TWO MORE DAYS!!!!
Me and Erikka at the Botanic Garden, Capitol building behind us
lion sculpture and Capitol building
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Back in DC
After a slightly scary start to the day (my alarm didn't go off, and I woke up at 5:10, when the cab was coming at 5:30), I got to DC at about 8am and to my hotel by 8:30. I sat on a bench on the mall knitting until Erikka and Brian got in. We went to the US Botanic Garden (which was pretty small, but had a nice conservatory), then to the Hirshhorn museum (which I had been to in June, but they had moved stuff around significantly), had lunch and the Capitol City Brewing Co, and then we went to DuPont Circle to go to a private art museum called the Phillips Collection. It was very impressive and in an old cool house. After the art museum, we just walked around the area for awhile, including Embassy Row - a street where most of the embassies are. So that was interesting. We had dinner at a great pizza place, and then they headed home and I went to my hotel. So it was a long day, but it was nice. I was glad Erikka and Brian were here - otherwise I probably just would have sat at the hotel all day!
TWO MORE DAYS!!!!
Me and Erikka at the Botanic Garden, Capitol building behind us
lion sculpture and Capitol building
TWO MORE DAYS!!!!
Me and Erikka at the Botanic Garden, Capitol building behind us
lion sculpture and Capitol building
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Farewell, NYC!
It's finally time to leave! I guess the 10 weeks went kind of fast, but I still can't wait to go home! My flight leaves at 7am tomorrow, then I'm in DC from Sunday-Tuesday. I am kind of annoyed to go to DC since I just want to go home, but at least I will get to see Erikka and Brian while I'm there. They will come to DC tomorrow and spend the day with me, which will make being there much more worth it!
Last night I went to a Science Cabaret at the NY aquarium, which is at Coney Island. The cabaret was more or less stupid (the only entertaining thing was that Danica McKellar...Winnie from Wonder Years...was there promoting her new book 'Kiss My Math'), but I was glad to see Coney Island once. It was dark so I couldn't see the beach really, but the boardwalk was interesting. I had a famous Nathan's hot dog there, and saw the Astroland amusement park. While I stood on the subway platform waiting for the train, I also caught the fireworks (which they set off every Friday in the summer I think). So it was interesting.
Today I slept in, then went to Central Park for a little bit. It was hard to relax (I had a book and my knitting)- all I could think about was packing. So I came back to the apartment and got things mostly packed. I'm just praying my check bag isn't over 50 lbs!!! So everything is mostly ready to go; I just need to finagle my pajamas and a few more pairs of shoes into my suitcase in the morning. I just can't wait!!! Tonight I'm getting dinner with Wendy. I am grateful for something to do - otherwise the night would seem like an eternity until I get to leave!
I would now like to share with you a couple of top ten lists:
Top ten things I won't miss about NYC:
10. How expensive everything is.
9. The subway! In particular, the smell of very sweaty or dirty people in an enclosed space and the men that sit in the middle of the seat with their legs wide open taking up two seats!
8. All the people everywhere....
7. and yet being alone all the time.
6. This apartment - I can't wait to go home to my clean kitchen without cockroaches and with a refrigerator that doesn't have leftovers that have been in it all summer that make everything in it smell weird (I guess I hope my fridge at home isn't like that).
5. Walking everywhere and always being sweaty before I get somewhere.
4. My $800/month sublet. I can't believe people pay so much to live here. Soooo not worth it.
3. Times Square. I hate Times Square.
2. The stupid alcohol rules. It was really annoying to not be able to buy wine at the grocery store.
1. All the slow-walking stupid people that walk in the middle of the damn sidewalk and/or stop in front of you in a big crowd and/or walk straight towards you without attempting to move out of the way.
Top then things I will miss about NYC
10. Art museums galore.
9. The subway - although it was often annoying, I didn't mind not driving all summer.
8. The Market in Nolita - I wish I could have bought so many things there!
7. The free concerts I found in various parks. While STL has a nice share of free music, its never anyone you've actually heard of!
6. Having so many interesting things to take pictures of. I really want a better camera, and maybe would like to really learn about photography.
5. The thrill of maybe crossing the path of a celebrity - although the two I saw were less than exciting.
Ummmm right now I can't think of more than that. Maybe someday I'll actually have 10 things!
