Busy past week!

It was a very busy past week, logging a few more work hours, trying to take part in community activities, and a good friend visiting for the weekend. I went to an open community meeting for the Highline Park on Wednesday night. They are wanting input on what kinds of food should be sold on the Highline. Overall I totally agree with their vision of selling sustainable, locally sourced food. I'm not thrilled that they are planning on having a beer garden somewhere along the park but food sales is part of how they are raising money to keep the Highline going and expanding ......and liquor does sell. I submitted my two cents worth and we will see whether they incorporate any of my great ideas! What was kind of fun about the meeting is just how small this world is, turns out that one of the co-founders of the Highline is had a past romantic interest in a very good friend of mine. Armed with this info  (that they at one time knew each other), I felt more comfortable going up to the co-founder, introducing myself and having a bit more personable chat with him.  Made me feel a little bit more like an insider. It was an interesting group of people there, certainly seemed like quite a representative sample across age, ethnicity, SES, family configuration, etc. That's what I like about the Highline and NYC in general, people from all strata come together to give their opinions freely and passionately for the projects they love.

One of my closest friends came to visit for a long weekend and we went pretty much non-stop for our waking hours over the 66 hours she was here. We were able to do a number of new activities that I've been wanting to do since moving here but just hadn't gotten to it yet.  We had hoped to get to Tibet House on Friday afternoon but she got in from the airport too late so that will be for another time.  We had a great sushi dinner then walked up to Lincoln Center because it was such a balmy evening, perfect for walking, and the Lincoln Center is always a great NYC destination point--they light it up so beautifully at night--the fountain, stairsteps, sculptures, etc.  We went into the foyer of the Metropolitan Opera House and admired the huge beautiful Chagall paintings and the crystal chandeliers and elegant staircases.  You feel cultured just being in the building. We walked a bit into the entrance of Central Park because that too is so dramatic an entrance to the park. We then walked back and stopped at Amy's bakery for dessert before calling it a night. On Saturday, we got up early and made a beeline for the Cloisters in the northend of Manhattan. So FABULOUS!!!! Several friends in Seattle had highly recommended it or expressed a desire to go and it's been high on my list of museums to see. The Cloisters is an extension of the Metropolitan Museum which houses their midieval collection of statues, paintings, tapestries, jewelry, religious artifacts, stained glass windows, etc. It was constructed as a castle of sorts in keeping with the time period of the collection. It also has two cloister areas, one larger than the other that are so lovely and when in bloom will be even more soothing and calming to spend time in. The Cloisters is situated on a hill top in Fort Tryon Park which overlooks the Hudson River. The Rockefellers philanthropy made it possible and they had the foresight to buy acreage across the river so that the view from the ramparts is always of nature. Very smart visionary.  My favorite exhibit at the Cloisters is the series of the Unicorn Tapestries.  It's a sad story of the vicious capture of a unicorn but the tapestries themselves are magical and beautiful. We then walked through the park to the New Leaf Cafe for brunch. Proceeds from the cafe go towards Bette Midler's foundation for beautifying NYC.  The food was really great and we are looking forward to taking my mom to the Cloisters and dinner at the New Leaf Cafe when she comes to visit at the end of April. My camera died early in the morning so didn't get many pictures that day.  I am waiting for Lisa to send me pictures of the Orchid Show at the NY Botanical Gardens. It was truely spectacular.

The Cloisters up on the hill of Fort Tryon Park

We then headed to the New York Botanical Gardens for their spectacular Orchid Show in the conservatory. It was a mammoth exhibit with hundreds and hundreds of orchids of all sizes and colors. So beautiful how they were displayed--really draws a crowd. That was the only down side was how crowded it was but still totally worth it.  We then went to the beautiful library building there and took the tram around the park so Lisa could get a sense of all there is to see on the grounds.  We were so fortunate to have sunny clear weather even if it wasn't particularly warm. After the botanical gardens, we drove to Village Charlotte Bronte to check it out. I was curious about it as I read an article about it in the Real Estate section of the NYtimes. It looks so European and overlooks the Hudson River. Got me and Bob very caught up in a fantasy of living there. It was good to check it out in person because it brought us down to earth and reality quite quickly. While the set of buildings that make up the several co-op residences are very cool, it is situated in a not very interesting neighborhood overall and is FAR from most everything, so it would mean a lot of driving for even the simplist of things. Living in mid-town has spoiled us so bad for its very convenient to everything and central location.  We then drove back into Manhattan by way of the East Side so Lisa could see how the other .00001% live and eventually parked in Chelsea so that we could take a walk on the Highline Park. It was really cold by then with the temp from Friday night to Saturday night dropping by about 30 degrees. We weren't really dressed warmly enough so cut our walk short but Lisa got a good sense of it and we were fortunate to be there on the hour so she could hear all the bells going off at once as part of the art project there. We then walked through the Chelsea Market and wound up having dinner at the Green Table--another great meal there. On the way to parking the car, she was able to get a good view of Times Square at night. When we got back we watched some of a video on the sacred pilgramige around Mount Kailash--a trip we had discussed the three of us doing. Since reading more about it, I am no longer game for it--it's at a level of strenuousness that I am just not confident I could do.  Bob and Lisa might still undertake it in the next few years.

