Coney Island and the Museum of Modern Art

On Thursday, as a treat for Morag, we had lunch at Danny Meyer's first restaurant in Union Square - and even got to meet the man himself (luckily, I recognised him from his documentary). Then we took the "N" subway to Coney Island, and spent the afternoon in the sun on the beach - but we were not alone!

The famous Cyclone rollercoaster beckoned me to test my height - and my mettle. It's a 90 year-old wooden coaster, often considered to be one of the best of it's type in the world, and has inspired at least two exact copies.

It was a white knuckle ride, alright. As you crawl up the first 85 foot climb, you wish you were some-where else - anywhere else. I made the mistake of looking around, and this only increased the fear... then it's down, down, down at 3.7G - you feel like you are going to die. And then you survive! Wa-hoo! It's great to be alive! Then another climb, another dive (12 in all, I think) and it's all over far too soon. Dinner in Spumoni Gardens, Brooklyn - the best Sicilian pizza I've ever had.

On friday, we spent the day at MoMA, and it was quite mind-blowing. Seeing the original works by Oldenburg, DuChamp, Picasso, etc really puts them in perspective.

Drowning Girl by Roy Lichtenstein, 1963.

After an hour or so of the stark geometry of Suprematism, Minimalism and Constructivism, we went the wrong way round the gallery, and stumbled right into French Impressionism. I have never been so moved by a painting before - the contrast was so abrupt, it moved me to tears.

Water Lilies by Claude Monet, 1914-1926