Guggenheim

I like art but I don't usually get art.  Strangely enough, it's usually the art that I don't get that I like the most.  Why?  I mean, anyone can draw a picture of a person or a house or flowers.  But what kind of crazy people think to take a toilet seat, smash it up into tiny pieces and then use it to make a mosaic of a dinner plate?  (OK, I just thought of that).

The Guggenheim always intrigued me as a place where they might show art that I found interesting.  If you've ever been to the museum, you know that it is a continuous, circular, winding path.  Generally, the special exhibits are on the walls and one can walk past them all in the spiral.  This weekend, they had a show by Maurizio Cattelan, who chose to leave all the walls blank.  Instead, he hung his art piece from the ceiling in the center of the room.

This art was wacky.  It was political, it was humorous, it was edgy...I didn't get it at all.  But, I LOVED IT!  Some of my favorite pieces that made me smile included:

The pope hit by a meteor

A bird on a bird on a cat on a dog on a donkey

A bird on a bird (the other kind of bird).

One of the more edgy and shocking pieces included an elephant in a white sheet

The entire exhibit had subtle details that made it really neat.  There was an elevator bank with a bird outside - the elevators actually opened and closed every five minutes.  There were men in business suits in coffins; there was Pinnochio; there was a large number of dead horses; there was a topless woman.

Here is the view from the top

If you want to know more, you'll just have to go see it!  Also, if you have any idea about the deep meaning of it all, feel free to let me know.

Sleep No More

I faced one of my deepest, darkest fears....seeing a 3 hour production of Shakespeare.

Ok, so it wasn't that I went to see a retelling of Shakespeare's MacBeth that scared me.  It wasn't the fact that it was 3 hours long.  It wasn't the fact that it was set in the 1930's.  It wasn't even the fact that it was in Chelsea.  And it certainly wasn't that it was all done through interpretive dance.

So, why was I so scared about seeing this production?  I thought there might be a possibility that I would find myself alone, trapped in a room, sitting in the dark.

If you're not intrigued, it's probably because you've already heard of the British theater company, Punchdrunk's, "Sleep No More."  What's been described by the New York Times as a "movable orgy," was not exactly that, although it was fascinating.

When purchasing tickets, all I knew about the show was that it was recommended by a friend who was immediately separated from her husband as the show began.  Her husband found himself completely alone in a giant 5 story warehouse.

**SPOILER ALERT**

If you're going to see the show and don't want to hear anything else about it, stop reading.  I'm probably gonna let stuff slip.  In fact, I'm gonna tell you everything.  Most people say they want to go in surprised.  So stop reading.

I, of course, was terrified and did not want to go in surprised.  I wanted to know every little detail about what was going to happen to me and then some.  Especially since I found out how the previously mentioned husband became separated from his wife.

There is a 1930's Jazz club as the staging area for this production.  Period-ly dressed cocktail waitresses serve absinthe shots and champagne as the guests of the "McKittrick Hotel" listen to performances on 1920's carbon microphones.  Small groups are called to enter the 5-story experience and asked to put on white masks, as shown in my picture.  All guests must wear these masks so the actors can be identified.  It becomes very creepy when large swarms of people wearing white masks are watching two men fight on a bar table.  More about that in a minute.

The group enters into an elevator and is told the rules of the show.  Besides wearing the mask at all times, guests are allowed to wander into any of the 100+ rooms throughout the warehouse.  Guests can open any drawers, read any papers, touch all objects, eat and drink all food, and must find their own way.  The elevator operator says one more thing as the doors open, "things are not always as they seem," the first guest steps off the elevator and the operator quickly shuts the door behind him and we continue ascending.  Fortunately, I knew that would happen.  That person who stepped off the elevator was my friend's husband.

One we got out of the elevator, clinging to a man in a mask that I could only hope was Mike, we began exploring what we quickly realized was a psychiatric ward.  The eerie music reminded me of a beating heart, but the ward was deserted.  There were hospital beds and doctor-y things (1930's style) but no people.  All of a sudden we found ourselves in a windy forest with completely dead trees.  We wandered for a while throughout the maze of trees, seeing a bobcat and a locked house.

Continuing to wander, we saw one actor chasing another.  We quickly ran after them and found ourselves in a tiny room with a closed door and about 6 other guests.  The men began to "question" each other - by interpretive dance.  (I mentioned the actors didn't speak and just danced, right)?  They swung the lamp on the ceiling at each other.  Demanding answers to a clearly important question.

As the door was opened, a woman rushed by and we found ourselves somehow quickly moved to a new room, watching two women drinking.  They, too, were clearly fighting about something important.  One poured the other a drink and then seemed to squeeze tears from her eyes into a vile.  Very weird stuff.

Leaving the floor via the staircase, we opened a door to the sounds of music and a show!  A performer was singing in the lounge, while many actors were watching.  Mike and I wandered over near the bar.  I poured myself a cup of tea near the couch.  It was cold.  I took a sip just to say that I did it, but thought it was a little gross.  All of a sudden, the singer took a break and the actors wandered over to the bar and demanded some information from the bartender.  Another cool over-the-bar dance and we realized that scene was over.