THREE MORE DAYS!!!!
Last night I went to a Science Cabaret at the NY aquarium, which is at Coney Island. The cabaret was more or less stupid (the only entertaining thing was that Danica McKellar...Winnie from Wonder Years...was there promoting her new book 'Kiss My Math'), but I was glad to see Coney Island once. It was dark so I couldn't see the beach really, but the boardwalk was interesting. I had a famous Nathan's hot dog there, and saw the Astroland amusement park. While I stood on the subway platform waiting for the train, I also caught the fireworks (which they set off every Friday in the summer I think). So it was interesting.
Today I slept in, then went to Central Park for a little bit. It was hard to relax (I had a book and my knitting)- all I could think about was packing. So I came back to the apartment and got things mostly packed. I'm just praying my check bag isn't over 50 lbs!!! So everything is mostly ready to go; I just need to finagle my pajamas and a few more pairs of shoes into my suitcase in the morning. I just can't wait!!! Tonight I'm getting dinner with Wendy. I am grateful for something to do - otherwise the night would seem like an eternity until I get to leave!
I would now like to share with you a couple of top ten lists:
Top ten things I won't miss about NYC:
10. How expensive everything is.
9. The subway! In particular, the smell of very sweaty or dirty people in an enclosed space and the men that sit in the middle of the seat with their legs wide open taking up two seats!
8. All the people everywhere....
7. and yet being alone all the time.
6. This apartment - I can't wait to go home to my clean kitchen without cockroaches and with a refrigerator that doesn't have leftovers that have been in it all summer that make everything in it smell weird (I guess I hope my fridge at home isn't like that).
5. Walking everywhere and always being sweaty before I get somewhere.
4. My $800/month sublet. I can't believe people pay so much to live here. Soooo not worth it.
3. Times Square. I hate Times Square.
2. The stupid alcohol rules. It was really annoying to not be able to buy wine at the grocery store.
1. All the slow-walking stupid people that walk in the middle of the damn sidewalk and/or stop in front of you in a big crowd and/or walk straight towards you without attempting to move out of the way.
Top then things I will miss about NYC
10. Art museums galore.
9. The subway - although it was often annoying, I didn't mind not driving all summer.
8. The Market in Nolita - I wish I could have bought so many things there!
7. The free concerts I found in various parks. While STL has a nice share of free music, its never anyone you've actually heard of!
6. Having so many interesting things to take pictures of. I really want a better camera, and maybe would like to really learn about photography.
5. The thrill of maybe crossing the path of a celebrity - although the two I saw were less than exciting.
Ummmm right now I can't think of more than that. Maybe someday I'll actually have 10 things!
THREE MORE DAYS!!!!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Headlights in DUMBO
Tonight I went to see Headlights play at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The park is technically in DUMBO - I had to fit it into this post somewhere - its my favorite NYC acronym - standing for 'development under the Manhattan Bridge overpass.' The show itself was in an old tobacco warehouse that was going to get torn down; they ended up saving the structure (roofless) for an event venue - it was very interesting. The show was free, so I justified a $5 Brooklyn Brewery beer, figuring it will be my last Brooklyn beer, and fittingly at the last show I'll see in NYC. Headlights were great...they even pulled 2 little girls out of the audience to dance on stage, very entertaining.
I've had a hard time concentrating at work, which is bad since I am trying to finish up so many things. All I can think about is being home in SIX DAYS!!!
All these pictures were from Brooklyn Bridge Park/Tobacco Warehouse - I'm feelin to lazy to label them.
I've had a hard time concentrating at work, which is bad since I am trying to finish up so many things. All I can think about is being home in SIX DAYS!!!
All these pictures were from Brooklyn Bridge Park/Tobacco Warehouse - I'm feelin to lazy to label them.
