The next morning, I was sitting on my terrace working on the script when Graciela ran up with an important announcement.
The mountainous foothills of Yunnan Province required extensive terracing work in order for rice paddy cultivation systems to become successful in this area.
So now, tucked among the trees, on quiet lawns and on stone terraces, works by the likes of Rodin, Giacometti, Dubuffet, Henry Moore, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly and Louise Bourgeois have set about changing the mood of the gardens.
From Dec. 1 to 12, breakfast and dinner will be served on a terrace while work is done in the restaurant.
Ca' dei Zago's tasting room has terracotta tiles on the floor and a wipe-clean chequered tablecloth; views are of gently rolling vineyards and three portly men out on the terrace – their work done – drinking a bottle of the sparkling nectar as the scene turns gold in the sunset.
More than 100 guests paid $250 each to enjoy views from the terraces, peruse works by photographer Brian Hamill and nibble hors d'oeuvres from the restaurant Fatty Crab.
The board has told us not to use the terrace during the work, which is estimated to last through 2012.
There are three common categories under which the occupant may be responsible for the waterproofing: if the proprietary lease makes it the shareholder's responsibility, if the shareholder made changes to the terrace and the work damaged it, and if the repair is caused by the shareholder's negligence in using the terrace.
At the end of "Near the Terrace," a dance work unlike any other, which the Chinese-born choreographer Shen Wei presented at the American Dance Festival here on Sunday, a woman clad only in a purple skirt stands atop a stagewide series of steps.
Go to the high staircase just inside Central Park to see this unusual pair to best advantage, the new structure's steely gray windows and red brick contrasting with terraces and strap work in brownstone (or a facsimile).