After a few more encounters, we found ourselves in one of the most exciting scenes ever.  Three witches and Macbeth (even though you couldn't tell by looking at them) began having a party (?)  The lights came down and strobe lights lit up the room.  All of a sudden there was a man with a full ram's head - horns and everything.  The catch was, other than that, he was completely naked.  One of the witches ripped off her top and all of them were flailing around.  I tried to follow the story, but, admittedly, it was difficult with that ram in the room.  Suddenly, the bald witch gave birth to a bloody baby.  I didn't recall this scene in the version of Macbeth that I read, but I didn't pay great attention in 10th grade English.  Perhaps I should have.

The finale really helped me put together who was Macbeth.  He was the one who was killed after all.  This was a pretty intense dance scene - 9 actors all moving in slow motion together.  I was impressed.  Don't miss this if you go see it.  Also, don't miss the rave.  And I missed the bathtub scene where Lady Macbeth washes off Macbeth's blood.

I'll leave you with my favorite scene.  A young man wakes up his pregnant girlfriend.  He chases her on top of a bookshelf - only three feet from the ceiling.  They twist and turn back and forth, at times literally crawling on the ceiling.  You find yourself smiling and thinking - what a lucky baby that will be.  Then you realize you're wearing a mask and look really creepy.

Vermont Part 2 - The Food Blog

If you haven't read the first Vermont post, you are probably the type of person who eats dessert first.  That's fine.  You'll enjoy all the food pictures I have to show you.  But, you really should go back and read it - just so you know where this food is coming from!

This post will detail 4 meals - one dinner and one breakfast in Brattleboro and one dinner and one breakfast in Manchester.  Bon Appetit!

Brattleboro Dinner


This. Was. One. Of. The. Best. Meals. Of. My. Life.

As we were searching on yelp for restaurant recommendations, we came across a restaurant that had 5 stars called T.J. Buckleys.  Assuming this was a beer and wings type of dive, we moved on.  Eventually, the 5 star rating by numerous reviewers made me curious enough to check it out.  It sounded unique so we made the last reservation of the night - 8pm for 2.

Arriving, we realized the restaurant was in an old trolley.  There were only 6 tables in the entire place, and the chef and owner was cooking right in front of the guests!  We enjoyed our bread and butter as well as the Vermont cheese tart with caponata and pate plate with pickles and apples.

A crisp salad came before our entrees.  

Entree 1 - Local rabbit wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with bacon.

Entree #2 - Caramelized Scallops with braised pork belly and sherry

And onto dessert - Warm apricot tart with vanilla ice cream and a parfait with sweet corn ice cream and ginger ice cream.

 

Brattleboro Breakfast

After already being served cookies and hot cider

the Meadowlark Inn had a wonderful breakfast!  It began with a half grapefruit and apple streusel.

followed up by a choice of pumpkin spiced pancakes with warm Vermont maple syrup or eggs benedict.

We ate in the cute living room!

Manchester Dinner


Searching through things to do in Manchester, we found the Lonely Planet's #7 thing to do in all of New England was to eat at a Manchester restaurant, Bistro Henry.  While there were some "suspect" reviews on yelp, we tried it anyway and were not disappointed!

 

We began with lobster bisque and crab cakes.  The crab cakes were all crab - no filler - with a very spicy sauce!  We also had an artichoke, hummus, and feta platter but ate it before I took a picture :(

 

Our mains included duck breast and crispy duck leg and a seafood linguine in a tomato cream sauce.  The seafood included large scallops, a lobster claw, a crab claw, and multiple shrimps!

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of our dessert as well - maple pecan pie with cranberry ice cream.  SO GOOD!

Manchester Breakfast


Enjoying our last B&B morning, we had a choice of eggs or something called cottage cakes.

eggs

Mike petting the dog

COTTAGE CAKES!

After eating these cottage cakes, Mike announced that he would never eat a pancake again.  Fortunately for us (and all of you) the recipe is easy and the Inn has it on their website: http://innatmanchester.com/welcome-to-the-inn-at-manchester/recipe-cottage-cakes/

Do yourself a favor and make these this weekend.

Happy eating!

Vermont 111111

It was 11/11/11.  You know where I've never been?  Vermont.  Fortunately, I live only 2 states away, which made a trip possible.  A trip to Vermont might make you think of hiking or cheese.  While we did both of those things (we definitely did cheese), the surprising aspect of Vermont was its food.  I've tried to avoid this evolving into a food blog.  So, to get that out of the way, check out Vermont part 2 for the foodie in you.

I wasn't sure we were going to make this trip.  We had talked about Vermont this weekend for the past couple of months but we've been traveling a lot.  I finally threw a fit about planning too much.  When Mike realized I expected him to plan our Vermont trip, he immediately, instead, began looking for plane tickets to Puerto Rico.  Of course, tickets to Puerto Rico with 3 days notice are not affordable for anyone.  When you type that search into Kayak, the computer just starts laughing at you.  Once he realized smaller Caribbean Islands had the same problem, as did Miami, he begrudgingly began to look for things to do in Vermont.

