High on a hill lived a lonely goatherd

Saturday
There are approximately 200 art galleries in London - in New York there are over 200 in Chelsea alone so I set out to explore a few. As a complete novice, I joined a guided tour which met at 26th Street between 10th and 11th. Aptly named Raphael led the tour, and amusingly got the group's attention by sounding a pink tubular bell he kept in a holster on his belt. I wondered what I had let myself in for as we piled into an original 19th century freight lift up to the 10th floor of a warehouse to look at a ceiling installation all about death, and then on to another gallery showing a video of...well, I don't think I should say here. We carried on around six more galleries taking in a whole selection of drawing, painting and scupture. It was an excellent tour, and Raphael with his pink bell did a tremendous job.

In the evening we found a very pleasant Italian restaurant on Bleeker Street, and fortified with red wine we went on to Marie's Crisis. Now this place has to be experienced to be believed. A small, crowded basement bar where everybody is around a piano singing along to show tunes! We walked in as they were going through the Sound Of Music repertoire, and I couldn't help but join in with 'How Do You Solve A Problem' and 'Edelweiss'. The piano was surrounded by some real musical luvvies and their faces, a picture of sheer earnestness in belting out the numbers (accompanied in falsetto by a big hairy bloke in the corner), will stay with me for quite some time. We stayed through Chicago (I thought my 'Mr Cellophane' was inspired) and Cabaret (tiddly-dee-dee-dee - 'Three Ladies') before it all became too surreal and we had to get back to reality and burst onto the pavement feeling slightly giddy. Only in New York!