Monday, August 4, 2008
A Busy Weekend
OK, uploading works now. This will be short-ish though because I'm still tired from everything June and I did this weekend (I'm sure she can vouch for this too!). Saturday, we walked from SoHo to lower Manhattan, including a stop at Ground Zero. We rode on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, and then we walked to South Street Seaport for a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we rode uptown to Grand Central Station, and walked to the Empire State Building. All day long, June was overwhelmed by how tall the buildings are, so I told her she had to see the tallest one. We ended up going up to the observatory at the top of the Empire State Building - a long wait but it was very nice up top - we got there just as the sun went down. The worst thing was there were TONS of people up there. I don't remember it being so crowded when I went up in 2000. Then we went to Grimaldi's pizza in Brooklyn. I had been there once and wanted to go one more time. Hopefully June thought it was worth it - we didn't get to eat until about 10:30 (after waiting forever for a train, and then waiting in line for a table).
Sunday we got up early so June could see where they tape the Today show. As soon as we got into Manhattan I realized I left our Broadway show tickets at home, so I left her at Rockefeller Center while I went back to get the tickets (about an hour round trip, stupid me!!). It ended up we missed most of the taping - I looked on my cable to see what time it was on, and it said 9-10 - apparently in NYC they show the Today show on an hour delay on Sunday. WTF?? After I got back with tickets, we hopped on a train up to the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. I had gone in the summer of 2001, but I think they've made significant improvements since then (although I still think MoBot is the nicest garden anywhere). They have an art installation there by Henry Moore, so that was cool. The best thing there (as it was in 2001) are the glass houses, modeled after those at Kew outside of London. It was a perfect day to be outside and walking around at the garden, but I had bought tickets to go see Gypsy on Broadway, so we only had a few hours at the garden. We rushed to get to the show, and got there just in time. It was fabulous, and had 3 2008 Tony award winners (best actress, and best featured actor and actress). The best actress, Patti LuPone, was great - she's famous from something on TV but I'm too lazy to google it right now. After the show, my roommate's friend Matty gave us a quick backstage tour, which was very fun. Then it was dinner in Little Italy, then back to Times Square for cheesecake and so June could see it in all its crazy lighted glory. We were home by 11, an improvement from Saturday.
June left this morning and got home without incident (apparently only my flights get delayed and canceled...). Only 8 days til I am home!!!
Statue of Liberty
Brooklyn Bridge
West from top of Empire State Building
North from top of Empire state building (see the Chrysler building?)
East from top of Empire State Building
glass houses at NYBG
lotus flower
Henry Moore sculpture
June and the Peggy Rockefeller rose garden
sculpture,
and another sculpture
Sunday we got up early so June could see where they tape the Today show. As soon as we got into Manhattan I realized I left our Broadway show tickets at home, so I left her at Rockefeller Center while I went back to get the tickets (about an hour round trip, stupid me!!). It ended up we missed most of the taping - I looked on my cable to see what time it was on, and it said 9-10 - apparently in NYC they show the Today show on an hour delay on Sunday. WTF?? After I got back with tickets, we hopped on a train up to the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. I had gone in the summer of 2001, but I think they've made significant improvements since then (although I still think MoBot is the nicest garden anywhere). They have an art installation there by Henry Moore, so that was cool. The best thing there (as it was in 2001) are the glass houses, modeled after those at Kew outside of London. It was a perfect day to be outside and walking around at the garden, but I had bought tickets to go see Gypsy on Broadway, so we only had a few hours at the garden. We rushed to get to the show, and got there just in time. It was fabulous, and had 3 2008 Tony award winners (best actress, and best featured actor and actress). The best actress, Patti LuPone, was great - she's famous from something on TV but I'm too lazy to google it right now. After the show, my roommate's friend Matty gave us a quick backstage tour, which was very fun. Then it was dinner in Little Italy, then back to Times Square for cheesecake and so June could see it in all its crazy lighted glory. We were home by 11, an improvement from Saturday.
June left this morning and got home without incident (apparently only my flights get delayed and canceled...). Only 8 days til I am home!!!
Statue of Liberty
Brooklyn Bridge
West from top of Empire State Building
North from top of Empire state building (see the Chrysler building?)
