Three years later, with a new knee and a new back, I decided to try again. The stairs were not an issue if I took them slowly. I also needed to slow my pace, regardless of what the New York pedestrians were doing. They seem to always be in a hurry and easily take me with them.
The four days there were pleasant with good weather for the most part. I met up with an old friend from San Antonio, George.
Chinatown:
George had never been to Chinatown and he wanted to buy a wallet. I was in the hunt for two birthday gifts. every shop seemed to have the same merchandise with varying prices. However, the price would always go down when we started to walk away. It was a warm day and the streets were crowded as always. We took a water break in this park in the middle of the commotion . These musicians were at the entrance to the park, with their starnge looking instruments and odd sounding music.
Groups of men and women gathered around tables, engaged in a game of what looked like dominoes. However, the pieces did not have dots, but Chinese characters. The men and women did not mix.
The pavilion was a mix if activities. One side was dominated by martial arts classes or exercises. The other side had a group of elderly women going through the slow motion paces of aerobics.
Of course not everyone was engaged as a participant/ performer or as an observer. This gentleman dozed while his care-taker had lunch and chatted with her friend on a nearby bench.
Little Italy
While George had never been to Chinatown, I had never been to Little Italy. Canal Street in Lower Manhattan, separates China from Italy. The atmosphere is shockingly different. Chinatown was crowded but quiet. Little Italy was crowded and boisterous. The streets were blocked off and the pedestrians took over
The colorful buildings added to the festive atmosphere.
Sidewalk cafes were the norm. Many of these restaurants had all their doors open, telling me there was no A/C. Some of these restaurants had singing waiters. They may charge more for singing.
We had much here, at Sal's, inside with A/C. It was a warm day at 2 p.m. The eggplant and parmigiana snadwich on fresh bread and a glass of wine was the best. George can be spotted in the photo below, putting on his sun glasses, on the left.
The Cloisters
On every trip to New York, I go with an agenda of things to do and see. I try to include places that are new to me, or that I have seen in a movie. This year's agenda included the Museum of Natural History and the Cloisters, both new to me. Although I did not make it to the Museum of Natural History, I was duely impressed by the Cloisters. From their website:
The Cloisters museum and gardens, which opened to the public in 1938, is the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. Located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan, on a spectacular four-acre lot overlooking the Hudson River, the modern museum building is not a copy of any specific medieval structure but is rather an ensemble informed by a selection of historical precedents, with a deliberate combination of ecclesiastical and secular spaces arranged in chronological order. Elements from medieval cloisters—Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Trie-sur-Baïse, Froville, and elements once thought to have come fromBonnefont-en-Comminges—and from other sites in Europe have been incorporated into the fabric of the building.
The website directions said that the walk from the subway stop to the museum was 10 minutes. This might be true if you know ehre you are going. The maps along the way did not help much. It is a beautiful place to walk and get lost. The paths go uphill and downhill. The paths also fork this way and that along the Hudson River.
Enough whining, enjoy the pictures. Please note that flash photography was prohibited. There was a "guard" in almost every room. Some artwork, tapestries, and archways from as far back as 1250 are but dark images in my camera. Here are those that made it.
The Cloisters is a must see. Your entrance fee to the Cloisters allows you free entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If I had known this, I would have rearranged my schedule to return to the Met.
Columbus Circle
I have seen this location in many movies, but had never visited the site. I realized how close it was to other places I had been. It is one of the main entrances to Central Park.
Miscellany
One does not have to go too far in the City to make interesting finds. At the end of the block, almost unseen is this small cemetery. It is next to a restaurant and adjoins residential units, behind the blue wall. It is a Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Cemetery.
This is the Jefferson Market Branch of the NYC Library System. It's history dates back to 1833 and was once a courthouse and prison. The current design is of 1877. I think this is the first time I see it without the scaffolding that came with renovations and restorations.
This concludes my trip to New York City over the Labor Day Weekend of 2014.
