Wednesday, December 28, 2011

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!

No comments: