It sat on a stark white block in a vast room that resembled a laboratory. I was at the SculptureCenter in the New York borough of Queens, a spot dedicated to all things modern and avant garde. Taking pride of place was a cluster of bottles, each of which contained dog fluff and a photo of the mutt it came from. ‘We’re running a competition to find new talent,’ explained the black-clad curator, brightly. ‘Maybe I’ll shave the cat next time I visit my parents,’ I thought to myself. ‘If I stick the fluff in a bottle, it might just win.’ Cultural revolution: New York is in the throes of a cultural revolution - but MOMA is still brilliant . Welcome, then, to Nu York, a city that bears no resemblance to the version depicted in Friends and Gossip Girl and instead centres around a throbbing contemporary arts scene largely based in Brooklyn and Queens - the latter the beneficiary of a recent gentrification programme. Gone (mostly) are the rough tenements and in their place, a bustling network of shop-lined streets and some seriously classy bars and hotels. Among the latter was the Z Hotel, a stark block of a building decked out in the industrial-chic style so beloved of London hipsters. Stateside Shoreditch, as it were. It was all a far cry from Iceland where I had begun my trip, courtesy of an Icelandair wheeze that gives you the option of stopping off to see the sights of Reykjavik and the spectacular Golden Circle for up to seven days en route to Boston, Anchorage, Washington or, in my case, New York. Although still on the global naughty step thanks to a calamitous economic meltdown in 2009, the Icelandic capital shows signs of recovery – not least in the form of the revellers that lined the street outside the Apotek Hotel, a gloriously Scandinavian-looking place to stay, as I arrived at midnight following an evening flight from London. The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed for a Viking-style cooking class at Salt Eldhus where I learned to cook barley risotto and salt and pepper salmon – the perfect way, as it turned out, to fortify me for the dramatic scenery that came next. Stunning: The Gullfoss Waterfall in Pingvellir National Park is a short hop from Reykjavik . Awe-inspiring: Geysir is home to a row of geysers that fire boiling water and a sulphurous stench into the air . Covered with a thick layer of snow, Pingvellir National Park sits atop the fault line that separates the American continent from the European one and provides Iceland with its volcanoes, geysers and geothermal springs. The site of Iceland’s first parliament, it’s a short hop from Geysir, where a series of geysers explode in a shower of boiling water and revolting sulphurous stench every five minutes or so. Slipping and sliding on the ice, the first explosion caught me unawares and forced me to jump back. At the next one, I held my nerve, looking smugly round at the tourists who had been caught on the hop like I had been. Then came a trip to Friðheimar, a series of greenhouses filled with tomato plants and set next to a stable crammed with hairy Icelandic ponies. The glowing buildings were an odd sight, although the produce was second to none, but even that paled in comparison to the Secret Spring – a bubbling pool flanked by a geyser and lit, on clear nights, by the shimmering green and purple glow of the Northern Lights. Sitting there, watching them ripple, was truly magical. The next morning, it was off to New York which, with its claustrophobic cluster of skyscrapers and determinedly chic inhabitants, was a very different prospect indeed. While Iceland, like the rest of Scandinavia, boasts an effortless flair for design and a natural cool, the Big Apple has clearly worked on it. Beneath the too-cool-for-school surface, however, lies some old-fashioned Americana – not least in the all-American charm of the cheerful locals. Looking cool: Williamsburg, home to Jake Gyllenhaal among others, is awash with artisan bars . New look: Queens has had a makeover, with tough neighbourhoods replaced with cool shops and chic bars . Among them are the staff at the Roger Smith Hotel in Manhattan, who took a break from watching the Super Bowl to ply me with burgers and fries as I arrived, dishevelled, following a five-hour flight from Reykjavik. The next morning, after an all-American breakfast of bacon and waffles, I left the chintzy charms of the Roger Smith behind for a visit to MOMA, the epicentre of New York’s cultural cool. A fabulous place set in a glass and steel building over several floors, it is crammed with modern art dating from the mid-18th century onwards. Matisse, Monet and Picasso are there in numbers, as are Frieda Kahlo and Andy Warhol. Rothko, Malevich and Seurat dot its walls, as does some appalling stuff by the likes of Jean-Pierre Basquiat – avoid that and stick to the good bits on the third floor is my advice. Carrying bags of Warhol prints and a Sunday morning sized MOMA mug, we hopped into one of New York’s iconic yellow taxis for a short ride to low-rise Williamsburg, where another hipster favourite – craft beer – is taking hold. Beneath the pub where we ate lunch was a small collection of stills, where a variety of types, including one containing raw oysters, was being brewed. It was all delicious and a pleasant change from the Budweiser usually found in American bars. Artisan beer, artisan food and artisan art are all staples of New York’s burgeoning hipster culture, although to a cynical Brit like me, some of it felt a little try-hard. Brilliant: The Museum of Moving Image is set to become a New York must-visit - well worth going to . A case in point is the play Sleep No More, which made its début in London to critical rumblings and indifferent audiences but has become a real favourite in New York. Set in a warehouse over several floors, the idea is that you walk in at an unspecified point in the play (I managed to work out that it was a version of Macbeth but not everyone does) and follow the actors around attempting to get a handle on the action. Beginning in a wonderfully old-fashioned red-velvet lined bar, the action was compered by a chap with a British accent taken from the Dick van Dyke school of acting, who showed us into a lift and provided us with Scream-style masks before throwing us into the thick of things. Moving around the huge set, I walked into scene after scene and never really got much sense of the plot, although I did find myself becoming increasingly irritated with the hammy miming. Indeed, so disjointed was Sleep No More,   $20 booklets explaining the plot were being flogged to theatregoers, who had already paid $80 to get in, on their way out. Being unable to work out what it was all about is clearly a recurrent problem. Luckily for those whose tastes don’t stretch to baffling plays and bottles of dog fluff, New York still has much to love. Along with MOMA, there’s the brilliant Museum of Moving Image in Queens which takes you on a whistlestop tour through the US’ lengthy cinematic history with the help of a cleverly curated selection of pieces, among them the creepy doll which found fame in the Exorcist. Then there’s the bewildering selection of places to eat. In Queens alone, there’s everything from Brazilian to British and everything in between - and nearly all of it is delicious. And of course, there are all those iconic sights: the slow-moving Hudson River, the Rockerfeller Center, the Statue of Liberty and more. Nu York might not be to everyone’s taste but there’s no shortage of reasons to love the Big Apple – pulsating art scene and a quirky taste in plays included. Just don't make me watch Sleep No More again. Icelandair (icelandair.co.uk) flies from five UK airports including Birmingham to 14 North American destinations. Icelandair offers return Heathrow to JFK flights from £436.61 with a stopover of up to seven nights in Iceland with no extra airfare. The Roger Smith Hotel in Midtown Manhattan (rogersmith.com) offers rooms from $250 (approximately £164) per night. Z Hotel in Long Island City, Queens (zhotelny.com) offers superior rooms from $125 in low season (approximately £89) and $225 in high season (approximately £146) per night on a B&B basis. For more information on New York City, please visit the NYC & Company website: www.nycgo.com .
New York is currently enjoying a cultural makeover.
Highlights include the SculptureCenter in Queens and experimental plays.
Classic New York spots such as the marvellous MOMA remain excellent.
Another highlight is the Museum of Moving Image in Queens.
Icelandair allows travellers flying to the US to stop off en route.
Itineraries include visits to Reykjavik and the stunning Golden Circle.