Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Last day in the Big Apple - for now

Monday - a day off! - and a bit of time for some last NYC explorations.

Waiting for the subway to take us there...


Fun sculpture on Broadway!  We need to come back to see more of these by the same artist on the same street.


Lincoln Center - memories of last year's Glee finale:


Look what John found for me!


MoMA has a construction wall mural also - notes people have left about their visit (enlarged, I assume):


We had a couple hours remaining, so we wandered around MoMA to see a few more bits of art.  The place was crazy-crowded this time.

I like Picasso's goat:


A cast from a piece of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (called Stars and Doves) - it's fun finding things that relate to other places we have enjoyed:


Kip will likely figure out this quote immediately (he's a movie quote guru):


My favorite exhibit...


Time to go!  We'll be back!

Christmas run

We did a "journey run" on Christmas day - it turns out that NYC is a great place to run on Christmas.  Many more places were open than we expected, we weren't alone on the running paths, and (although this isn't guaranteed every year), we had good weather.

Our adventure started at the apartment in Brooklyn with a 2-mile jog over to the Harlem River and the Broadway Bridge.


Look, Amtrak!


It looks like this bridge can be raised straight up to allow tall boats to pass underneath - that would be something to see.


Around the north end of Manhattan we ran on trails in Inwood Hill Park, where we found this odd thing.


A little bit of uphill for the day, to a high point of over 200 feet!


Feels strange to be in the middle of the woods...


Our southernmost target = Battery Park, a few miles away from here:


The trail along the river began near The Cloisters and continued all the way down the western side of Manhattan Island.  Very cool.

John being John:


Imagine living here:


The George Washington Bridge - our friend Markus tells us we should try running across it sometime (although we don't have to start in LA like he did):


Cute lighthouse!



We just can't help ourselves around the public art...


Kayakers on the Hudson!  At least they were heading upwind.  We had some headwind while running south, but it wasn't as bad as expected.


Pretty birds:


Life imitating art again:



I liked this perspective:




What in the heck is this??


View looking into the bottle - it has a whole set of living quarters inside!  One of the odder pieces of outdoor art we have seen in a long time.  Or maybe somebody lives there...


Boat butt:


Pondering the meaning of the chairs:


We ran out onto several piers, including this gigantic driving range, complete with gigantic nets to keep the balls out of the river.  Wow.


Cute little apple - John read that it used to be at the World Trade Center site:


Shall we dance?


As close of a shot as I could get - from Battery Park (we made it all the way south!):


Heading around the bottom tip of the island, we found some hot chocolate and then the Brooklyn Bridge:


The trail lasted all the way to the UN... and then we took to the streets.  I imagine this is prettier when there are a bunch of flags and color in the trees:


We found a little pizza shop for lunch  :)  and stopped in Grand Central Terminal to use the bathroom...

John led the way up Fifth Avenue, dodging tons of tourists and practicing our urban racing skills.  He took me to this statue in Central Park - Alice in Wonderland with oodles of children:


Several of the quotes around her had significance - memories of NOLA 2003 Urban Challenge:


Right next to it, a tribute to a couple urban racers who were at that race:


Unrelated to urban racing, but a highlight for John:


We ran through Central Park and found this holiday-themed street on the north side - my final goal for the day!


We ran up to 125th Street and hopped on a subway for home.  It was getting late and Harlem doesn't have a lot of appeal at the end of a long day.  I'd like to try running around the whole island at some point, as I think it's possible to stay closer to the East and Harlem rivers on the east side.  Another day when we have more daylight and won't be quite as distracted by things that we have already seen  :)

"Welcome home!" from the kitties!


One of our most interesting Christmas days that I can remember!

NYC wanderings

Our second weekend in New York City!

First, we had to get some work done on Friday.  John was focused.  I had Kitten Distraction Syndrome.


The calm between the storms - and really the only way to get a non-blurry picture:


Oh wait, I got one!


On Saturday we started with an elevator ride to the top of the Empire State Building for some beautiful views:





In the sun and out of the wind = warm.  Out of the sun and in the wind = cold.

A fun Christmas model:


We did some walking around town and spotted this amazing parking garage thingy:


Brief trip to Hell's Kitchen to check out the flea market (I suspect it's bigger during the warmer months - the market, not Hell's Kitchen):


John reserved free tickets for the 9/11 Memorial, so we headed downtown to the financial district.  One of the new buildings going up:


The memorial is amazing and sobering.  We very much like the design of the two fountains.




The museum should be open next year inside the leaning glass:


One of the many nice Christmas trees around town, this one outside the NY Stock Exchange:


Christmas bull:


Several of the construction areas in the city have interesting murals along the outsides.  Seems like they are trying to make it a bit less of an eyesore.  This one has examples of crosswalk symbols from around the world:


We ducked into a balloon and toy store to escape the cold wind for a few minutes, and we were pleasantly surprised at all of the fun things to look at, old games, and gag gifts.  I know a few folks who might be interested in this for a punching bag:


What game are we playing again?


There are some angular streets making for interesting building designs.  ("Angular" only gets worse heading into the West Village!)


We had lunch at The Hummus Place - fabulous!  I should have taken a picture, but my focus changes completely when I'm around good food...

An interesting sculpture in Christopher Park, related to the Stonewall Riots:


Beautiful street in Greenwich Village:


And finally, a church turned into a marketplace (reminding us of Scotland where they have turned a church into a bar):


A nice start to Christmas weekend!