By Tony Adams
Professor Andrew Lear was a hit with the New York City HE Travel alumni and friends who came to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for his “Secret Gay Tour Of The MET.”
The tour was offered by HE Travel as a way of saying thank you to those in the city who have traveled or will travel with HE, and also to build a family of HE travelers who share many common interests and travel experiences. After the tour, the group reconvened at the Townhouse, a venerable gay bar on East 58th Street for camaraderie, shared stories, and drinks courtesy of HE Travel.
Andrew’s tour was wonderful. I have a MET membership but I did not know the gay backstory of some of the paintings, sculptures and artifacts highlighted and explained by Andrew. Who is that “woman” in the Frans Hals painting? What’s the deal with the iron cross in that Marsden Hartley painting? Why does the Emperor Hadrian have a beard? What’s up with those tall carved totems in the David Rockefeller collection? I got the impression that Andrew knows many more secrets that time didn’t allow him to share.”
It was a pleasure to meet HE Travel alumni and to swap stories about various tours old and new. For me, the real pleasure of hosting tours for HE Travel is the opportunity to become friends with some really fine men. I hope this kind of event and social will become the first of many more.
