My “good luck” 13th adventure of the year happened last night, and was a compilation of a few new experiences. Sherry and I went to see Luna Luna at the shed in Hudson Yards, NY. It was a rainy, windy night – but our spirits were high.
First time through congestion pricing tolls
Because the weather was a bit rough, we decided to drive in. This was our first time driving into the new NYC “Congestion Pricing” zone with a $9 toll. We were surprised to see little signage about the tolls, and the cameras located just above 59th street on the Henry Hudson were unmarked.
First time at “Little Spain”
We had originally planned to have dinner at a Thai restaurant on 36th street, but when we arrived at our parking garage on 30th it was raining and the wind was howling. We had trouble holding up our umbrellas. Thankfully, we passed “Little Spain” which is like an upscale food court with a theme. Very similar to “Eataley” but of course focused on Spanish cuisine. We decided to check it out and quickly decided we liked being warm and dry – and the food looked very good.
Luna Luna was out of this world!
It is the final two weeks of the Luna Luna exhibit and we chose a night when live jazz would be performed by drummer Daniel Villarreal and his instrumental folk-funk trio. The music was paired well with the quirky nature of the exhibit. The presentation took us through the history of the amusement attraction built in 1987 in Hamburg Germany. It was the brainchild of artist André Heller, who gathered pieces made by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Arik Brauer, Salvador Dalí, Sonia Delaunay, Monika GilSing, Keith Haring, André Heller, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, and Kenny Scharf. Since we had just come from the Dali museum in St Petersberg, this was way for us to understand more about pop culture.
The fair lasted three months during the rainy summer in 1987, then was packed into 40 shipping containers, where the contents stayed for nearly forty years. It’s quite a story how the materials went through law suits and multiple owners before being rediscovered, restored and unveiled to the public.