Fortunately, once the searching started, the planning became fun.  Who knew Vermont had so many awesome bed and breakfasts?  (everyone)?  Mike picked two cities in the south of Vermont and went with it.  We really lucked out and I would recommend this trip to anyone!

The itinerary in each city consisted of
-Breakfast
-Dinner
-Hike

Brattleboro


We arrived at the Meadowlark Inn in Brattleboro in the pitch black at 4:30 in the afternoon.  A property 1.5 miles from a main road, this Inn is not for anyone who has seen too many scary movies or who doesn't like to use their highbeams.  The Inn Keeper welcomed us into the cozy living room with hot apple cider and cookies, which I devoured.  Our room was a converted farm attic, so we had to duck under beams to get to the toilet, which only had a curtain covering it.  Somehow, it was the coziest, quaintest, farmiest room I had ever been in.  I loved it.

After having one of the top 5 meals of my life (seriously, read the next post), we fell asleep in our little loft, content with the best 11/11/11 ever.

Waking the next morning to an amazing breakfast (post #2), we were ready for some adventure!  People in Brattleboro, and Vermont in general, tend to give directions almost as bad as people in Hawaii.  Typical Hawaii directions: turn left by where the old McDonalds used to be and then take a right where there used to be a red balloon tied to the fence post.  While Vermontans don't require your knowledge of the area from long before you were ever there, they do use "miles" very liberally.  "Drive about a mile and you'll see a gate on your left, turn left and drive another couple miles and then take a right.  You can't miss it"  Really?  Because I think I can miss it.  I did miss it.  Every time.


While looking for an infamous "gate" about a mile from a mile down the road, we came across what we thought could be a path to a tree-lined lake.  We were told this lake was called the stream of consciousness and we couldn't wait to ponder at the pond.  We parked on the side of the road and cautiously began to make our way down a path.  We hadn't gone 50 feet before a truck with two men pulled up along side.  The men stared us down in our dark coats.  "You don't want to go back there dressed like that."  They said.  We looked at their full camo suits and trunk full of guns.  "Hunting season started today and this is private property."  We turned around and began to walk back to the car.  We were jogging by the time we reached the road.

Our next attempt at nature was much more successful.  We hiked Mt. Winnepoopooh or something like that.  We were told the hike was only about 45 minutes each way.  We either did not realize were were crawling up the mountain, or that person was a liar.  Nevertheless, our hike was filled with waterfalls, which were sometimes under our feet, crunchy Autumn leaves, and quiet.  I've never felt so secluded on a trail.

 
 

 

 


I promised you that we did cheese!  Leaving Brattleboro, we stopped at the Grafton Cheese Market and made ourselves sick on samples.

 

Embarassed, we'd say things to each other like, "I think I'll try this one," knowing that the woman behind the counter knew that we had already tried that exact one about 3 or 4 times.

Manchester


Manchester, VT is the home of Robert Todd Lincoln's home called Hildene.  We visited the property and got to see one of (Abraham) Lincoln's actual hats!!!

This is me wearing it!

This is Mike wearing it!  (I thought I did a better job taking this picture).

Also on the estate was a refurbished Pulman car.  These sleeper cars were one of the most luxurious methods of travel back in the day as many presidents traveled on the exact car I was standing in.  The 1920's version of "luxury" travel was basically converting a tight space where you sat all day into a bunked dormitory with beds smaller than current day twin size that included light curtains for privacy.  I'm sure Air Force One is pretty much the same nowadays.

The next day in Manchester (after an amazing dinner and breakfast - no joke, read blog #2), we planned the 5 mile drive up Mount Equinox.  When we got there, the road was closed because of black ice on the numerous hairpin turns of the drive.  Just as we were about to give up, we got the all clear and managed to be the first car of the day to drive up this steep mountain.

At the top we decided to do the hike to "lookout rock."  We hoped this meant a rock with a beautiful view rather than a place where we constantly needed to scream, "Lookout!  ROCK!"

We took another eerie and desolate path.  There was snow up on these peaks and the wind was whipping through the trees with a moaning and ominous hum.  Once again, all alone in the mountains, we came across a grave stone of a beloved dog who had been accidentally shot by a hunter in the 50's.  Oh yeah, his name was Mr. Barbo.

We also ran into a hiker who had walked all the way up the mountain.  We chatted as he ate his tuna fish and ketchup sandwich for lunch.  We surprisingly met a lot of nice, smart, and interesting people in Vermont.  It's almost as if the state has more to it than just hiking and cheddar.

 

 

 


As we descended down the mountain, we slowly realized that the "woodsy fire" smell was not a campfire in the woods - it was our breaks burning.  After making numerous stops on the 80 degree incline to allow our brakes to cool off, we finally were motivated to search for what the "B" gear meant on the prius.  It means low gear.  Who knew?  That helped us get to the bottom of the hill without dying in a brake pad fire.

As we drove home, we could not stop going over all the awesome experiences Vermont had to offer.  We will definitely be back... probably as soon as we run out of cheese.