Day 8 - We would walk 500 miles

In homage to the Proclaimers we decided to see if we could walk 500 miles around New York, and I think we succeeded.  The plan for today was to complete three more of the self-directed walking tours that Jan had lent us.  We started by taking the metro to Greenwich Village and completed a walk around there.  It was a great experience and a totally different area to the places we had been - no skyscrapers, lots of 'artsy' little places and quite a lot of gay culture (it was the birthplace of the gay rights movement).  It reminded me of the area around Oxford Street and Paddington in Sydney.  A few snaps are below.

75 1/2 Bedford Street, NYC's skinniest house

Public sculpture in Christopher Park

We found a good coffee shop during the walk, courtesy of the self-directed guide card.  Rhonda had difficulty getting good coffee in New York, but this coffee shop was up to her high expectations.  The lady in the photo agreed to Rhonda taking the photo - we thought it was best to ask.

After Greenwich Village it was time to visit the 'Tenement Museum'.  A fabulous place to visit and one we would never have found without Jan's guidance. 

The Museum features an original tenement building (just down the street on the left from the visitor centre you can see here) that had been abandoned for about 50 years before being 'rediscovered' in the 1980s.  The museum features apartments (only about 30 square metres in size) that have been reconstructed to look exactly how they were when occupied.  The guides tell you stories about what life was like for the migrants who lived there, based on research of the actual families (it's a bit like an episode of "Who do you think you are?").  A brilliant set up and we could have spent much longer there.  Some of the tours allow you to interact with actors playing characters from the periods of occupancy.  All tours need to be booked online.

Our next stop was across the East River for a walk around Brooklyn Heights, an old and quite affluent suburb.  A total contrast to Greenwich Village, but fascinating in its own right.

Rhonda having a chat with a professional dog walker in Brooklyn Heights - we saw quite a few dog walkers in New York

The last walk we did was across the Brooklyn Bridge, and iconic sight and a wonderful example of engineering.  The walk is very popular, and you get great views of the Manhattan skyline while walking across the bridge.  The only problem is that there are support wires everywhere, so the view is somewhat constrained (although interesting in its own right.  A couple of happy snaps below.

Our day finished with dinner with Jan, at an Asian fusion restaurant near her apartment.  A delicious end to our time in New York.  As an added bonus we had coffee after dinner at the coffee shop featured in the movie You've Got Mail (starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks).  Lovely.

Two final signs from New York - the first spotted in a church we were walking past, and the second at a building site. 

Tomorrow we're off to Washington DC by train.  Or, as Rhonda likes to think of it, Washing Town (since we need to do some washing).  Deeply saddened by the news of the Malaysian Airlines plane - tragedy can strike at any time, so enjoy your life while you can.  'Bye for now.

Day 7 - Culture eagles

Another day, another museum.  Today we visited the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The Americans do 'grand' buildings really well.  We first called in at the library and it was a beautiful building.  Unfortunately, the main reading room was closed for renovations, but the areas we saw were beautiful, as we hope you can see from the photos below.

 

 

After the library it was off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It was absolutely fabulous - the collection is very well presented and the building is huge.  You really need a couple of days to do the collection justice. Given our limited time we decided to focus on the American art collection, although we did pass by some of the other collections on our travels.  The photos below give a feel for what we saw.

 

After the museum we strolled back to the hotel through Centralish Park.  It was very popular, no doubt because of the weather, sunny but not too hot.  We had one of those "you just had to be there" moments.  Rhonda noticed a bird of prey (small eagle or large hawk, we're not sure) in a grassed area and we went over for a look.  The bird of prey had killed a smaller bird and was trying to eat it.  Other small birds were swooping down on it, so eventually it flew off, taking its meal with it.

I told Rhonda that I'd show her a good time in New York, and sure enough there were people having a good time everywhere in the park.

A final reflection on the day.  Up to now I've spent a fair bit of time criticising the lack of thinking that goes into signs here.  To be fair, the Americans do some things really well.  One of the things they do well is traffic reports on the morning news.  Instead of simply telling viewers that certain roads are busy, they show a graphic which is a road map, with the main roads colour coded according to how fast or slow the traffic flow on them is.  It makes it much easier to take in the information.  A screen shot is below.

That's all for today, we'll be back tomorrow after visiting the Tenement Museum and walking through Greenwich Village and Brooklyn.  By for now.

Day 6 - Culture vultures

A day of culture and we set off for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).  It's located in 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, and, but for the signs on the outside of the building, you'd never notice it. One of the least impressive buildings from the outside housing one of the most impressive and inspirational collections on the inside. 