East from top of Empire State Building
glass houses at NYBG
lotus flower
Henry Moore sculpture
June and the Peggy Rockefeller rose garden
sculpture,
and another sculpture
Stupid Blogspot
June and I had a great time this weekend. We went non-stop, and hopefully she saw everything she hoped for and more! Unfortunately, something isn't working with posting pictures right now (I got an error 3 times in a row). I'll try again later tonight if I have time....but I need to get to work on some stuff for a review I wrote for my thesis advisor....boo!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Three Free Museums in One Day
My time is drawing to a close, so there were still a few museums/buildings I hadn't visited yet. So I planned my Friday evening based on some free museum hours. First I headed to the main branch of the New York Public Library - I had gone to this building a couple of times so far, but the building was never open. Today I finally got to go inside. It was absolutely beautiful! At the time it was built in the early 1900's it was the largest marble building in the US. There wasn't much to see there, except one room of famous portraits, but the building was enough to see. Next I headed farther uptown to the American Folk Art museum. Nothing overly exciting there, but there were some interesting things. My favorite was a rug crocheted with wonder bread bags in the 50's. The exhibit there is about Henry Darger, which seemed pretty messed up.
After going to pick up some tickets to see Gypsy on Broadway Sunday (June and I are going, and after the show we're getting a backstage tour from my roommate's friend Matty!), I headed back downtown to the Morgan Library and Museum. The museum consists of J.P. Morgan's house, library, and a new connecting structure that was designed by Renzo Piano, a Pritzker Prize winner. The library was build by a famous architect named McKim in 1906 (he was also one of the designers of the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and the house of every rich New Yorker, though most of them are gone now). The art there was all medieval stuff, not really my thing. I guess the most significant thing is that J.P. Morgan had collected 3 Gutenberg bibles - I'm not sure how many total exist, but this is the only place with 3 (this is believed to be the first book printed with a moveable type in the 1400 or 1500's?). But the library building was AMAZING inside. I'm really not sure if I've seen anything more ornate. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but maybe you can check it out online. It was certainly worth a free trip!
I then went home and watched I Am Legend - I didn't know what it was about, but it was pretty weird and freaky. I think I liked it.
June should be in the air by now, so I need to do some final cleaning before going to pick her up at the airport! It should be a full weekend!!!
NY Public Library - I took this picture earlier this summer, but thought I'd show it again to remind you what the outside of the building looks like. For SATC fans, this is where Carrie's wedding was in the movie. The 2 lions are named Patience and Fortitude.
Interior of NYPL - entirely marble!
I almost didn't walk to the 3rd floor of the NYPL, but this was by far the most beautiful part of the building. Unfortunately, the pictures don't do it justice.
My favorite public piece of art in Manhattan - Atlas. I went to see it when Jackie was here, but there was a huge scaffolding around it - I guess they were restoring it or something?
The Morgan library. The outside doesn't look like much compared to the inside.
After going to pick up some tickets to see Gypsy on Broadway Sunday (June and I are going, and after the show we're getting a backstage tour from my roommate's friend Matty!), I headed back downtown to the Morgan Library and Museum. The museum consists of J.P. Morgan's house, library, and a new connecting structure that was designed by Renzo Piano, a Pritzker Prize winner. The library was build by a famous architect named McKim in 1906 (he was also one of the designers of the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and the house of every rich New Yorker, though most of them are gone now). The art there was all medieval stuff, not really my thing. I guess the most significant thing is that J.P. Morgan had collected 3 Gutenberg bibles - I'm not sure how many total exist, but this is the only place with 3 (this is believed to be the first book printed with a moveable type in the 1400 or 1500's?). But the library building was AMAZING inside. I'm really not sure if I've seen anything more ornate. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but maybe you can check it out online. It was certainly worth a free trip!
I then went home and watched I Am Legend - I didn't know what it was about, but it was pretty weird and freaky. I think I liked it.
June should be in the air by now, so I need to do some final cleaning before going to pick her up at the airport! It should be a full weekend!!!
NY Public Library - I took this picture earlier this summer, but thought I'd show it again to remind you what the outside of the building looks like. For SATC fans, this is where Carrie's wedding was in the movie. The 2 lions are named Patience and Fortitude.
Interior of NYPL - entirely marble!
I almost didn't walk to the 3rd floor of the NYPL, but this was by far the most beautiful part of the building. Unfortunately, the pictures don't do it justice.
My favorite public piece of art in Manhattan - Atlas. I went to see it when Jackie was here, but there was a huge scaffolding around it - I guess they were restoring it or something?
The Morgan library. The outside doesn't look like much compared to the inside.
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