Sunday we were up early and walked straight across town to the United Nations (8th Ave to 1st Ave on 42nd Street). On the way we hit a few highlights like Bryant Park--each time I go there I fall in love with it all over again (we also stopped in to use their award winning bathrooms--very elegant for a public park bathroom), the New York Library (so impressive and grand), Grand Central Station (always a stunner--never get jaded about how Grand it is), and the Chrysler Building (didn't get past the lobby but even that is impressive with all the art deco design and use of granite, marble, and murals)--42nd street is a really great street taking it all together. The UN was a great visit. Unfortunately we were not able to take a tour, (didn't plan that very well--will know better for next time) but all the same, what we did see in the main visitors building was very moving and powerful.  So much pain, sorrow, and violence in this world that the UN is trying to address. They had several emotion evoking photography exhibits covering the impact of landmines, slavery, and human scenes reflecting their attempts to meet world goals to address poverty, hunger, women's equality, health, education, the environment, etc. The gift store is great for having wares from all over the world and they have some really great UN specific souveniers and postcards.  We wound up buying quite a few things there.

Country Flag Postcards at the UN gift store

examples of landmines at the UN exhibit

Meditation room at the UN

Very moving exhibit of the UN Flag from Iraq

Breathtaking Chagall Stained Class Window at the UN

Very, very cool T-Shirt with the motto of the UN

Sculpture at the UN entrance

View towards the East River from the UN visitors center

After the UN we walked up to the Metropolitan Museum on 81st where we had lunch and checked out a number of exhibits. The Met is a favorite museum of Lisa's. We then walked further up to the Guggenheim on 89th to see their new exhibit (when Bob and I were there last, they were installing a new exhibit). The Guggenheim is such a great museum. I just really love how they display the art work, so much easier to view even when there are lots of people. The spiral architecture works great and really adds to the whole experience. I am so enchanted by the paintings of Kandinsky--just love his use of color and perspective--more and more he is becoming one of my favorite artists. After the Guggenheim, we took a taxi home so that we would get back to the apartment in time to make dinner and have a little down time before going to see the off Broadway production of Avenue Q.  Ave Q was so much fun......it's edgy and unpredictable and adult enough to keep the laughs coming steadily but overall has a very sweet message.  The puppetry is really impressive, so much lifelike animation, body language and even facial expression. It was a really fun production and highly recommended. Once home from the play, we caught the last episode of Big Love on HBO. Bob and I just started watching it this season but found it really compelling. The ending was a big surprise--did not see that coming.

Flower sculptures along Park Avenue

I had wanted to show Lisa a bit of the Hudson River walk and the Clinton Community Garden this morning before she had to get her 10:30 airport shuttle but the weather was raining and with snow flurries so a last walk in the neighborhood did not happen. We were just thankful for such clear sunny weather for the weekend.  It was such a great weekend but really we just saw the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to seeing the sites in NYC.

Tonight Bob and I are going to Radio City Music Hall to see Janet Jackson so our weekend is still continuing!  Next weekend we are going to drive up the Hudson River Valley and go to a couple of maple syrup farms as it is Maple Syrup Weekend here in NY State. How cool is that!  I am hoping we make it out to Stormking Sculpture garden when we are out that way. It has these wonderful ginormous art pieces that cannot be housed in traditional museum spaces. I love art work of that scope. We also are going to see That Championship Season on Saturday night. Wednesday I am getting together with the artist, Douglas Safranek, to see his studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and he is going to show me around the neighborhood a bit. I wish the weather was predicted to be better that day but all the same, it will be a very good afternoon I am sure.

We have to pause here to give a special thanks to Uncle Morgan and Uncle Stanley for all the free admissions to pretty much all the museums and gardens we went over the weekend!! What a great fringe benefit of Bob's job.