MoMA starting to get busy

The Starry Night - Van Gogh (Vinny to those who know him well)



A Picasso - I think he needed glasses

Salvadore Dali - The Persistence of Memory (ironically I forgot it almost instantly)

 The art at the MoMA was wonderful, and they also featured works of design and had a great bookstore.  There was something about the MoMA that resonated with me and Rhonda.  The museum also had a courtyard sculpture garden where we had a bite to eat for lunch.  A few of the sculptures are shown below.

A Henry Moore - those of you who know your sculpture will be impressed

The same from the front

 

Not a Henry Moore - but I liked it

This just looked cool

By the time we left the MoMA a storm had arrived and we experienced a new aspect of life in New York - getting wet.  We've been very lucky with the weather and the few episodes of bad weather haven't stopped us doing anything.

In the evening we made our way to the Snapple Theater Center to see an off-Broadway play - Perfect Murder.  Jan (who else) had organised tickets for us and we met her at the theatre to pick them up.  The theatre was small and intimate and our seats were in the second row.

 

The play has been running for 25 years and was very good.  We had three ladies sitting to our right and they made the night even more interesting, with their comments about a painting on the wall of the set that was featured in the play.  All in all a great experience.  The walk back to The Hotel was eerie, with the tops of the skyscrapers disappearing into the clouds.  The pictures below give an idea of what it looked like.

 

I'll finish off with another sign showing why thinking is important.  How much do you think it costs to park for the day?

 

The answer is about $30.

We'll be back tomorrow with more culture - our visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Day 5 - Peace in our time

Feeling guilty about our hedonistic lifestyle, we decided to do something good for the world.  Being in New York, the site of the United Nations headquarters, world peace seemed like a worthwhile goal.  To help achieve this we called once more on Jan Muir, whose advice and support have been fantastic, and she organised for us to visit the UN. 

While at brunch on Saturday, Jan invited Amanda (an Aussie working as a waitress at the restaurant, when not making documentary films or working as a photographer) and Amanda's father Rob (visiting from Australia) to join us on the tour.  Jan met us outside the UN and escorted us in.

Richard, Rhonda, Jan, Amanda and Rob



After signing in and receiving our visitors passes Jan took us to the gardens to look at some of the statues and sculptures donated by member nations of the UN.  These were very interesting and quite moving.

A section of the Berlin Wall

Part of a sculpture commemorating refugees

Then it was on to the serious stuff.  Jan showed us the Economic and Social Council Chamber, the Trusteeship Council Chamber, and the Security Council Chamber.

Economic and Social Council Chamber

 

Trusteeship Council Chamber

Security Council Chamber

We were mildly surprised, given the troubles in the world, that the Security Council wasn't dealing with anything while we were there, so we headed off to the (temporary) General Assembly (the proper one is being renovated at the moment) where I called for more effort for world peace.   



Richard speaking to the General Assembly at the UN

The entire audience (of 5) agreed with my resolution (Jan will be impressed that I remembered the term 'resolution') and Rob and Amanda represented Australia with dignity and a steely resolve. 

 



Rob and Amanda voting support for Richard



After our tour Jan took us to the staff canteen for lunch and then we visited the visitor centre and souvenir shop.  We were all very impressed by the UN precinct and have a much better understanding of how things work.  Jan was a fabulous host and very generous with her time (it was a normal workday for her).

We said a fond farewell to Amanda and Rob and set off for the hotel.  On our way we stopped at the north-western corner of the UN precinct to look (through the fence) at one final sculpture.  It is a very large (pretty much full size) elephant, shown below.

The elephant is surrounded by a 'modesty hedge' because, apparently, it is a bull elephant with a very large appendage (we kid you not).  During our stroll back to the hotel I noticed the following sign in the window of a tailor shop.

It would seem that they have branched out into the field of plastic surgery.  After a short rest at The Hotel (close to Times Square) we set off to Pier 62 to meet up with Jan for a sunset champagne cruise around the bottom half of Manhattan Island.  It was fantastic.  The crew were welcoming, the boat comfortable and the views of Manhattan, and the Statue of Liberty, were amazing.  Seeing the lights start to come on as the sun set was beautiful.  Some happy snaps are below.

Our boat - thankfully not the "Minnow"

 

 

 

All in all another great day.  Tomorrow we're becoming more cultural, visiting the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA - not to be confused with the Metropolitan Museum of Art [MMOA], we'll be there the day after tomorrow) and attending an Off-Broadway play.