Away at last. First stop New York.Finally we are away. First stop New York. Having not given any particular thought to our few days stop over in New York, we arrived without any preconceptions and loved the place from the jump. This is our kind of village! It is big, rambunctious, smelly, crowded, cosmopolitan, decaying and exciting. Everything good, bad and indifferent is here and you would need to live here for a while to get a handle on all of the possibilities. Jo with the Empire State building in the background I would come back for the pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s Delicatessen alone. Jo is fascinated by the architecture and wants to do a tour based on the amazing buildings, hopefully led by someone with some real knowledge. The Woolworths Building had us both fascinated with its great neo –gothic decoration complete with some excellent gargoyles. Mike at the top of the Rockerfeller Centre Next time we will stay further down town in Greenwich Village closer to the jazz and blues clubs and further away from the main terrorist tourist area of Times Square. Jo buying a down jacket at "Tent and Trail", the most crowded store ever! Shoe shopping in the fashion district. My only real mission in NY was to visit the Guggenheim Museum. Unfortunately the Museum was closed on the first day we visited and the outside was covered with scaffolding. A second, rushed visit on departure day was needed to ensure I qualified to wear the shirt. The Gugenheim building over powers the art inside. My main interest here was the building itself. It is the work of Frank Lloyd Wright the great American architect. Wright designed this building late in life, in fact he did all of his great work after his 76th birthday. Our Ulysses Club friends will understand why I think this is important enough to mark with a visit! Battery Park on a beautiful summers day.