downtown again along 5th Ave and Central Park when our museum visits in the neighbourhood are finished. Pure pleasure!