New York, NY

July 8^th, 2025

We are back in New York. Previously we have woken up in the early hours to see us sail under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge and past the Statue of Liberty, but this time we are on the wrong side of the ship, and we will see them both anyway when we sail away this afternoon.

By the time we had docked there were many taxis lined up at the terminal, we shouldn’t have a problem taking a cab into town today. We have had friends wait for hours for a taxi in the past, not good if you are trying to get to the airport.

My first task this morning was to sort out our dinner arrangements. We really didn’t want to move to another table.

I went to the dining room and explained to the Maitre d’ that we wanted to remain on table 300 so we could be with our friends. He was very obliging and asked for our friends stateroom numbers. I didn’t know them. Then he asked for their last names. I didn’t know that either. He was now looking at me as if I was some kind of stalker. I could give them all of their first names, but that was it. I could tell him where they were from, their food allergies and intolerances, that they drank white wine, but their surnames and stateroom numbers were beyond my capabilities. Things were not going well.

Then, as a couple arrived looking for a table for breakfast, he relented and said he would move us to table 300. Phew!

That task accomplished I went back to our stateroom, and we grabbed our passports and headed for the cruise terminal.

Disembarkation was in full swing, and appeared to be going smoothly. There was quite a queue at immigration, but it didn’t look horrendous. As we were directed to join the queue someone noticed that we had no luggage and were clutching our In Transit cards. We were redirected to a booth where the agent hardly glanced at our passports, and we were free to go and explore New York.

We were headed to EAT café near to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to meet with a friend, Lynda, for breakfast.

Lynda was flying to London this evening to catch Queen Anne. She brought me all sorts of great goodies she had collected from the Queen Anne world voyage. They were all wonderful, and I was very excited. Definitely things to treasure!

We had a fun time catching up, and I got to eat an enormous pain au chocolat. I love how we have friends and family all over the world. Spending time with them is such a joy!

Lynda gave us passes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection. The perfect way to spend a day in Manhattan.

We had been wanting to see the New Art American Photography exhibit at the Met. The exhibit showcases the old photos collected by the brother in law of a friend, so here was our opportunity.

On Lynda’s advice we started our visit to the Met by going to see the Sargent and Paris exhibit. To get to the exhibit we had to walk by the impressionist section. All of a sudden I was standing right next to those paintings that you see everywhere on posters, scarves, umbrellas. Now I am seeing them in their original form. We couldn’t just rush by them, we had to just stand there and take it all in. What a wonderful place to start our day here!

Finally we were able to move on, and follow the map to the Sargent exhibition. The exhibitiom was absolutely wonderful. I realized that I really didn’t know that much about Sergent or how very, very talented and versatile he was. The paintings were all early works, from the time he lived in Paris and traveled around Europe.

This one of Venice made me want to go back there right now!

And his paintings from Morocco brought back memories of our wonderful time there.

There was a very talented artist sketching one of his paintings from Spain.

When he wasn’t traveling around, he spent a lot of his time painting portraits. There were many family scenes, but my favorites were his portraits of Parisian women, Parisiennes. The Parisiennes all looked very beautiful, and I am sure the women who commissioned the portraits were very happy with the end results of Sargent’s artistry.

One of the most striking portraits is that of New Orleans born Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau who was a glamorous figure in Paris in the early 1880s. Apparently Sargent conceived the portrait as a bold image of a modern, self-styled celebrity; however, many  saw a very controversial Parisienne or worse, an American interloper, who challenged the manners and norms of French society. The work was met with both admiration and scorn. Many critics used Gautreau’s appearance to question her morals. Sargent had originally painted her dress strap sliding off her right shoulder. Gautreau’s mother begged Sargent to remove the portrait, but he defended his work. When he sold the work to The Met in 1916, Sargent wrote that it was “the best thing I’ve done,” and asked that it be titled Madame X.

I read that Sargent’s mother was an “inveterate sightseer”. I like that. That could describe me.

At the end of the exhibit there was a table set up with little cards that you could use to critique, sketch or reflect on the exhibit. People were busy working on the cards as we passed though. I wondered, what would I do with one of those cards? I would reflect. It was a wonderfully laid out exhibit, and it inspired me to learn more about Sargent. On a more superficial level, I thought that the dress Madame X was wearing was perfect for a formal night on QM2. For someone else though alas, not for me.

After the Sargent exhibit, we went to the photography exhibit. There are more than 700 old photos on display, and it was quite fascinating. Alas, in 100 years’ time I am not sure there will be a similar exhibit of early 21^st century digital photos.

Among the hundreds of photos they also had old cameras. It struck me that previously I wouldn’t think of going on holiday without my camera. Now all I take is my phone. The times they are a changing.

We spent the rest of our time there looking at the other exhibits. The Africa section was very disappointing. West Africa was very well represented, but there was a paucity of exhibits from South and Central Africa. Not even one soapstone sculpture from Zimbabwe. We have some really lovely pieces of artwork from that part of the world, there are some brilliant artists. It is sad that they aren’t represented.

We had hoped to visit the Frick Collection as well, but all of a sudden it was time to get back to the ship. We had to be on board by 4:30. I do wish we could have had longer in New York.

We grabbed a Coke and a hot dog, picked up some supplies from a nearby convenience store, and in no time, we were heading back to Brooklyn.

A week ago the weather had been nasty for our sail away, but not this afternoon. There were rain cloud in the distance, but it was perfectly dry and warm.

I love the look of our Cunard red funnel against the Manhattan skyline.

Finally we were off. The captain blew the whistle. Well, actually he didn’t. He only blew the foghorn. Last week I had had some concerns about the sound of the original Queen Mary whistle. Now it was totally silent as we floated into the Buttermilk Channel.

I decided to go to deck14 to watch us sail away. Last week there were no animals on board, but this week as it is a crossing, we have been joined by furry friends.

I love that they have both a lamp post and a fire hydrant so they can suit the needs of dogs from both sides of the Atlantic.

Soon we were nearing the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge

And leaving Manhattan

And the Statue of Liberty behind.

There is always a lot of excitement when we go under the bridge. In 22 years of crossing the Atlantic Queen Mary 2 has never had an issue with the bridge, but everyone always has to be out on deck to see what happens. Alas, I am one of those people.

We are flying 4 flags – US, the Red Ensign (which has been flown on UK merchant ships since 1707), the Cunard flag, and the red and white nautical flag H, signifying we have a pilot on board.

One of the rather useless bits of trivia in my head is the meaning of the nautical flags. On one of my sea journeys as a child, when I was as usual the only child on board, a bored officer taught me the flags. Has this ever come in handy? No. Not for quizzes, and not in real life. Except many years ago when we were anchored off Hong Kong I recognized that the ship next to us was flying the quarantine flag. I told Mum and Dad that under no circumstances should they go on board that ship. Not that they were planning to anyway. I had just learned about cholera from another bored officer, and I was sure that’s what was up. As it turned out I was correct. There was indeed cholera on board.

Well, hopefully there is no cholera onboard queen Mary 2, and we gradually approached the bridge.

And safely passed under it, and out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Let the Crossing begin!

We got to dinner early to make sure we were at table 300, and we were. We were soon joined by the rest of our usual tablemates. And had another fun meal.

Tonight’s Showtime was Tara Rachelle, a flute player. She was good, I do love listening to the flute.

When we returned to our stateroom, outside the door there was an envelope. Could this finally be the invitation to the captain’s table for dinner? Of course it wasn’t. But it was even better – Ian and Mary are going to be renewing their vows, and we have been invited. What fun!