Mum and I set out to see something new at the Albany Institute of History and Art - only to discover that the place is closed on Tuesdays. "What a shame," said the woman on the desk, not letting us in, "There are two wonderful new exhibitions, especially the one on American Impressionism."
Maybe we'll be able to see for ourselves another day. Instead today we took a short driving tour around some Albany districts and regretted the disrepair that many of the old townhouses have fallen into. But at least they're still standing. While we tootled around, my Dad was at a lecture about Nelson A. Rockefeller's Albany legacy: the Empire State Plaza and Interstate 787. The first involved bulldozing half of downtown to put up high towers and a vast plaza which (in my opinion) are beyond human scale; the second has denied Albany the chance of making the most of what should be a fine waterfront along the Hudson.
I find myself comparing this legacy of Rockefeller with that of Dr Abbuhl, the man behind Pine Hollow Aboretum. I know which one I prefer.
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